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For the past couple of weeks I have developed an interest in Salt Lake City and Utah as a whole. I'm in New England and have never been to your neck of the woods. I'm not looking to move there, simply to visit for a week or two. So far my investigations of your state has increased my desire to visit and I hope my expectations are either met or surpassed. As you probably guessed, I'm planning a visit for next year, but I need answers to the following questions in order to better plan my trip.
1. When does warm weather becomes a consistent feature of Salt Lake City? I want to visit when the trees are nice and green, and the weather is warm enough to walk around without a jacket. I also prefer plenty of sunshine.
2. When is there a greater risk of inversions? Are they bad enough to ruin photos of the city?
3. What are the safe areas of the city and in what general area of the city are they located? By safe, I mean safe enough that I can walk with a DSLR camera on hand and not feel the need to constantly hide it or look over my shoulders.
4. What is there in terms of cultural attractions such as museums, distinctive architectural buildings, cultural centers and such? I'm a big history buff and I enjoy architecture/distinctive buildings, art (especially distinctive local art), and any cultural aspects that is unique to the places I visit. Also any really nice or interesting parks, avenues/streets would be great suggestions. What are the main monuments that identify Salt Lake City?
5. Which restaurants would you recommend as places a visitor must eat at least once during their visit? It can be a place that features whatever plates are distinctively of Utah or national/international fare, as long that its good is fine. If Utah has a distinctive cuisine, what plates do you think a visitor must try?
6. What natural attractions are at most within an hour of the city? Is there a place similar to Zion National Park near Salt Lake City?
I think that's it. If something else pops into my mind I will post it here.
Thanks in advance for whatever help you can offer.
1. When does warm weather is consistently a feature of Salt Lake City?
I want to visit when the trees are nice and green, and the weather is warm enough to walk around without a jacket.
While Salt Lake City has four distinct seasons, spring seems to be the most unpredictable one. In other words, we often go from winter to summer almost overnight (with just a few spring-like days along the way. I'd say the weather is probably the most consistently warm -- but not sweltering -- either in June or in September.
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2. When is there a greater risk of inversions? Are they bad enough to ruin photos of the city?
December through February seem to be the worst months. Unless you are coming to Salt Lake City for the nearby winter sports, I would strongly suggest you stay away during the winter months.
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3. What are the safe areas of the city and in what general area of the city are they located? By safe, I mean safe enough that I can walk with a DSLR camera on hand and not feel the need to constantly hide it or look over my shoulders.
With very few exceptions, you should feel safe pretty much everywhere in Salt Lake City during the daytime, and the only places I'd advise you to stay away from at night are places where you wouldn't likely be going anyway.
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4. What is there in terms of cultural attractions such as museums, distinctive architectural buildings, cultural centers and such? I'm a big history buff and I enjoy architecture/distinctive buildings, art (especially distinctive local art), and any cultural aspects that is unique to the places I visit. Also any really nice or interesting parks, avenues/streets would be great suggestions. What are the main monuments that identify Salt Lake City?
Rather than list out everything here in this thread, I'll just provide you with a link to a thread I started a long time ago for the purpose of answering this very question.
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5. Which restaurants would you recommend as places a visitor must eat at least once during their visit? It can be a place that features whatever plates are distinctively of Utah or national/international fare, as long that its good is fine. If Utah has a distinctive cuisine, what plates do you think a visitor must try?
I'm going to have to give this one some thought. In years past, Salt Lake City hasn't been known at all for its cuisine. This is starting to change, though. I'm sure you'll get a number of good suggestions before I even have time to get back to you.
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6. What natural attractions are at most within an hour of the city?
The Cottonwood Canyons are about a half hour from downtown Salt Lake City, and Antelope Island is about a 45-minute drive. Those two would be my main suggestions.
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Is there a place similar to Zion National Park near Salt Lake City?
Unfortunately no, but a four-and-a-half to five hour drive will get you to either Zion or any of our other four spectacular national parks. If there is any way for you to stay long enough to see a couple of them, I can promise you that you will not regret it.
I just want to say that as a supplement to Katzpur's wonderful suggestions, I ordered some additional official information about traveling to Utah. Today I finally received a full state map with additional zoomed in maps on Salt Lake City, St George, Logan; and one titled 'Utah's Special Highways.' I'm sort of a map geek, so can imagine I'm excited about this. LOL I also received a beautifully made brochure that looks and feels more like a magazine with matted paper and a somewhat hard cover. In there they offer very good suggestions on restaurants, places of interest, cultural centers; they even suggest activities that I would had never thought about doing but now I'm considering some of them.
All in all, I like what I'm seeing and learning about Utah thus far. Can't wait until I visit!
Some images I took of the material I received in the mail.
The cover of the brochure and the map is on top.
Some of the information on the map.
All materials I received completely free of charge.
I just want to say that as a supplement to Katzpur's wonderful suggestions, I ordered some additional official information about traveling to Utah. Today I finally received a full state map with additional zoomed in maps on Salt Lake City, St George, Logan; and one titled 'Utah's Special Highways.' I'm sort of a map geek, so can imagine I'm excited about this.
