Salt Lake City

Introduction

Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of Utah, and the seat of Salt Lake County. It sits within the Great Basin, where it is one of the principal urban centers alongside Reno, Nevada.

The city anchors a metropolitan area and forms part of the larger Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo combined statistical area, an urban corridor stretching along a 120-mile segment of the Wasatch Front.

Before you go

Salt Lake City sits in a valley with a sharply seasonal climate, so plan your wardrobe around the time of year. Summers are long, hot and dry, with warm nights and occasional evening thunderstorms from mid-July through mid-September; winters are cold and snowy, though severe blizzards are rare and light snow is treated as a daily occurrence. Spring is mild but the windiest and rainiest season, with inconsistent temperatures and mountain snowpack lingering into late May or June, while autumn is warm and typically drier than spring. Winter also brings inversions, when cold air trapped against the mountains stagnates and collects pollution for days or even weeks, producing some of the worst air quality in the country until the next storm clears it out.

It helps to know how the city is laid out before you arrive. Downtown is the financial core and home to Temple Square, the two-block complex with the LDS church headquarters and the Salt Lake Temple. Around it you'll find Central City, mostly residential; Sugar House in the southeast, known for its funky shops; the historic Avenues northeast of downtown; the University area around the sprawling University of Utah campus; affluent Federal Heights and Capitol Hill; the quirky Marmalade District west of Capitol Hill; and the heavily Hispanic Glendale district, home to the International Peace Gardens. The valley divides broadly between a more affluent east side and a west side, with the benches climbing the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains to the east. Note too that Salt Lake City is not close to the national parks and rugged terrain of southern Utah, which lie about a five-hour drive away.

Getting there

Most visitors arrive by air at Salt Lake City International Airport, on the western side of the city just off I-80. It serves as Delta's mid-country hub and also hosts direct international flights from Amsterdam, London, Paris, Seoul, and various cities in Mexico and Canada. Hotel shuttles, taxis, and the ride-share services Lyft and Uber connect the airport with downtown, and the UTA TRAX Green Line offers an inexpensive light-rail ride into the city. Two smaller airports near Ogden and Provo handle very few flights and are mainly useful if you are already in their immediate vicinity.

By road, two interstate freeways serve the city. I-80 runs coast to coast, connecting Salt Lake with Reno, Sacramento, and San Francisco across the Great Basin to the west, and with Wyoming towns and cities as far east as Chicago and the New York area. I-15 reaches both the Canadian and Mexican borders; to the south it passes through Las Vegas and San Diego, while northern destinations are mostly small towns in eastern Idaho and western Montana. From Boise, Portland, or Seattle, take I-84 to Ogden, then I-15 south into Salt Lake. Approximate driving times include six hours from Las Vegas, eight from Denver, ten from Phoenix, Albuquerque, or Los Angeles, and twelve from San Francisco.

Intercity buses stop at the Salt Lake Intermodal Hub on 600 West. Greyhound runs primarily along I-15 between San Bernardino, Las Vegas, St George, and Salt Lake City, with some variations continuing to Los Angeles, San Diego, or Long Beach, plus routes on I-80 to Denver and on I-84 from Portland via Boise; you transfer in Boise, Denver, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Portland, or San Bernardino for other destinations. Salt Lake Express serves the airport and also stops near the Conference Center on West Temple, traveling the I-15 corridor between Las Vegas, St George, Salt Lake City, Pocatello, Butte, and Great Falls, and along I-80 between Salt Lake City and Reno, with additional routes across Idaho and onward to West Yellowstone, Jackson, Zion National Park, and northern Arizona. TUFESA Bus Lines, based in Orem, runs mainly on I-10 and I-15 from Los Angeles and Ontario, California, through Las Vegas and St George. The Utah Transit Authority also operates commuter buses that bring you into the city from anywhere along the Wasatch Front, including limited service from the Park City area.

By train, the only intercity passenger service is Amtrak's California Zephyr, running between Chicago and San Francisco, with one train per day in each direction calling at the Intermodal Hub. The local FrontRunner commuter rail line connects Ogden, Salt Lake, and Provo, stopping at the Intermodal Hub (called Salt Lake Central Station on UTA maps) and connecting with TRAX at Salt Lake Central and the North Temple bridge over I-15; it runs hourly on weekdays with more frequent rush-hour service, and hourly on Saturdays. TRAX light rail, also operated by the Utah Transit Authority, can bring you into the city from outlying parts of Salt Lake County, and all lines travel to downtown.

Getting around

Salt Lake City is laid out on a numbered grid radiating from the southeast corner of Temple Square, with major streets running precisely east-to-west or north-to-south. Addresses are coordinates: 500 East means five blocks east of the center, 1300 South means thirteen blocks south, and a building like 629 South 1500 West sits between 600 South and 700 South on 1500 West. The cardinal direction in a street name tells you which side of the grid it falls on, not which way traffic flows, so North Main and South Main would be two entirely different streets. A few roads go by name rather than number: South Temple runs east-west and splits the grid's north and south halves, Main Street runs north-south and divides east from west, and 100 East, 100 North and 100 West are better known as State Street, North Temple and West Temple. Blocks are an eighth of a mile apart downtown but grow more irregular farther out, and the Avenues neighborhood in the northeast uses its own grid of numbered avenues and lettered streets that doesn't quite align with the rest of the city. The whole valley shares one grid, but neighboring towns have their own, so a road can change numbers without warning at an invisible boundary.

