Clark Planetarium

It was a blast. The kids love this place. There are so many activities to do for the entire family. Everything is very interactive and you learn a ton. It's really interesting to see the mechanics of everything and to have Hands On Learning with petrified objects and meteorites from space Etc. There are also a lot of interactive games that the kids can learn from about the creation and destruction of planets, solar system, and all other space entities. The theaters are also a lot of fun and the movies are really well-made. Would definitely come again.

Love this place - we're staying in a hotel a couple blocks down and I've walked over twice! The fact that the exhibits are all free is amazing. They have some really interesting ones that are honestly cool enough for the kids and adults to enjoy. Everything is so hands-on! The planetarium and imax shows are great too. If you can't make it to the space ones, the laser shows are impressive and well worth it!

I've been here twice now while traveling. It is free to get in and look around. They only charge to watch any of the movies if you decide to. We chose to see one about the rockets and the process that it takes to get astronauts into outer space to the space station. This was very fascinating to me. We really liked the exhibits as well. They don't have a whole lot there but what they do have is pretty entertaining to see.

This place rocks! Tons of interactive and well maintained exhibits that did a fantastic job of peaking our toddlers interest. Many different mediums, styles, and methods of teaching and engaging kids. Our toddler loved it! Getting to smell what other planets might be like was fascinating to her. Highly recommended, we were very impressed. Plus it’s FREE to see exhibits. What a gem.

This place is amazing for kiddos and adults, very impressive and very nice place, kids can learn a lot about the universe, planets, science, stars, ETC. 100% recommend! And the movies in the Dome are amazing too!

I popped in during a 2-hour lunch break (because obviously that’s how adults spend their free time; don’t judge me), and left convinced I was born to be a space pirate. The exhibits are glorious. Lots of buttons to push, lights to blink, and things to pretend I understand. It’s basically science Disneyland if Disneyland didn’t charge $1,000 and had way more meteorites. I had to see the Blue Angels 3D show! Honestly, I wasn’t ready. Pilots doing barrel rolls that made my stomach lurch is the best way to spend lunch. I was the only solo adult in the theater, surrounded by kids and chaperones, and yes, I sat dead center like it was my personal IMAX kingdom. Definitely recommend abandoning responsibility for 2 hours for this one. Ha!

🌌 I visited with my husband, and it turned out to be a really nice date! There are lots of fun, interactive, and beautifully designed exhibits — mostly aimed at children, but still very enjoyable for adults too. Entry is free, and only the shows require tickets, which are quite affordable. If you’re interested in space or planetariums, this place is definitely worth a visit!

Won’t return Went in due to rain. It’s more like an arcade. Three levels are filled with kids, teens and families, as one would expect. The planetarium is free, $10 for the Dome Theater. Both elevators don’t work.

I mean for free how can you resist?! It's a very small partial 3 level museum. Lots of science stuff to check out and learn from. There's an IMAX and a Dome Theater which do cost money and we didn't check out on this trip but will come back in the very near future. You can even buy popcorn for your movie! A fun and cool souvenir shop with lots of space themed merch. Overall it was a fun experience.

I popped in during a 2-hour lunch break (because obviously that's how adults spend their free time; don't judge me), and left convinced I was born to be a space pirate. The exhibits are glorious. Lots of buttons to push, lights to blink, and things to pretend I understand. It's basically science Disneyland if Disneyland didn't charge $1,000 and had way more meteorites. I had to see the Blue Angels 3D show! Honestly, I wasn't ready. Pilots doing barrel rolls that made my stomach lurch is the best way to spend lunch. I was the only solo adult in the theater, surrounded by kids and chaperones, and yes, I sat dead center like it was my personal IMAX kingdom. Definitely recommend abandoning responsibility for 2 hours for this one. Ha!

Pretty good for a free experience. There is no admission fee and they have some pretty cool science stuff to look and interact with. They also have paid movies and other paid things that you could also do. Parking - They have a free parking lot which was great.

Won't return Went in due to rain. It's more like an arcade. Three levels are filled with kids, teens and families, as one would expect. The planetarium is free, $10 for the Dome Theater. Both elevators don't work.

Wonderful museum my children loved it. Very manageable in size which made it even more lucrative- sometimes spaces are so enormous it's overwhelming. My kids are little 3.5 and almost 2 and I would say my older children would have been amazed and enjoyed it more because there's some pretty cool science exhibits and more thought to the space than a 3 year old can process but he loved it and made friends running around in open play spaces. Can do a longer stretch of time here or pop in like 2 hours as we did. Def recommend!

