A plan for Salt Lake City

Districts

Notable neighborhoods in Salt Lake City include:

Downtown, the financial core and home to Temple Square (a two-block complex that includes the LDS church headquarters, the Salt Lake Temple, and various other sites related to Mormon history and culture)

Central City, a mostly residential area from approximately 400 South to 900 South

Sugar House, a commercial/residential district in the southeastern corner of the city, known for its funky shops

The Avenues, a historical neighborhood with many old buildings, northeast of downtown

University, the area around the sprawling University of Utah campus and the adjacent Research Park, VA Medical Center, and Fort Douglas

Federal Heights, a small, affluent neighborhood in the hills east of The Avenues and north of the University

East Bench or Foothill, a residential neighborhood between 900 South and I-80, bisected by the major arterial road Foothill Boulevard

Capitol Hill, an affluent sloping district north of downtown, topped by the Utah State Capitol building

the Marmalade District, a quirky area immediately west of Capitol Hill with some unusual architecture and decor

Rose Park, a residential neighborhood northwest of downtown, near the airport

Glendale, a heavily Hispanic residential district and home to the International Peace Gardens, at the southern end of the westside

The benches refer to a handful of residential, upper-class communities along the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains on the east side of the valley, and to a lesser extent on the Traverse Mountains at the southern end of the valley and the Oquirrh Mountains on the western side.

The predominant economic divide in the Salt Lake Valley is between the eastern and western halves, with the east side traditionally being more affluent and conservative.

1 Utah State Capitol, 350 N State St (just north of downtown; public transit: UTA Bus 200 (stops at four places around the Capitol grounds)), ☏ +1 801-538-3074. Mon–Fri 7AM–8PM, Sat Sun 8AM–6PM. The grand state capitol building is prominently displayed on the mountainside, in a lovely park overlooking Downtown. The grounds include a reflecting pond and several memorials. Inside are large open areas and monumental architecture. On weekdays, guided tours are available at no charge on the hour. All publicly accessible areas are free. (updated May 2023)

2 Salt Lake City and County Building, 451 S State St (at the corner of University Blvd & State St.; public transit: UTA TRAX Red Line (Library Station) and Bus 1, 4, 200, 205, 209, 451, 455, 470, 472, and 473), ☏ +1 801-533-0858. Guided tours on Mondays, June-August free, but online reservation needed. Seat of the city government since the 1890s, and in times past was also the seat of county government and even the state capitol building for 20 years. The halls are lined with onyx on each of four lavishly decorated floors. A clock tower rises 256 feet (78 m) above ground level in the middle of the building and is topped by a statue of Columbia. Portraits of former mayors line the third floor corridor between the mayor's office in the south wing and the city council chamber in the north wing. On the fourth floor is an exhibit dedicated to the 2002 Winter Olympics. (updated May 2023)

Outdoor recreation

Salt Lake City is a hub for an incredible variety of outdoor recreation. Summer activities available in the area include camping, hiking, rock-climbing, mountain biking, boating, and fishing. Popular trails within the city include City Creek Canyon and the walking paths at 1 Red Butte Garden.

Several world-class ski resorts are accessible within minutes of Salt Lake. Ski areas in both Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon are served by UTA bus lines. Park City, the main skiing and snowboarding venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics, is about a 40-minute drive up Parley's Canyon (east on Interstate 80). Ski resorts in the Wasatch Mountains are famous for light, powdery snow that creates ideal skiing conditions. One variant of the Utah state license plate even dubs it the "Greatest Snow on Earth".

Brighton (Big Cottonwood Canyon). Within a 20-minute drive of downtown.

Solitude (Big Cottonwood Canyon). About 20 minutes away from downtown.

2 Snowbird (Little Cottonwood Canyon). This scenic resort is within a half hour of Downtown. Mostly known for skiing and snowboarding, but there are also activities for non-skiers. A scenic tram ride to the top of 11,000 ft Hidden Peak operates year round, weather permitting, and the views from the peak are spectacular in all directions. Summer at Snowbird resembles a carnival, with an assortment of rides and activities.

