A Tour of Salt Lake City Before Heading Back Home

I had such an amazing ski vacation in Park City and was sad to be leaving Utah. Heading out early in the morning, I had a late afternoon flight which left me with a couple of hours to explore Salt Lake City.

It would have been the perfect weather for another day of skiing.

The scenery took on a whole new vantage point when driving through the base of the mountains. The height of the surrounding mountains shaded me from the brightness of the sun as I continued my journey towards Salt Lake City.

The winding roads added to the interesting dimension of our travels as I slithered quietly at the base of the mountains, careful of oncoming traffic.

As I approached the outskirts of Salt Lake and entered the city proper, I noticed that the view had a strong industrial foreshadow with the majestic mountains towering in the distance. The sun was out warming me up in the cold until I exited the car and felt the bitterness of the January freeze.

As I crossed over several railroad tracks and train stops, the city’s public transportation seemed to add to the industrial aura of the town. The environment seemed as cold as the weather as empty streets enhanced the feeling of driving through an abandoned town. I was curious to explore some of the area attractions, yet knew that I have a limited amount of time before driving to the airport.

On the western side of Salt Lake City was the Union Pacific Railroad Depot. It was built in the early 1900s and was once a working train station. The tracks serviced various train transportation companies up until 1999 when it was moved to the Salt Lake City International Hub. In 2006, the location reopened as an entertainment venue, called The Depot and was available for restaurants and office space. It is located at South Temple at 400 West one the western side of Salt Lake City.

It was not long until I decided to escape from the cold to see the city’s Grand America Hotel, one of the Salt Lake’s historic spas and hotels in the downtown area. The courtyard was absent of visitors as a thick layer of ice covers the water feature and had transformed the fountain into a frozen popsicle.

The gorgeous floral arrangement displayed the opulence and grandeur of the hotel.

The beautiful chandeliers hung magically from the ceiling providing a secondary light source to the sun’s natural brilliance from the outdoors.

Salt Lake City’s Courthouse was located at 450 South State Street. It is open from 8AM to 5PM Monday through Friday. For more information about the courthouse, contact their website at www,utcourts.gov.

The Salt Lake City and County Building was topped with a statue of Columbia. It rose over 250 feet from the ground. The statue of Justice stood in the foreground.

The Mormon Temple commands attention as one of the most sought out attractions in Salt Lake City, Sitting upon ten acres known as the Temple Square, the temple was open to the public on April 5^th, 1893. Its famous design has become an icon of the Mormon faith with its beautiful spires and symbolic statues.

Salt Lake City’s Mormon Temple is the largest in the United States (most square feet) and is located at 50 West North Temple Street. From the east side there is a spectacular view of the three towers with the Angel Moroni in the center.

It is obvious that the Mormon faith is a central figure to the city of Salt Lake. There is so much history about the settlement of Salt Lake City, the life of Joseph Smith and the founding of the Mormon religion.

Have you had the opportunity to spend time in Salt Lake City, Utah? What did you do? I would love to hear about your experience if you would kindly leave a message in the comments section below. Many thanks for reading about my short visit to Salt Lake! Wishing you many Happy Travels!