The Salt Lake ValleyCross E Ranch's corn maze is open Saturday, UFC weigh-ins are free today, and Solitude runs its last lifts Sunday
Plus soup dumplings in Taylorsville, a free garden in West Jordan, and the Great Salt Lake below its 2021 low.
Good morning, Salt Lake Valley.
Cross E Ranch, the family farm on the Jordan River at the north end of Salt Lake City, is in the middle of its fall festival, and Saturday is the long day: 12 hours of corn maze, pig races, and pumpkins.
Downtown gets crowded this weekend. The UFC is in town with free weigh-ins this afternoon, and General Conference fills the blocks around Temple Square on Saturday and Sunday.
📍 30 seconds in the valley⏱️ 9 min read
- 🌽Do the Cross E Ranch fall festival
- 🥊Watch the UFC weigh-ins free
- 🥟Eat soup dumplings in Taylorsville
⭐ The Big One
Best family day of the weekend
Do the Cross E Ranch fall festival
Cross E Ranch sits on the Jordan River where Salt Lake City meets Davis County, and its fall festival has a corn maze, pig races, a pumpkin patch, and more than 30 attractions included with a ticket. About 50,000 people come through each fall.
It's one of the last working farms this close to downtown, and the family doesn't hide how hard that is. Co-owner Heather Limon says the ranch has historically lost money on farming alone, so the festival tickets, the cider doughnuts, and the pumpkins are a big part of what keeps the roughly 215 acres running.
Our take
Two ticket tricks cut the price: the Saturday early bird is $18.95 if you arrive between 10 and 10:30am, and anyone arriving after 7pm pays $15.95. Food, pony rides, face painting, and pumpkins cost extra, and the pumpkins are sold by weight. Parking is free, picnics are allowed, and leashed dogs are welcome.⚠️ Heads up: There are no tickets at the gate, so buy on your phone before you pull in. The paths are rough on small stroller wheels, and the ranch says to bring a wagon or a jogging stroller instead.
$$ familiescorn mazeSalt Lake City
📰 Around the Valley
The Great Salt Lake is below its 2021 low
The lake's south arm read 4,189.6 feet at the Saltair gauge on Sept 28, below the 4,190.2-foot low it hit in October 2021 and about a foot and a half under where it ended last September. It's still above the all-time record of 4,188.5 feet from November 2022. The same week, Utah and the federal government finalized a settlement that hands 22,311 acres at the north end of the lake to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in exchange for $60 million for the lake.
Temple Square's construction fences are down
The barriers that walled off Temple Square for nearly seven years came down last Friday, and North Temple is clear of construction fencing from State Street to West Temple. The grounds are open to walk from 7am to 10pm. It lands right before General Conference fills downtown on Saturday and Sunday.
📅 This Week
Worth it, and it costs nothing
Watch the UFC 332 weigh-ins free at the Salt Palace
The UFC is back in Salt Lake City for the first time since 2024, and Friday afternoon's ceremonial weigh-ins are free and open to anyone who walks in.
Our take
You'll see Natália Silva and Wang Cong, who fight Saturday for the vacant women's flyweight title, plus Payton Talbott and Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main. Saturday there's also a free fan zone outside the arena from 11am to 3pm with fighter meet-and-greets.⚠️ Heads up: Seats for the fights run well past $100 on resale, but the main card airs free on CBS at 6pm Saturday. Take TRAX if you do go downtown, since General Conference sessions let out the same afternoon.
free fight fansfreedowntown
Book now, three shows left
Catch the last shows of John Proctor Is the Villain
Pioneer Theatre Company closes Kimberly Belflower's play Saturday. Five teenage girls in a small town start digging up things the adults around them would rather leave buried, and the theater calls it fierce and funny.
Our take
This run is at Westminster's Courage Theater in Sugar House, not Pioneer Memorial Theatre on the U campus. The Curtain Call for All program lets you pick your own price starting at $15, and you book it by phone at 801-581-6961.⚠️ Heads up: The theater recommends it for mature teens and up and says a movie version would likely be rated R. It deals with abuse, grooming, and suicide, with strong language throughout.
$$ theaterSugar Housedate night
Worth it for the canyon color
Ride Solitude's lifts on the last day of summer
Sunday is Solitude's summer closing day: the bike park, the scenic chairlifts, and the Adventure Park run one more time before the resort shuts down to get ready for snow.
Our take
The Link chair costs nothing for a scenic ride, so a family can go up without buying tickets. Kids 6 and under get a free scenic pass from the ticket office. At the top there's an 18-hole disc golf course that's free if you bring your own discs, and the drive up Big Cottonwood is at peak fall color right about now.⚠️ Heads up: The resort runs everything conditions permitting, and it's colder at the top than at the canyon mouth. Pack a jacket even if the valley's warm.
free fall colorscenic rideBig Cottonwood
Worth it for south valley families
Buy handmade at Daybreak's Saturday market
Daybreak's Saturday market has three weeks left in the season, with food trucks and a rule that every vendor has to make, design, or upcycle what they sell.
