Inside the Salt Lake Temple
For one rare season in 2027, travelers will be invited inside the most recognizable building in Utah: the Salt Lake Temple at Temple Square. This guide explains the confirmed dates, reservation timing, renovation story, historic details, nearby sights, and what visitors should know before planning a trip around the open house.
The essential visitor brief
The Salt Lake Temple open house is not a standard attraction opening. It is a temporary public-access season for a building that has usually been closed to general public interior tours since its 1893 dedication.
Confirmed visitor window: The Salt Lake Temple Celebration and open house is scheduled for April 5 through October 1, 2027. Reservations are scheduled to begin September 1, 2026, through Temple Square.
Why the 2027 Salt Lake Temple open house matters
The Salt Lake Temple is the granite centerpiece of Temple Square and one of the defining landmarks of the American West. For most Salt Lake City visitors, it has always been a building to admire from the outside: six spires, carved symbols, the Angel Moroni statue, and a story wrapped into the street grid of the city itself.
The 2027 open house changes that for a limited season. Visitors will have a chance to experience the renovated temple interior before the building is rededicated and returns to its regular sacred use. For travelers interested in architecture, religious history, pioneer craftsmanship, Utah heritage, or rare access to landmark interiors, this is the Salt Lake City event to plan around.
The strongest way to understand the event is not merely as a building reopening, but as a once-in-generations intersection of history, engineering, and tourism. The temple took roughly four decades to build in the 1800s. It then underwent a major 21st-century renovation that placed the historic stone structure on a modern seismic base-isolation system.
That combination gives the 2027 visitor experience unusual depth: pioneer-era quarry work, hand-carved granite symbolism, a famous 1892 capstone ceremony, a restored Angel Moroni statue, new visitor exhibits, and one of the most ambitious preservation-engineering projects in Utah history.
Salt Lake Temple history: the facts visitors remember
The Salt Lake Temple was not simply placed in Salt Lake City. The city grew around it. Brigham Young identified the temple site shortly after the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley, and Salt Lake City’s street grid was measured outward from Temple Square.
Granite from Little Cottonwood Canyon
The temple’s stone came from Little Cottonwood Canyon, more than 20 miles southeast of Temple Square. Quarry crews cut enormous blocks from the canyon, and early deliveries by ox team could take days for a single stone.
A forty-year build
Construction began in 1853 and the temple was dedicated in 1893. The long build crossed generations, Church leadership changes, railroad arrival, political conflict, and massive growth in the Salt Lake Valley.
Craftsmanship under pressure
Historical accounts describe workers who sacrificed years of labor, wages, comfort, and family resources. The building was a religious project, but also a human story of quarrymen, masons, carpenters, artisans, and families.
The foundation that disappeared
During the Utah War period, work on the temple was interrupted and the foundation was reportedly covered over so the site would look like ordinary ground. When construction resumed, problems with earlier foundation stone led to major rebuilding decisions. The result was a more durable granite foundation and a far longer timeline.
The detail matters because it explains the character of the building. The Salt Lake Temple was not built quickly for convenience. It was built slowly, revised when necessary, and intended to last.
The 1892 capstone spectacle
On April 6, 1892, huge crowds filled Temple Square and surrounding streets for the capstone ceremony. Wilford Woodruff pressed an electric switch connected with the capstone event, and the Angel Moroni statue was placed on the east center spire that same day.
That moment began a final push to complete the interior by the 40th anniversary of the temple’s commencement. The temple was dedicated one year later, on April 6, 1893.
The symbols carved into the Salt Lake Temple
The outside of the Salt Lake Temple is a field guide in granite. Even visitors who never step inside can spend meaningful time reading the building’s carved symbols from Temple Square.
Sunstones
Carved sun symbols appear around the building and are often associated with heavenly glory in Latter-day Saint temple symbolism.
Moonstones
Moon carvings appear in changing phases, commonly interpreted as symbols of life’s progression and spiritual movement.
Starstones
Stars appear across the towers, including designs that point downward, often described as heaven reaching toward earth.
Earthstones
Carved globes at the base of the buttresses connect the building’s religious symbolism with the physical world.
Clasped hands
The clasped-hands motif appears over entrances and is commonly associated with fellowship, covenant, and welcome.
Beehive details
The beehive, Utah’s classic symbol of industry and cooperation, appears in temple and state symbolism throughout Salt Lake City.
What visitors may see inside the Salt Lake Temple
The final 2027 visitor route has not been fully published. That matters. Any exact room-by-room itinerary should be treated as tentative until Temple Square confirms it. What is clear is that the open house is designed to let visitors experience the renovated Salt Lake Temple and surrounding Temple Square before rededication.
Historic interior craftsmanship
The renovation included restoration of historic interior finishes, woodwork, plaster, art-glass windows, and other details meant to preserve the building’s 19th-century character while updating its systems.
Temple rooms and sacred purpose
Latter-day Saint temples are used for sacred ordinances, including marriage sealings and family-related worship. The open house gives visitors context for spaces normally reserved after dedication.
A preview is available now
The Temple Square Visitors’ Center includes an “Inside a Temple” experience with replica rooms. It is useful orientation before 2027, but it is not the same as the final Salt Lake Temple open-house route.
Temple Square is more than the temple reservation
The open-house reservation is the anchor. The surrounding Temple Square experience is what turns the visit into a complete Salt Lake City itinerary.
