On my South-West Road trip last week, we visited Salt Lake City. With limited time in the city, we had to be very strategic about what we saw. I loved Salt Lake City so much, it was such a great city and I’m dying to go back and see more of it!
We drove from Hurricane, Utah (near Zion National Park) to Salt Lake in the morning, the drive was about 3 hours so we got to Salt Lake around noon.
12:00 pm: Lunch at Cubby’s
After a long drive the first thing to do is stop for lunch, we went to Cubby’s! They have burgers, salads, sandwiches and more. I got the three-cheese grilled cheese and it was amazing, highly recommend it!
1:00 pm Check out the Utah State Capitol Building
I suggest starting at the Utah State Capitol Building, this is where they filmed Legally Blonde 2. It is at the top of the hill and provides excellent views of Salt Lake. Get your cameras ready, it is an insta worthy spot!
2:00 pm Walk to the LDS Church headquarters
From the capitol building, it is about a 0.5-mile walk (10 minutes), downhill to Temple Square. This iconic square is the head of the Mormon Latter-Day Saints Church. You can walk around the grounds, admire the church, and see the statue of Joseph Smith.
3:00 pm Visit East High School
A 15-minute drive away is East High School, the iconic high school from High School Musical. We happened to just drive past it and recognized it, it was so fun to relive our childhood dreams!
4:30 pm Check out “This is the Place”, where the first Mormon settlers arrived
Another 10 minutes away is the “This is the Place” monuments. This is where LDS pioneers settled in Salt Lake in 1847, the park is full of monuments and a church.
6:00 pm Stop into the Great Salt Lake for Sunset
About 30 minutes away is the Great Salt Lake. We drove there for golden hour and if you're lucky you can see the spots where the salt crystallizes on the lake and it looks like ice.
8:00 pm Grab some dinner at Squatters Pub
We ended the night with dinner at Squatters pub. We had some cheese curds and a burger. (If you have ever visited the midwest you know how AMAZING cheese curds are! It was so good, we sat outside.
5:30 am Salt Flats
We woke up early the next morning to drive to Bonneville Salt Flats. We left at 6 am, after our mandatory stop at Starbucks. Once you get about 60 miles from the salt flats there are no rest stops or gas stations. There are a few exits but there are all ghost towns, abandoned from radioactive disposal sites or aragonite mining. So make sure to stop in the “town” of Delle if you need to stop at a gas station.
8:00 am Salt Flats drive around to take pictures
The Bonneville Salt Flats are incredible, they cover 30,000 acres and go 5 feet deep. They were formed in the ice age. If you visit in the winter, there is a mirror effect that looks amazing.
9:00 am Head back to Salt Lake
We drove back to Salt Lake, about 2 hours.
11:00 am- Left Salt Lake and drive to Moab, Utah
We packed up our things and then headed to Moab, Utah!
Salt Lake City was such a fun 24 hours, we got to see so much and learn a ton about the LDS church, the history of Utah and take some really cool pictures! I highly recommend a stop in Salt Lake!
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