Our take
Because resellers aren't allowed, you get the person who made the thing standing behind the table. It's pet friendly, so the dog can come along.⚠️ Heads up: The Saturday market is on Kestrel Rise Road. The Cove House on Lake Avenue is where Daybreak holds its Tuesday night market, so don't let your map app send you there.
free marketdogsSouth Jordan
Skip the weekend, go Monday to Wednesday
Weigh a weekend trip to WitchFest at Gardner Village
Gardner Village fills its paths with life-size witch displays every fall, and WitchFest runs through Halloween. Walking the village is free, while the dinner theater, the escape room, and Breakfast with a Witch are ticketed.
Our take
Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in October, parking costs $10 a car. Gardner Village hands back coupons to offset it, but its own FAQ says Monday to Wednesday is the easy time to go, and parking is free those days.⚠️ Heads up: Strollers have to stay outside the shops, so plan on using the stroller parking or bringing a carrier.
free HalloweenfamiliesWest Jordan
🏟️ The Scoreboard
The Utes rest at 4-0 and No. 13
Wayshawn Parker ran for a career-high 174 yards and scored three times as Utah won 31-17 at Iowa State last Saturday. The Utes have the week off, then come home for a night game.
RSL gets two weeks to build on a 3-0 win
Real Salt Lake's soccer team beat New England 3-0 last Saturday at America First Field, with Sergi Solans scoring twice. There's no game this weekend, so the next chance to keep it going is in Philadelphia.
🍴 Eat & Drink
Worth the drive to Taylorsville
Get xiao long bao at Zhu Ting Ji
Zhu Ting Ji makes its own xiao long bao, the soup dumplings, in an open kitchen in a strip mall on 1900 West, along with steamed and fried buns and fresh noodles.
Our take
Start with the crab roe xiao long bao, then get the boiled fish in green Sichuan pepper sauce for the table. You can watch the cooks fold dumplings through the kitchen window while you wait.⚠️ Heads up: The most popular items sell out as the night goes on, and the lobby fills up at dinner, so an early meal is the move. Rice costs extra.
$$ dumplingsSichuanTaylorsville
💡 Hidden Gem
Worth it if you're rethinking your yard
Walk the free Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan
The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District runs more than eight acres of demonstration gardens here, planted with things that grow in northern Utah on a lot less water than a lawn.
Our take
It's about a mile from Gardner Village, so it pairs well with a weekday WitchFest trip. Everything here was picked to grow in northern Utah, so if it looks good in these beds it will survive in your yard.⚠️ Heads up: No drones, and nobody walks in the flower beds. Anyone doing portrait sessions needs a $10 photography pass booked ahead at 801-256-4400.
free gardensfreeWest Jordan
🎟️ Also Happening
See the Plein Air Holladay paintings
Artists who spent two weeks painting outdoors around Holladay show their work at an opening reception Friday from 6pm to 8pm at Relics Framemakers & Gallery in Holladay, and the show runs through Oct 19.
Shop Millcreek's Friday night market
The Millcreek Farmers Market runs Friday from 5pm to 9pm with live music and food trucks at Millcreek Common in Millcreek, every Friday through Oct 30.
Browse the Wheeler Sunday Market
More than 100 vendors set up on Wheeler Historic Farm's west lawn Sunday from 9am to 1pm in Murray, and the season's last market is Oct 11.
📰 Valley News
FanX shrinks to two half-size shows as the Salt Palace gets ready to close
Last weekend's FanX was the convention's last full-size show at the Salt Palace. In 2027 it plans two smaller shows at half the usual capacity, the first March 11 to 14. The Salt Palace then closes in fall 2027 for about three years as part of a $1.8 billion downtown rebuild that stacks a second ballroom on the same footprint instead of spreading out.
The Industry SLC campus in the Granary is now Foundry43
The office campus built out of a 1943 foundry at 600 South and 500 West has a new name and new owners after going through foreclosure. The lender, ACORE Capital, took it over after suing over a $97.3 million loan, and Lincoln Property Company now runs it with JLL handling leasing. Construction is still going on the rest of the site.
A gelato shop, two drive-thru coffee stands, and a golf simulator bar are on the way
Macks Finest Gelato has filed permits for a gelato and espresso shop at 313 E 900 South and expects to open this fall. 7 Brew has filed to turn two former restaurants into drive-thru coffee stands, one in Sugar House at 2045 S 1300 East and one at 555 E 400 South. Five Iron Golf is planning a golf simulator spot with a bar and kitchen in the Post District.
The Debate
💙 Good Neighbor
Nominate the person who helped this week
If a neighbor did something specific that made your week easier, reply with their name, city, and what they did. We may feature them in a future issue.
Nominate a neighbor →Friday afternoon is the downtown shift: weigh-ins at the Salt Palace, then Westminster for the play's second-to-last night. Saturday is for Cross E or South Jordan's market, and Sunday belongs to Big Cottonwood.
Reply with the neighborhood event, restaurant, or trail we should check next.
— The Salt Lake Valley crew
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Read past issues · Refer a neighbor · Advertise with us