Overlooked Western attractions

The spires of Salt Lake Temple rise in downtown Salt Lake City’s Temple Square. Behind it is the Tabernacle, which was completed in 1867. Its dome is 150 feet wide, without center supports.  (Douglas C. Pizac/Associated Press)

Rainbow trout are the name of the game at Dusey Basin in Kings Canyon National Park. That’s 12,321-foot Isosceles Peak in the background. Don’t like to fish? Nearby Sequoia National Park is home to the largest living single-trunk tree on the planet: the General Sherman in Giant Forest.  (Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times)

Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the state capitol in Austin. Take a tour of it, and remember that it’s even taller than the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.  (Harry Cabluck / Associated Press)

The stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas — especially at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis. The observatory is home to the gigantic Hobby-Eberly Telescope.  (Walt Frerck/Associated Press)

The Salk Institute in La Jolla is sublimely modern yet organic. It was designed by iconoclast Louis Kahn and described by Dr. Jonas Salk as “architecture as a crucible for creativity.”  (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune / Zuma Press)

Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” sculpture is once again visible in Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Created in 1970 out of basalt and earth, it forms a 1,500-foot-long coil stretching into the lake.  (Tom Smart / For The Times)

After exploring San Diego, head to the harbor for a tour. Learn about naval stations and ships; catch waves from massive military tankers entering the bay; and get close-ups of the Shelter Islands, the Coronado Bridge and other attractions.  (Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images)