Temple Square Visitors’ Center
The new Visitors’ Center gives travelers a structured introduction to temple worship, Jesus Christ-centered exhibits, and the “Inside a Temple” replica-room experience.
Salt Lake Tabernacle
The Tabernacle is famous for the Tabernacle Choir, the organ, and its extraordinary acoustics. It remains one of the essential stops on Temple Square.
Historic downtown landmarks
Pair Temple Square with nearby landmarks such as the Beehive House, Lion House, City Creek Center, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and the Utah State Capitol overlook.
The renovation story tourists will remember
The 2019–2026 renovation was not merely cosmetic. The project was designed to protect a 19th-century landmark from 21st-century seismic risk while preserving the temple’s historic identity.
Crews installed 98 base isolators beneath the temple. Each isolator is approximately seven feet across and weighs about 18,000 pounds, with the capacity to carry millions of pounds. The system allows horizontal movement during an earthquake so the ground can shift differently from the building above.
The renovation also restored historic interiors, improved accessibility, updated building systems, returned significant architectural features, and added new underground space on the temple’s north side. For visitors, the story is unusually strong: pioneer craftsmanship above, modern seismic engineering below.
One of the most memorable modern episodes came in March 2020, when a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Salt Lake Valley and damaged the Angel Moroni statue’s trumpet. The restored statue later returned to the temple spire as renovation work continued.
How to plan around the 2027 open house
Start with the temple time slot
Reservations are scheduled to begin September 1, 2026. Secure the temple visit first, then build flights, hotels, meals, transportation, and sightseeing around that confirmed time.
Budget more than the interior tour
Plan for arrival, entry procedures, the temple experience, the Visitors’ Center, the Tabernacle, gardens, and downtown walking time. A half-day Temple Square plan is more realistic than a quick stop.
Check official updates before travel
Transportation, security, visitor route, shuttle, and crowd-flow details can change. Recheck Temple Square guidance before booking final logistics and again shortly before your visit.
From pioneer cornerstone to public open house
- 1847
Brigham Young identifies the temple site shortly after the pioneers enter the Salt Lake Valley.
- 1853
Groundbreaking and cornerstone ceremonies begin the long construction era.
- 1858
Temple work is interrupted during the Utah War period, and the foundation becomes part of one of the building’s most repeated early stories.
- 1873
A rail spur to Little Cottonwood Canyon dramatically improves the movement of temple stone from quarry to city.
- 1892
The capstone ceremony draws an immense crowd to Temple Square, and the Angel Moroni statue is placed on the east center spire.
- 1893
The Salt Lake Temple is dedicated after roughly 40 years of construction.
- 2019
The temple closes for seismic, structural, and interior renovation.
- 2020
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake damages the Angel Moroni statue’s trumpet, underscoring the seismic story behind the renovation.
- 2026
Temple Square opens the new Visitors’ Center, and open-house reservations are scheduled to begin September 1.
- 2027
The public open-house season runs April 5 through October 1 before the temple is rededicated.
Salt Lake Temple sightseeing tour details are coming
City Sights SLC Tours is preparing for the 2027 Salt Lake Temple open-house season. Final tour formats, schedules, routes, pickup details, and Temple Square pairings will be announced when operational plans are ready.
Travelers can already use this guide to understand the landmark, the reservation timeline, the renovation story, and the surrounding Temple Square experience. When guided tour options are finalized, this section will be updated with the clearest way to pair the Salt Lake Temple open house with a larger Salt Lake City sightseeing day.
Salt Lake Temple 2027 open house questions
When is the Salt Lake Temple open house?
The announced public open-house season runs April 5 through October 1, 2027, at Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.
When do reservations open?
Reservations are scheduled to begin September 1, 2026, through Temple Square.
Can visitors who are not members of the Church go inside?
Yes. The 2027 open house is a public visitor window before the temple is rededicated.
What happens after October 1, 2027?
After the open-house season, the temple is expected to be rededicated and return to its regular sacred use. Temple Square’s grounds and other visitor experiences remain separate attractions.
What will visitors see inside?
The final room-by-room route has not been fully published. Visitors should expect a structured temple open-house experience through the renovated building, but exact interior details should be checked through official Temple Square updates closer to the visit.
How long should tourists budget?
Plan conservatively. Between arrival, entry procedures, the temple experience, the Visitors’ Center, Tabernacle, gardens, and downtown walking time, a half-day Temple Square plan is more practical than a short photo stop.
Can visitors preview a temple before 2027?
Yes. The Temple Square Visitors’ Center includes an “Inside a Temple” experience with replica rooms that can help visitors understand temple spaces before the 2027 Salt Lake Temple open house.
Will City Sights offer tours connected to the open house?
City Sights SLC Tours is preparing 2027 sightseeing options around the Salt Lake Temple open-house season. Final products, schedules, routes, and pickup details will be announced when available.
About this guide: This page is maintained as a visitor planning guide for travelers researching the Salt Lake Temple, Temple Square, and the 2027 open-house season. Details should be rechecked through official Temple Square channels before travel, because visitor operations may change.
Image credits: Lead temple photo by David Iliff, CC BY 2.5. Historic construction, capstone, interior, and quarry images are public-domain archival images available through Wikimedia Commons and related archival sources.