There's plenty of interesting, fun things to do for both adults and kids for no admission fee. It was a great way to pass some time while staying out of the heat. I ended up spending over an hour here and would've stayed for longer, but there were quite a few things that weren't operational. Since I was visiting, it's not somewhere I can come to whenever I feel like it to try the activities I missed. I think this was my first time visiting a planetarium and I had a lot of fun with it. One of my favorite things was the Icy Bodies with dry ice. It was really mesmerizing to watch (see my video). I also liked that they have a movie theater with imax and 3D movies. It would be a nice place to spend time especially if I lived in the area. The giftshop is fun, but not too much actual unique stuff and it can get pretty pricey. The only thing I got was the space ice cream to try. It was interesting. Not horrible, but wouldn't choose to eat it if I didn't have to.

Excited that there were so many activities and there is no admission fee to enjoy all the cool activities and play structures. I think the planetarium maybe sponsored by a company which is great that we don't have to pay to experience all the cool exhibits. Of course planetarium is science oriented and good exposure for your kids to see what space, research and machines have to offer. We spent 2 hours playing with all the cool gadgets while learning about momentum, energy, electricity, building and maneuvering robots on another planet. Everything is hands on and has a feel/touch aspect. Nice to see cause and reaction in the works with many of the play structures and stations. Great it was not too crowded. The only pay part was to watch the imax or the 3-D movie. Not too expensive and worth it just to rest. Great place to visit and spend a few hours!

As parents visiting from out of state without the kids, we had fun. Nice that it was free. A lot of trivia and fun facts as well as some video games to play. I enjoyed the gift shop since a lot of the items were very nostalgic! I don't think it would be that fun for toddlers, but older children would definitely enjoy it.

Always love coming here with kids especially. They create a fun learning environment and have interesting toys in the gift shop

If you're an aspiring astronaut, or raising one, the Clark Planetarium is your playground. It has all sorts of hands-on exhibits centering around science, outer space and the Earth. It's a rad combination or fun and educational, done in a clever way that masks "learning" with "play." Kids of all ages were running around enjoying all the exhibits. It's free to enter the planetarium itself, then you pay to see the movies, which are optional. The movies are educational and interesting-with a variety of topics. Think a step above the movie your science teacher would show during class on a day where an easy lesson was desired. One of my favorite things about the planetarium is that you can buy snacks at the snack bar for a very reasonable price. My won and I shared a small bag of popcorn and we each had an Icee and the bill was less than ten dollars. You don't find that very often these days.

It's been nine years since the last review, and I'm just going to give it another five stars because it's still excellent! Son and I went today to see the Unseen Universe in the dome theater. A wonderful Utah sky presentation before the show. The show was wonderfully done. The staff is always friendly, and the place is always clean. Having a membership is the way to go!

I came here for an after-hours event. I cant speak on their IMAX cinema, but can say it was a neat place. I really enjoyed all the interactive games/pieces. It was also cool to see some meteorites. I cant speak on parking since I took public transportation. As I was using crutches, I appreciated that they had an elevator to get to other floors. I could see this being enjoyable for a family, but it is on the smaller side, so on a busy day this may not be as much fun.

Somehow this is a free planetarium to visit. It's a fantastic three story intro to astronomy for all ages and one of the more interactive science museums I've visited. Most exhibits are hands on. You can play science games, interact with gravity wells, and save Earth from asteroids, and that's just on one floor. There us a dedicated kids area but all areas are family friendly. There's also an IMAX theater which I highly recommend visiting. That theater and refreshments you'll have to pay for, but you can simply walk into the museums and enjoy your time without a ticket or approaching the desk.

Real cool stuff it's free to go in! Only have to play if you want yo watch an iMax Kids had a lot of fun ! What a fun facts go during the week when it's nice and quiet!

The planetarium was fun. The price point was just perfect (free!) The location is easily accessible by the train line. Enough things here to pass some time (just remember it's free and not a huge place). I learned a lot too. Recommend.

What an awesome free museum!! There are three levels, each with a different exhibit theme and each with a ton of hands on / interactive activities. The middle has a giant interactive machine. Kids were loving it, but so were adults and I can see it being a fun date idea as well. They have movies throughout the day for reasonable price, cheap concessions and a huge gift shop with all kinds of things from science kits to tshirts to jewelry.