LOL! I'm a map geek, too. One of the "special highways" is Highway 12. Although there are hundreds of "scenic byways" throughout the U.S., only six routes in the country have been designated "All American Highways." Route 12 is one of them. If you can possibly drive this route, do so!
[quuote]I also received a beautifully made brochure that looks and feels more like a magazine with matted paper and a somewhat hard cover. In there they offer very good suggestions on restaurants, places of interest, cultural centers; they even suggest activities that I would had never thought about doing but now I'm considering some of them.[/quote]Just curious... Did you get this stuff from the Utah Travel Council or from "Visit Salt Lake" (i.e. the Salt Lake City Visitors' and Convention Bureau)?
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All in all, I like what I'm seeing and learning about Utah thus far. Can't wait until I visit!
Do you know yet what time of the year you expect to visit?
I have been thinking of visiting myself sometime in April/May depending on my schedule. Planning on taking a week, flying into Salt Lake, and renting a car to do some driving around the state and see the parks.
I have been thinking of visiting myself sometime in April/May depending on my schedule. Planning on taking a week, flying into Salt Lake, and renting a car to do some driving around the state and see the parks.
That would be a great time of the year to visit, although still on the cold side in Bryce (which is about 8000 ft in elevation). Arches and Zion would be beautiful then, though, the the drive on Highway 12 would be spectacular. One suggestion: If you decide to go to Arches, as soon as you are able to finalize your dates, contact the park and sign up to go on the Fiery Furnace hike. It's a ranger-guided hike and you are not allowed to do it on your own. It's not that it's dangerous; it's that you would almost certainly get lost and they'd have to send a search team out after you. The hikes leave twice a day, but they are booked up months in advance.
When it gets closer to the time you decide to travel, let us know and we can probably give you some good suggestions for what to see and do. All of the parks are about 4 1/2 to 5 hours away from Salt Lake City, and are kind of lined up across the state horizontally, so with some good planning, you ought to be able to see maybe three out of the five of them.
That would be a great time of the year to visit, although still on the cold side in Bryce (which is about 8000 ft in elevation). Arches and Zion would be beautiful then, though, the the drive on Highway 12 would be spectacular. One suggestion: If you decide to go to Arches, as soon as you are able to finalize your dates, contact the park and sign up to go on the Fiery Furnace hike. It's a ranger-guided hike and you are not allowed to do it on your own. It's not that it's dangerous; it's that you would almost certainly get lost and they'd have to send a search team out after you. The hikes leave twice a day, but they are booked up months in advance.
When it gets closer to the time you decide to travel, let us know and we can probably give you some good suggestions for what to see and do. All of the parks are about 4 1/2 to 5 hours away from Salt Lake City, and are kind of lined up across the state horizontally, so with some good planning, you ought to be able to see maybe three out of the five of them.
Thank you so much for the information. My schedule changes rather frequently which stinks but I will most certainly look into that guided hike. The cold in Bryce won't be too much of a bother, as I enjoy the cooler temperatures anywho(growing up in Buffalo NY). I was planning on potentially staying a night in salt lake, finding some good known restaurant there, then heading south to the parks, continuing east. Staying at smaller hotels of sorts on the way and then circling back up!
Would love to hear what sorts of stuff there is to do there that time of year. I've always been a fan of Utah, hoping to move there one day.
Thank you so much for the information. My schedule changes rather frequently which stinks but I will most certainly look into that guided hike. The cold in Bryce won't be too much of a bother, as I enjoy the cooler temperatures anywho(growing up in Buffalo NY). I was planning on potentially staying a night in salt lake, finding some good known restaurant there, then heading south to the parks, continuing east. Staying at smaller hotels of sorts on the way and then circling back up!
Would love to hear what sorts of stuff there is to do there that time of year. I've always been a fan of Utah, hoping to move there one day.
Back in this post, I posted a link to this thread, which I started three years ago. Since it's not a sticky, I have to revive it from time to time. I think it's got most, if not all, of the recommendations any of the natives here would give you as to the things worth seeing in and around the city. Depending on what kind of food you like, we can give you tons of suggestions as to where you might want to go.
Depending upon your interests once you get to the parks (activity level, stamina, etc.), we can help you out there, too. In Zion, for instance, there's everything from quiet walks on flat ground to breathtaking hikes such as Angel's Landing. And in Arches, the possibilities for adventure are even greater. You might consider a sunset Hummer excursion over Hell's Revenge (I'm afraid none of the online videos really do it justice) or -- if you have the time -- a short whitewater rafting trip on Westwater (a section of the Colorado River). There are a number of tour companies in Moab to choose from. Check out the video on this site for a sneak peak at what these rafting trips are like.
Bryce, Zion and Arches are the three most visited of Utah's national parks, but the others are worth seeing, too. It's just that you kind of have to draw the line somewhere or you'll spend your entire time driving between parks. Here's my description of each of them (from west to east):
Bryce: magical and enchanting
Zion: majestic and imposing
Capitol Reef: wild and untamed
Canyonlands: desolate and stark
Arches: unexpected and extraordinary
Whatever suits you, we've got it!
Last edited by Katzpur; 12-31-2015 at 06:34 PM..
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