The Hill Aerospace Museum is one of those “can’t miss” attractions when you’re anywhere near Salt Lake City, Utah. Featuring the earliest airplanes flown in combat, through to planes with amazing Cold War stealth capabilities, it’s a fascinating military aviation museum.
We saw the first signs for it several hundred miles before we arrived and were glad we had!
What’s in the Hill Aerospace Museum?
The Hill Aerospace Museum covers about 30 acres on the northwest corner of Hill Air Force Base in Utah. You don’t, however, go onto the base to get to it, as we discovered on our visit.
So, you don’t need any special passes.
The exit from Interstate 15 (I-15) takes you to to the free parking lot, visitor center and hangars, and the enormous Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. Wow! David wasn’t much taller than its tires.
Douglas C-124 Globemaster
The C-124 Globemaster even had a hydraulic ramp in the nose and elevator under the fuselage that made it possible to haul tanks. This specific plane was assigned to the base in 1965. Its wingspan is 174 feet and length is 130 feet. It can attain a maximum speed of 271 mph at sea level and 230 mph at 10,000 feet.
More Exhibits
There are eight different exhibits that display about 20% of their 4000+ artifacts. This includes more than 90 military aircraft, missiles, and ground vehicles. So, the museum changes on a regular basis, making it exciting to visit year after year.
You start your journey through time with the Beginnings exhibit. A replica of the Burgess-Wright Model B Flyer occupies center stage here, taking you back to 1911.
The plane itself, originally made by the first licensed manufacturer in the US, is 29 feet long and weighs a mere 1270 pounds.
All I can say is that those early pilots were a lot braver than I am, when it comes to what they would leave the ground on!
Linda’s Favorite Exhibit
We visit a lot of machine museums and usually find that the Cold War era planes are the most fascinating.
I’ll admit our interest may be because we were children during the Cold War and the visions of war were all too real. Indeed, we both remember “duck and cover” practice at school, where we were all taught to curl up under our desks for protection at a bomb warning. Thankfully, the bombs never came, since there wouldn’t have been any protection under our desks anyway.
All of the planes in the Cold War exhibit are listed on the Hill Air Force Base website, so you can check out the details and see photos.
And if you want to see the beginnings of the jet age, the planes in the exhibit are listed here.
Lockheed SR71 Blackbird
My favorite — well, David’s favorite — plane was this Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. Likely everyone who loves speed and big engines will also be impressed with its World Speed record of 2,193.167 mph, and altitude of 85,068.997 feet, set July 28, 1976.
The plane also set a New York to London record.
Its average speed on September 1, 1974, was 1,806 mph, covering the distance in 1 hour, 54 minutes, and 56.4 seconds.
Fast Fact: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set its final record March 6, 1990, taking 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 19.8 seconds to fly from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, at 2,144 mph.
Linda’s Road Trip Tips
We visited the Hill Aerospace Museum on a trip that started out in Glacier Park, Montana, took us through the Redwood forests of California, then back through the Bonnyville Salt Flats. We saw a lot before making it back to Montana and home!
This was the turning point north, so we were taking it easy staying at the Super 8 in Salt Lake City, and eating at a Perkins.
If you’re heading south though, on I-15, do check out the Legends Motorcycle Museum. It’s 45 minutes south of Salt Lake City — we visited it on our next trip through.
Who Should Visit the Hill Aerospace Museum?
Whether you’re fascinated with the development of the airplane, or with its military uses, this museum is for you. Displaying over a century of history, there are lots of unique planes.
The exhibits are well organized, although you may sometimes be walking under the wings of one airplane while trying to take photos of another inside.
Outside, the planes are well spread out and the ground is level, making it fine for kids to run on and those with mobility issues to explore.
As you might expect in a military museum, there’s been lots of attention to detail.
All of the machines have detailed information cards, so it can take quite a while to get through everything.
How Do You Visit Hill Aerospace Museum?
Fast Fact: Admission to Hill Aerospace Museum is free, making it a popular attraction for families on holidays.
Address: 7961 Cottonwood St Building 1955, Hill AFB, Utah
Open daily Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 pm to 4:00 pm, there’s lot of time to explore on your visit — we spent about three hours to go through all of the exhibits.
You can visit any time of year, as the museum is open seven days a week year round, only closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Check out the history of the Air Base on its website.
Learn more about the aircraft collection at Hill Aerospace Museum.
Keep up-to-date on happenings with the Hill Aerospace Museum Facebook page.
Follow the Hill Aerospace Museum on YouTube.
Plan your trip to the Hill Aerospace Museum with Google Maps.
Explore More Military & War Museums
- Plains of Abraham Museum & Battlefield Park: Quebec City
The museum provides a highly interactive dive into the history of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Battlefield Park in Quebec City, Canada. - Canada’s Little-Known Cold War Museum: the Diefenbunker
The Diefenbunker Museum outside Ottawa, Ontario, was built to house the government in the event of a Cold War nuclear attack. The four underground levels archive 32 years of military use. - U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii Artillery Battery in Honolulu
From early Hawaiian Warfare to Pearl Harbor and WWII to the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii is a fascinating attraction. Visit it in Battery Randolph in Waikiki, Honolulu. - USS Lexington Museum: WWII Aircraft Carrier in Corpus Christi, Texas
The USS Lexington Museum & National Historic Landmark is a must-see aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi, Texas. Onboard experiences include everything from vintage planes to a flight simulator to a 3D theater. - Regional Military Museum: Artifacts from all US Wars in Houma, Lousiana
- Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum: Ashland, Nebraska
The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum has a collection of around 40 Cold War military airplanes and many types of missiles. It’s located in Ashland, Nebraska. - Vancouver Island Military Museum: Nanaimo, British Columbia
The Vancouver Island Military Museum is in Nanaimo, BC. Lodged in an historic octagon-shaped building, it has 25+ major exhibits and displays. - National Museum of the Pacific War: Fredericksburg, Texas
The National Museum of the Pacific War is located inFredericksburg, Texas. With comprehensive coverage of the Pacific theaters and regularly scheduled re-enactments, it’s a must-see Texas attraction. - Hill Aerospace Museum: Military Aircraft at Hill AFB, Utah
A free attraction, the Hill Aerospace Museum is military aviation museum. The collection includes 90+ military aircraft and missiles. - Battleship Memorial Park: 1942 Battleship & 1941 Submarine in Mobile, Alabama
Battleship Memorial Park is home to both a 1942 battleship and a 1941 submarine. It also includes an aircraft pavilion with some Cold War planes. - Fagen Fighters WWII Museum: Granite Falls, Minnesota
Visit this Minnesota WWII museum to find many unique artifacts from World War II. It also features large realistic wall murals depicting important battles. - Manhattan Project National Historical Park: WWII History in Hanford, Washington
The National Historical Park B Reactor in Hanford, WA, was one of three sites in the Manhattan Project. Take a free tour to see the reactor as it looked during operations. - National World War II Museum: New Orleans, Louisiana
The National WWII Museum takes you to 27 countries around the world, covering all the theaters of WWII. It also has a Dog Tag experience that let each visitor have a real-life story to follow.
guide2museums.com 