It's boring. Not toddler friendly. Three small levels. They have a play area for children under 12. But a 3 year old and 12 year old can't play together. The older kids are rude.

I've lived here in salt lake for 4 years now, and somehow I'm just discovering the planetarium. Admittedly it's fairly small, but there are a lot of hands on exhibits to spend your time exploring. The best part is that it's free (aside from the movie showings that it has). My wife and I spent an evening exploring different exhibits and playing around with all the hands on stuff they have. Then, a week later, we came back to bring out toddler along. 100% this will be something we continue visiting with our kids. There are things to do for pretty much all ages

Great and cheap place to visit and see some cool things. Very informative and interactive exhibits

Excellent Adventure spot for young and old alike The Exhibit Area is Free and you could spend some time in there exploring different types of puzzles and games The shop area is well designed and the kids areas are great for small kids

Salt Lake City has a free planetarium that we visited on Saturday. It's funded by aerospace & defense contractor Northrop Grumman, so even the snack bar and movie theater inside is heavily subsidized. Don't expect a huge planetarium for free. This is on the small side, with the first floor dedicated to a gift shop, an exhibit on tornadoes and a collection of meteorites. The partial second floor is where the dome theater is located and a small exhibit on the weather in space and a plasma ball. The third floor has an area with remote controlled mini Mars rovers, an exhibit about black holes and a play space. We visited on an early Saturday morning and it wasn't too packed until around 2 PM - then it became so busy it wasn't feesible to read the exhibits with so many people with strollers pushing in on you. We ended up seeing two films for $9 each in their dome theater. The theater screen is a dome shape so it feels more immersive (smaller than the dome theater in San Jose, California.) My only complaint is that the under 7 crowd shouldn't be permitted in the paid movie theater. If a child is too small to sit quietly for a half hour, then this isn't an age appropriate activity. Kids were screaming, talking and climbing on chairs through both the pre-movie night sky presentation and the films. If they're not going to bar small children from the paid movie, they need to offer an adult only showing (they have showings as late as 10:45 PM for their rock music films as is.) I don't understand how entitled parents have become. If your kid is fussy, take them outside. If you're in a restaurant, a film, a museum, whatever, take them outside until they calm down. We all paid to be there and your kid doesn't have more of a right than the rest of us to be disruptive.

This is a cool museum. It's free to get in, but you have to pay to watch the movies if you choose to watch them. I like that there is a lot of hands-on exhibits in this museum. I like that it's across the street from the Delta Center, so you can visit both places in one trip. :)

We were passing through Salt Lake City, Utah and missed one of our other attractions, but the Clark Planetarium was still open! Admission is free and it was fun and interactive for small kids and big kids alike. They do have imax shows for purchase and a nice side gift shop. The toddler enjoyed the kids play area and bigger kids (daddy) got to join too. Definitely a fun stop to visit for the entire family when you're in the Salt Lake City area!

Went here for my kids field trip and we loved it! The dome was really cool. There was a lot of things for the kids to learn and interact with. Such a great experience.

10/10! First of all, it's free!!! You can pay to see the imax shows and they have a super cheap snack bar for the shows, which is a grey way to break up the exploring. The kids love every exhibit and could spend all day there. We also love the gift store! They have a playground upstairs that my youngest loves and enough to keep my 6 and 8 year old beyond interested. It's very accessible but is downtown so parking may be tough!

This place was amazing! The fact that it was free and has three stories was enough for us to go. We loved it! So many interactive things not to mention the shows they have aren't expensive either. They have food in the place as well as a gift shop with so many options. Food nearby too! Definitely a must with kids who love to learn and want to get the wiggles out

Their I-Max and Dome shows are outstanding! There are many to chose from with a lot of times throughout the day. I also love that they are updated regularly. Also offer laser music shows on the weekend in the dome. Also have a great concession stand and gift store with lots to offer. On the flip side, I would like to see the exhibits updated.

Wow it's hard to believe that admission to this place is free! If you are visiting SLC with kids definitely stop by here. There are so many hands on and interactive things to do with kids of all ages. My 3 and 6 year olds enjoyed themselves. It's small but still a good size to spend 2 hours or so just on the exhibits. If you want to watch a movie you can spend additional time there. We didn't get to see one, but they're pretty cheap and the reviews say that they're good. Oh and the gift shop has a wide range of toys at different price points. I normally don't like to buy souvenirs as they're usually over priced. But since admission was free, I wanted to still support the business. Parking is free with validation at the front desk in the adjacent structure. But you can also take the train there as there's a stop right in front of it. It's in a shopping center with other restaurants. So it would be a great location for a day filled with family fun!

