1-Day Vacation Guide: Salt Lake City

So, you have one free day off, or maybe just an afternoon, and you happen to be in Salt Lake City, Utah (sometimes Salt Lake or SLC for short). How should you spend your time? Never fear, I grew up in Salt Lake City, and I've gotchu with some recommendations.

TL;DR

Go on a hike!!!

No, seriously, I mean it! Salt Lake City is completely surrounded by amazing nature, and a lot of it is very close to the city. If you're anywhere in the Salt Lake Valley, chances are you are a less than 20 minute drive away from a really cool hike with top tier views.

What make Salt Lake City unique

Salt Lake City is a small-ish by American standards, situated in a valley that is surrounded on all sides by mountains. Oh, and, yes, on one side between the city and the mountains there is the Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake City is especially close to the mountain range on it's eastern side, which collectively are called the Wasatch front. And these are HUGE: the base of the valley is at about 4000 ft in elevation, and the peaks get over 11,000.

I don't know a single other city in America that is both this big, that is this close to this much awesome nature. On one hand, Salt Lake has all of the standard "American city" things; on the other hand, at any point in the city you're legitimately a 20-30 minute drive from world class nature–hiking, skiing, climbing, and a million other outdoorsy things. If you want to experience SLC, in my opinion, the best way to do it is to experience the outdoors, because you'll never be closer. So, with that in mind, my recommendations...

Hiking

Go on a hike!

Hiking is one of the best things to do in SLC. There are amazing, world-class hikes to do that are close to wherever you are in the city. In fact, hiking is so popular that it's one of the main ways that locals hang out. My most basic recommendation is to pick a short hike near you. Hike up in the evening, and watch the sun set from the mountains. It is truly amazing.

If you're anywhere in the Salt Lake Valley, there is a good hike not very far from you. If you're around downtown, a short and very easy one is Ensign Peak trail, which has a great view of downtown. If you're by the University of Utah, the Living Room trail is within walking distance (even from the Math Department, I've done it!), and it's amazing too. If you're an advanced hiker, I'd recommend trying out Mt. Olympus, which is a short drive from campus/downtown. Or, just look up any short hike that's near you and go there, there's lots of good options.

One thing people often ask me about Salt Lake City is how to visit the Great Salt Lake. And... well, the Great Salt Lake is disgusting, you don't want to swim in it or even walk up to it. However, if you want to experience the Great Salt Lake, there is another option. You can go to Antelope Island State Park and do a hike there.

Antelope Island

Antelope Island has lots of interesting animals, but it's definitely most popular and famous for its Bison. If you were wondering why a place named "Antelope Island" is famous for Bison, I'm not sure. I've read that there are also antelope, they're just a bit harder to find. In my own experience, I've only really seen Bison. Another fun fact about Antelope Island is that it's not an island anymore; it turns out, the Great Salt Lake is slowly drying up. Yeah... yikes, you can ask a local about the latest politics relating to that... but anyways, all the more reason to visit before it's gone!

Buffalo Point Lookout is a very short and family-friendly hike, and it has a great view of the Salt Lake. I totally recommend that. If you're more into a day hike, you can try Frary Peak.

Antelope Island is about an hour drive from downtown Salt Lake City, so it's a little bit too far for an Uber, but just the right distance for a zipcar or other car-share service.

Planning a hiking trip

If you're planning a trip to Utah just to go hiking, plan it for May/June or September/October/Early November. In the winter it will be snowy, and in the summer it will be very hot, so your best bet is fall or spring.

If you happen to be in town in July or August, chances are the high will be in the high 90's or 100's Farhenheit. However, you can still go on a hike. You have two options. First, you can pick any hike that's within your skill level to complete in 4-6 hours, and get to the trailhead by 7:00 AM. Or, second, you can go on a shorter trail (not much longer than 3-4 miles unless you know what you're doing) and go in the evening to watch the sun set. Either way, make sure you have enough water.