The nearby town of Alta is built around a ski resort and three more can be found in Park City.

3 Rose Park Golf Course, 1386 N Redwood Rd, ☏ +1 801-596-5030. (updated Jan 2016)

Salt Lake City has quite a few opportunities for recreational bicycling, both on- and offroad. The Jordan River Parkway is a north-south asphalt nonmotorized path that follows the banks of the Jordan River. At the southern end it begins at Utah Lake near Provo (Utah County); at the north end it connects to similar paths (Legacy Trail, D&G Trail) which extend the continuous riding all the way to Roy (near Ogden, in Weber County), about 100 miles in total. It connects many other bike trails. Other paved nonmotorized trails in Salt Lake County include:

While not known as a hotbed of culinary innovation, there is one delicacy that originates from Utah: fry sauce, a condiment made by mixing ketchup and mayonnaise, sometimes with seasonings depending on the recipe, and eaten on French fries, onion rings, etc. Fry sauce was created decades ago by the local fast food chain Arctic Circle and can now be found in burger joints throughout Utah and in portions of neighboring states. The food processing giant Heinz has begun selling the condiment nationwide under the "Mayochup" brand name. Even national chain restaurants usually have fry sauce at their Utah locations, and many give it out as the default condiment at the drive-thru if you don't ask for something specific.

Budget

1 Hires Big H, 425 South 700 East. This casual business with a retro vibe has been serving popular burgers and shakes since 1959. It still offers carhop service. (updated Mar 2024)

2 The Pie Pizzeria, 1320 E 200 S (next to the University), ☏ +1 801-582-5700. Mon-Thu 11AM-1AM, Fri Sat 11AM-3AM, Sun noon-11PM. Two locations around the corner from each other: one for take-out only and then a dine-in location in a dark but cozy basement with twenty years worth of graffiti covering the walls. Best known for their giant, thickly loaded pizzas, but they also serve salads, sub sandwiches, and beer. $6-20.

3 The Red Iguana, 736 W North Temple, ☏ +1 801-322-1489. Mon–Thu 11AM–10PM, Fri 11AM–11PM, Sat 10AM–11PM, Sun 10AM–9PM. Mexican restaurant with a menu based on old family recipes. Popular and crowded enough that they have a second location less than two blocks away (866 W South Temple, ☏ +1 801-214-6050) and an express version called Taste of Red Iguana a mile (2 km) east on the State Street side of the City Creek Center mall. $10–20.

There are far too many watering holes in the metropolitan area to offer even a reasonably comprehensive list. Below is just a sampling.

5 The Bayou, 645 S State St, ☏ +1 801-961-8400. Mon 11AM–midnight, Tue-Fri 11AM–1AM, Sat 5PM–1AM, Sun 5PM–midnight. A beer lover's paradise with over 300 different beers from all over the world, about 30 of them on tap. The food menu features Cajun and Creole dishes like Jambalaya Pizza, Alligator Cheesecake, and Blackened Catfish Salad. Live music after 9PM on most Friday and Saturday nights.

6 The Locker Room, 1063 E 2100 S. Mon–Thu 11AM–11PM, Fri 11AM–midnight, Sat 9AM–midnight, Sun 9AM–10PM. Sugar House sports bar that takes on a laid-back bar & grill atmosphere between games. Standard American food: burgers, pizza, etc. Brands itself as very LGBTQ+ friendly. (updated Mar 2024)

7 Gracie's, 326 S West Temple, ☏ +1 801-819-7565. Mon–Sat 11AM–2AM, Sun 10AM–2AM. Stylish two-story gastropub popular with the younger crowd. Has a patio on each floor and beautiful views of both downtown and the mountains. Live music most nights, not just on weekends. Must be 21 or older. $10–30.