Brought my 2yo here. It's great! Plan early and go during the week bc it gets busy. Free admission. Food is like movie theater snacks. Parking in the garage is not bad.

The Clark Planetarium is a great place to spend a couple of hours if you're looking for something to do in downtown SLC. It's free to go (though you'll have to pay if you want to see a show in the theaters there) and offers a variety of exhibits and activities that are fun and educational. Learn about seismic waves by jumping on a pressure plate in the floor, see a mock-up of a tornado made by a wind and fog machine, test your space piloting skills by trying to land a lunar rover on moon landing sights in a virtual game, and definitely spend some time watching the giant ball track that spans two floors and has dozens of potential routes. Really cool place for kids to learn about space and scientific principles. But even as an adult, I was quite fascinated with a couple of the exhibits and activities. I'd highly recommend!

Adorable little Planetarium! Got to see a short film here on May the 4th (Star Wars Day!) and experience the museum. The narrator of the "Birth of a Star" (can't remember the name) film was absolutely a treasure! It's small but honestly quiet well done. There is a nice little concession stand on the second floor and a well appointed store for all of your nerdy science kit needs. I would say it's probably about an hour time killer if you are looking for something to do in this downtown area!

My kids got bored pretty quickly but it was a great experience for free. We then walked around the gateway a bit.

I found the Clark Planetarium online and saw that there was free admission for their exhibits so I figured it was a good way to kill a couple hours and also explore the town a bit. They recommend that if you are just going here for the exhibits that you book your ticket online which only takes a couple seconds. There are three floors for the planetarium and it is very interactive! Almost all the exhibits have some interactive element that you can play with which is really cool. It's very kid friendly but also adult friendly too. You can totally spend a couple hours here just playing on the exhibits. There is so much information to absorb here which is really fascinating and informative. If you want to want a show on the theater you'll have to pay extra for that. There's also a gift shop if you want to buy any toys or gadgets. I only spent about 45 minutes here but depending on whether you play with every exhibit or watch something in the theater you can spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

This place was a lot of fun for my family, but we went when there were a couple different schools there so our visit was limited. The students were out of control and awful, and that is not the Planetarium's fault, but there were no staff members around at any point, and I would like to think with more staff the kids would be more controlled or at least the worthless chaperones would be more inclined to control their students better just out of embarrassment.

This is the kind of place we'd come to all the time if we lived here. Admission is free, and there are numerous hands-on and learning activities for the kids. There are also Imax and planetarium shows if you buy paid tickets. We got tickets to a 40-minute planetarium show about a family of aliens traveling in the milky way galaxy. My 4 year-old really enjoyed it, and it kept my 1 year-old entertained enough to sit through the whole thing. Particularly a great place to visit during the summer heat.

So glad my friend recommended this free museum! So much fun for kids and adults! We were a group of 20-30 year olds and had a blast. We went through the entire place in about 1.5 hours. Would definitely recommend for anyone visiting SLC!

Stopped by this place whilst in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Admission is free and they have an iMax theater that offers 3D films. The exhibits are well done and interactive; however, a few were not working when I was there. Great place to visit with kids!

We had an amazing time! We weren't really sure what to expect, or if it would be a waste of time. We spent two hours reading and using all the interactive displays. It's definitely a place we would visit several times. Even though we ran out of time to watch an IMAX, we have it planned for next trip. The interactive displays were used by my preteen, my husband and my father. Overall good for all ages!

Such a great place to experiment with children. The only concern is the local homeless hanging around.

If you're looking for something to do on a Saturday night in Salt Lake City, the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon light show is the way to go. We had no expectations of SLC as we were visiting from California where there is an actual nightlife scene (sorry, not sorry Utah). The Clark Planetarium is a cool, educational, interactive museum for kids and parents, but at night it's a whole different story. The Pink Floyd show is definitely one for the adults- filled with bizarre visuals and cool lasers. Best to go drunk or under the substance, but even sober, we had a great time. Bring a date or some friends. The only thing to be aware of is where you sit- your neck could hurt a lot depending where you sit. Try to sit in the back if you can. What turned this awesome experience into a magical one was immediately after the show, a romantic message asking someone to marry them popped up on the screen! We looked around and it turns out the man sitting RIGHT NEXT to us was down on his knee proposing to his girlfriend!! Definitely a special place, I cannot rave about this experience enough.