Finally, and aside for more advanced hikers: if you are interested in one of those all-day-long hikes where you end up on top of a mountain at the end, there will likely be snow at the top of those mountains in the spring, while this much less likely in the fall. To illustrate the point: here is a picture of the top of the mountains in late April, when the temperature in the valley is 70-80 degrees.

Photo by Andrew Garzella

Spaking of snow, what if you're coming to Salt Lake in the winter? Surely, you won't be able to go on a hike, right? Well, actually there is

Winter hiking

Yes, that's right, you can even go on a hike in the winter. Most people think of snowshoeing as the winter analogue of hiking; in reality, snowshoes are better when it's just snowed and there is a lot of new powder. If it's been a while and the snow is icy, might be better to get spikes for your shoes and just hike without snowshoes. I haven't tried this yet, so I'd recommend to ask a local if you're going to do this.

Ok, so winter hiking might not be the most accessible thing to do for a newcomer. So what other options do we have?

Other Wintertime activities

Skiing

Skiing in Utah is really unique. If you're in the Salt Lake valley, chances are you're a 30 minute drive from a world-class ski resort. No other city in America that's this big is this close to snow that is this good.

If you're new to skiing/boarding, I have thoughts about the best way to get into it, but I'll save that for another time. If you already know how to ski/snowboard, here are my recs:

There are four main ski areas. Brighton is the most snowboard-friendly and has the chillest vibe. Solitude has amazing powder and tree-skiing. Snowbird is really steep and has lots of hard stuff. And Alta is where you go if you're a stuck-up skier :P (really, if you're a skier who is willing to hike little bit for amazing terrain). All four are on the Ikon Pass. If you have an Epic pass and are willing to drive longer, there's also Park City is about 45 minutes from downtown, and it is HUGE.

If you snowboard or are going with a snowboarder, I recommend Brighton (it's good for skiers too). If you're just skiing, I'd recommend Solitude, with one caveat, see below.

The best time of year to visit Utah to ski is January to March. Often, people think it's a good idea to come during Christmas/Winter break; however, the last few years Utah has seen very little snow around this time, so the skiing has been very dissapointing between Christmas and the New Year. And that's also when the ski resorts are most expensive. Solitude is particularly bad, since it's snow-making machinery is a bit outdated. Hopefully this will change in the future, but for now I would avoid Solitude if there's even a hint of not having enough snow.

Ice skating

If you visit SLC in December, January, or February, ther is an outdoor public ice skating rink downtown at Gallivan Plaza, which is pretty big and a lot of fun. Definitely recommend.

Other ideas

Here are some other things people do in Salt Lake City, that I don't have any particular recommendations for:

• 2002 Winter Olympics tourism

• Timpanogas Cave National Monument, which does require a bit of hiking and is best in the summer. It's also about an hour drive from downtown.

• LDS church tourism

• any outdoor activity that you can imagine: camping, fishing, climbing, hang gliding, backpacking, mountain biking, canyoneering, river rafting, and on and on; some of these require a longer drive, usually not much more than four hours

• Normal city stuff: zoo, acquarium, professional/college sports, etc.

On Utah's food culture

People often ask me what unique foods there are in SLC that they should try. To be honest, the food culture in Salt Lake just is not at the level of other places in the US like New York City or Los Angeles. If you're a true foodie from a place like that, you'll probably be dissapointed if you're expecting unique and amazing food. Like most American cities, SLC has all of the standard American food, as well as Americanized food from a wide variety of cuisines, so you can at least get something good.

If you ask a local food culture, they're likely to tell you about "fry sauce", which is a mix of ketchup and mayo; you can ask for it at any burger place. A local also might tell you about Cafe Rio, which an Americanized-Mexican food place. I think Cafe Rio is yummy, but I wouldn't call it "unique".

Salt Lake City has substantial immigrant populations from all over the world. If you're willing to search around, you might be able to find unique immigrant food. As someone who isn't really a foodie, I don't have specific recs, but it's probably worth looking.

If you want the best-tasting food in Salt Lake City, I'd encourage you to embrace the local ethos and go on a hike. Then, you'll be more tired and whatever food you get will taste way better :)