8 Under Current, 270 S 300 E (adjacent to Current seafood restaurant), info@undercurrentbar.com. Mon-Thu 5-11PM, Fri Sat 5PM-midnight. An upscale bar serving high quality cocktails as well as a small food menu with items from the seafood restaurant nextdoor. (updated Jan 2024)

9 Copper Common, 111 E. Broadway, ☏ +1 801-355 0543, info@copperslc.com. Sun-Thu 5PM-midnight, Fri Sat 5PM-1AM, Sun brunch 10:30AM-3PM. Cocktail bar with a full food menu. If this wasn't Utah it could probably be called a restaurant. (updated Jan 2024)

Utah liquor laws

The state of Utah has a reputation for unusual and frustrating laws regulating the sale of alcoholic beverages. This reputation was well-deserved until the late 2000s, but the state made a series of reforms and the situation isn't as bad as you may have heard: you no longer have to sign up for a club membership just to enter a bar, for example. A few quirks remain that may catch tourists by surprise:

Derived from Joseph Smith's ideas around urban planning from the "Plat of Zion," most of the Salt Lake Valley uses a consistent street grid radiating out from the southeast corner of Temple Square, downtown. Major streets run precisely east-to-west or north-to-south. Addresses are coordinates within the grid, and streets represent intervals of 100 in each direction. For example, the street five blocks east of the grid's center is called 500 East (commonly called 'Fifth East' in spoken conversation) and 13 blocks south is 1300 South (or 'Thirteenth South'). This means that the cardinal directions mentioned in street names do not represent a direction you can drive on that street, and if the direction designation is the only difference between two street names, they are two completely different streets, unlike the common street naming system where North Main and South Main would be two halves of a contiguous road. Building addresses are numbered based on their position between the 100-interval streets at either end of the block: 629 South 1500 West would be between 600 South and 700 South on 1500 West.

A few streets are known by their names rather than their numbers: these include South Temple (which runs East/West, splitting the northern and southern halves of the grid) and Main Street (which runs North/South, dividing East and West sides). 100 East is universally known as State Street; 100 North and 100 West are better known as North Temple and West Temple, as they border the northern and western edges of Temple Square. Some other streets downtown have honorary names, which are not in common use.

Streets are an eighth of a mile (a fifth of a kilometer) apart downtown, but become more irregularly spaced as you move farther from the city center. Many major roads are numbered according to the grid system, but suburban streets are a mix of numbers and names. Most street signs helpfully provide the coordinates of named streets.

The Avenues neighborhood in the northeast corner of Salt Lake City also has its own street grid, which doesn't quite align with the rest of the city. This grid consists of east/west avenues numbered 1 though 18 (1st Avenue is the farthest south) and north/south streets lettered A through U (A Street is the farthest west).

Crime

Crime in Salt Lake City tends to skew a bit more toward property crime than violent offenses, although, as with any city, the situation varies between neighborhoods. As a general rule, higher elevations like the east side and Capitol Hill are safer than lower-lying areas like Glendale and Rose Park, simply because affluent locals prefer the views from mountainside properties and the poorer neighborhoods are left for the valley. The vast majority of Salt Lake City is safe for tourists during daylight hours; some neighborhoods remain safe overnight, but there are certain areas to avoid after dark. Pioneer Park is near a busy homeless shelter and, despite crackdown efforts, has more than its share of drug transactions.

Violent crimes against random targets are rare. Among nearby suburbs, you're most likely to stumble across a sketchy neighborhood in South Salt Lake, West Valley City, or maybe Taylorsville.

Weather

The weather in the Salt Lake Valley presents few safety hazards – the heat of summer is always accompanied by low humidity, and winter snowstorms are usually calm. "Black ice" can make driving tricky: an invisibly thin layer can be enough to send your car skidding sideways out of your lane. The best defense against this is to simply drive slower and leave extra room for braking after a storm.

The winter temperature inversions are the biggest health hazard Salt Lake weather will throw at you. Inversions occur between snowstorms and trap dangerous levels of pollution in the lower atmosphere, affecting all low-lying areas in the Salt Lake Valley and other valleys nearby. Long-term exposure isn't considered safe for anyone, and even short-term exposure can seriously aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma. If you can avoid the valleys, the air stays clean year-round at the ski resorts in the mountains.