UTA runs the region's buses, light rail, commuter rail and streetcar. TRAX light rail has three color-coded lines converging downtown: the Blue Line links the Intermodal Hub, the Delta Center and Temple Square before heading south down Main Street past City Creek and Gallivan Plaza toward Murray, Sandy and Draper; the Green Line runs from the airport down North Temple Street, joins the Blue Line at the Arena and splits off to West Valley City; and the Red Line serves the University of Utah campus and medical center on the east bench before heading downtown and continuing southwest to West Jordan and South Jordan. The S-Line streetcar connects the Central Pointe light rail station to Sugar House. Buses reach the entire Wasatch Front, with some downtown lines running every fifteen minutes during the day, though only a handful of routes run at night or on Sundays and holidays, and extra lines serve the ski resorts in the canyons during winter. Much of downtown sits in a free fare zone where you can ride buses and light rail without a pass, but full fare applies the moment you cross one stop beyond it. Bicycles are allowed on UTA buses and trains, and GREENbike stations are scattered throughout downtown.

Driving is straightforward thanks to the wide streets and rare one-way roads, and on-street parking outside downtown is generally easy to find, though traffic crawls during the morning and evening rush hours. Interstate 15 runs north-to-south right past downtown, I-80 merges with it briefly before branching west near the airport and east toward Sugarhouse and the residential areas, and the I-215 belt route loops three-quarters of the way around the city, skipping the mountainous northeast. State Route 201 heads west from I-15 into West Valley City and Magna, meeting the southern end of the I-15/I-80 concurrency at an interchange known as the Spaghetti Bowl. Local drivers generally know how to handle snow, and roads are almost always plowed within hours of a storm. On a bike, you can ride the sidewalks legally everywhere except the central blocks of downtown, though you must signal audibly when overtaking a pedestrian, and many major streets have bike lanes that were added without widening the road, leaving little buffer from car traffic. Residential side streets are often the easier choice, and the city has been converting traffic lanes into better bike infrastructure on streets like 200 and 300 South, 900 West and 500 East, with cycle tracks on parts of 300 South and 200 West.

Where to stay

Food & drink

Salt Lake City isn't a hotbed of culinary innovation, but it does have one delicacy all its own: fry sauce, a condiment of ketchup mixed with mayonnaise and sometimes seasonings, eaten on French fries, onion rings, and the like. It was created decades ago by the local fast food chain Arctic Circle, and you'll now find it in burger joints across Utah and in parts of neighboring states. Even national chains usually stock it at their Utah locations, and many drive-thrus hand it out by default if you don't ask for something specific.

For a sit-down meal, the city spreads its tables across several neighbourhoods. Downtown you'll find Siegfried's Delicatessen, an authentic German deli, and Squatter's, the first area brewpub of the modern era, with a nice patio. Near the University, The Pie Pizzeria serves giant, thickly loaded pizzas in a dark, cozy basement whose walls are covered in twenty years of graffiti. The Red Iguana, a popular and often crowded Mexican restaurant built on old family recipes, sits on North Temple with a second location nearby and an express version at City Creek Center. In Emigration Canyon, Ruth's Diner has occupied a unique mountain setting with creekside patio seating since 1930 and is known for its large "mile high" biscuits. Other options range widely: Afghan Kitchen and Mahider share a commercial strip on South State Street, while Namash Swahili Cuisine, Wild Peru, and Oromian add East African and South American flavours. Hires Big H has served burgers and shakes with carhop service since 1959, Moochie's specializes in Philly cheesesteaks and meatball subs, and City Cakes & Cafe is a vegan bakery and cafe.

What to see and do

When to go

Salt Lake City has an extremely seasonal climate, with long, hot, dry summers, cold snowy winters, and shorter, inconsistent spring and fall. Overall precipitation is low. Winter is cold and snowy, with daytime temperatures below freezing at times and overnight lows usually below freezing; snow is common, though severe blizzards are almost nonexistent and the city operates normally. Higher elevations receive much more snow than the valley floor. The worst feature of winter is the inversion, which traps pollution for days or weeks and is cleared only by the next storm. Winter tourism largely uses the city as a base for nearby ski resorts.

Spring is mild but the windiest and rainiest time of year, with rainstorms that are mostly light or moderate and often last just minutes; sunny days bring some of the nicest weather of the year in the valley. Mountain snowpack does not recede until late May or June, so camping and hiking are unavailable and ski resorts stay open into April. Summer is long, hot, and dry, with low humidity and warm nights; mid-June through early July is clear and sun-baked, while mid-July through mid-September brings somewhat frequent evening thunderstorms that are usually short-lived but can bring hail to the valleys. Autumn is a nice time to visit, warm and typically drier than spring, with Pacific storms beginning around mid-October; mountain leaves peak in brilliant color around mid-to-late September, and by mid-to-late November you must be prepared for snowfall and freezing temperatures.

Three days in Salt Lake City

Day one: Start downtown, where Temple Square anchors the center of the city and the LDS temple and grounds give you the obvious first orientation. From there, walk into Central City and the Avenues, two central neighbourhoods with their own quiet streets and local character, and loop up to Capitol Hill for the views over the valley. If you have time left in the afternoon, head to Sugar House for a slower wander and something to eat.

Day two: Give the day to the outdoors. The Wasatch Mountains rise directly above the city, and the Wasatch Front stretches north toward Ogden and south toward Provo, so you can pick a canyon or foothill route without leaving the metro. In summer, July through September, expect hot, dry days and plan your walking for the morning; spring, from May into June, is milder and greener. Winter brings snow to the mountains and cold, often hazy air to the valley floor.

Day three: Fill the morning with the pieces you missed. The Marmalade District and Federal Heights sit close to the center and reward a short drive or walk, while the University area and Hispanic Glendale each have a distinct feel, and the International Peace Gardens make an easy, calm stop. If you are flying out, Salt Lake City International Airport is a short hop from downtown, with Delta among the carriers serving it; Reno and the wider Great Basin lie beyond the mountains to the west if you are continuing on by road.