Looking for something to do in Salt Lake City when's it 68 degs and no snow on the mountains. Googled what to do in Salt Lake City. The first thing that popped up was the Clark Planetarium. Easy to find and with attached parking garage convenient. We received a parking pass from the planetarium for some reason it did not cover our whole stay. Ended up paying $ 3 dollars to park all day. That's a deal i can work with. Inside we found several large groups of Kidd's on school trips. As they were working there way around the exhibits we choose to check out the theaters. They have two theaters and have different shows every hour. We bought one each $ 7 dollars per person. Good shows. After we did all the exhibits we went to the gift shop hoping to find something interesting to bring home. What we found was a toy store. Nothing worth buying . Overall a good place to visit next time bring a few youngsters between 8 and 10.

This place was rad! I loved every minute in there. We did not bring kids but it is a kid friendly place with lots of cool stuff to discover and learn. Also, it is free, unless you want to see one of the movies, but they were rather affordable as well. Staff was super friendly too, so shout out to them for making this place even more enjoyable.

Absolutely love this place for all their cool interactive activities and content and enjoy the films! I seriously need to get a pass and come back more because I always have such a fun time with my kids BIG and little. Always kinda bummed when they have areas that are closed or off limits for updates and repairs but it's how it goes. Oooh and love the parking structure that's corner to this for quick easy access!

Can't beat free family activity!! This was so fun for our whole family!! To beat the heat it was nice to be inside! You can pay for extra stuff like movies, but we stayed busy the whole time. Very clean safe place in SLC! Try to get a reservation online before just to make sure there is space. We went on Thursday and it was not busy at all.

It's a excellent place to take the kids a d have some fun and get a bit of education on how the universe works. Parking was $2.00 3D and 4D rides are $3.00-$7.00 varies on which one you do. Plenty of hands on games and activities for the whole family. Depending on how long you take it's probably a good 1hr to 1hr 1/2. The gift shop has tons of toys games activities and books. We had a lot of fun and would come back again when we are in town. No food or drinks allowed for obvious reasons. They do take Covid protocols seriously because of all the hands on activities so make sure to bring extra hand sanitizer and wipes... Overall 9 out of 10.....

a cute little place. being that it's free, it's fine. we didn't get to experience newton's daydream in motion or any of the cool lights on the ceiling until we were leaving, but we may have arrived a tad too early... i don't know. this place may be wonderful to a child, but it's nothing to write home about as a big kid.

ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL! I found this place by zooming in on Google Maps and I'm so happy that I did. It was crazy busy (a great family activity) and the exhibits were free. I appreciated all of the interactive stations and the specimens of space stuff that they had on display. It was a great way to spend an hour.

This is not a museum. I hope you get sued for false advertising. There is nothing educational about this place. Have you been to a space museum before? Please go to one so that you can get an idea of what visitors expect. Any three year old with a space picture book will know more than what's displayed here. Locals must not be very knowledgeable about such topics. The entire place was a filthy dump with food and trash scattered throughout. I bought two space ice creams for 6$ each from your garbage Knick knack shop. The cashier stared at us waiting in the line for three solid minutes before offering to help. We had already assumed that this lazy slob must not even work there. Never again, please no, I wish I could have that hour of my life back.

The Clark Planetarium is a wonderful place to keep kids and adults of all ages entertained. I really like the business model because the exhibits are free of charge, and there are several Imax Movies for even more fun- and the entire experience is very affordable. The Clark Planetarium opened in April 2003. There are two movie theatres available. We watched two movies at the Imax Theatre, and both were excellent. The 2nd theatre is the Hansen Dome Theatre, which features individual seat button in a 55 foot aluminum dome. The Clark Planetarium features 10,000 square feet of free exhibits . One of the highlights is "Newton's Daydream", an ambitious audio-kinetic sculpture that is interactive. I loved the video feed from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA TV. It's so unusual to find a place for family entertainment that doesn't take every opportunity to charhe exhorbiant fees for everything, and this Planetarium is an exception. Parking was free in an adjacant lot. The exhibits are free. The movie prices are very reasonable, as well as the concession stand. Even the huge gift store has reasonable prices. I highly recommend while visiting Salt Lake City! Please see my photos for even more information.