Golden Spike National Historical Park

"This is a neat piece of history, preserved by the National Parks Service. The staff are friendly and informative. For a weekend day where I didn't want to drive the 4+ hours to other national parks, I'm glad I visited the Golden Spike. I visited during their winter month schedule. This means their replica engines are in storage and go through periodic maintenance. But this also means a park ranger gives more detailed info and background on the engines (replicas and originals), including a demo of the bell, in this instance. There are only 3 of these opportunities each day during this part of the year, 10:30-11, 1-1:30 and 3-3:30, so time your visit accordingly. I recommend a visit here, then on your way back to Layton/Ogden/Salt Lake City, visit the Big Fill Trail where they have markers with audio guide messages, and Northrop Grumman's rocket garden."

"Off the beaten path, this historic site pays homage to one of the more important historical events in the development of modern US as the connection of Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways joined together. The working train replicas really are worth seeing and hearing. Hearing from the park rangers and conductors provides fascinating insights to the past and the events leading up to the railway’s development. Although a few miles off the highway, this historic site is “one of a kind” and provides great insight into the efforts required to build these two railways and the motivations behind them. The impacted Indian nations are depicted and information is provided to better understand where the railroads crossed many native Tribal lands."

"Utah desert land is beautiful with amazing views. Golden Spike NHS is fun with creative displays of the history. Don't miss the spiral jetty land art in the great salt lake, out that way."

"Had this stop on my list for a while. Enjoyed watching the 20 minute show and looking around at all the historical sights. We also got to learn more about the locomotives used during that era and seeing two of them in the shop. We got to drive the actual path the tracks were laid on."

"This is an excellent museum with the original steam engines from the Pacific Railroad and the Central Railroad. This site is the actual location where the 2 railroads actually met and they connected the rails with a golden spike. That golden spike has since been removed and donated to Stanford University. However the original steam engines are there along with a wonderful museum that displays much history and many artifacts. There is also a nice gift shop. This place is a gem."