Utah

Amazing hiking in Utah

Utah is one of those states that feels almost impossible to summarize because every area looks completely different from the last. Between the mountains around Salt Lake City, the desert landscapes farther south, alpine lakes, salt flats, and national parks, there’s an incredible amount packed into one state.

We’ve only started sharing some of our Utah adventures here so far. We have one larger family trip detailed below, but Brian has also visited Salt Lake City and Zion multiple times over the years, so there’s definitely more Utah content still to come.

This trip took place July 2020.

We visited SLC as part of a Yellowstone and Grand Teton Trip (and Idaho, and Montana!)

To see the whole trip, check out our vlog:

During the trip to Salt Lake city, we visited a few wonderful sites:

Cecret Lake Hike

Cecret Lake quickly became one of our favorite hikes near Salt Lake City and one we would absolutely recommend if you’re visiting during the summer months.

The trailhead is about 50 minutes outside downtown SLC, following Little Cottonwood Canyon Road up into the mountains. Since the hike starts around 9,500 feet elevation, it’s a great way to escape the summer heat lower in the city.

The trail itself is only about 1.8 miles roundtrip with roughly 465 feet of elevation gain, making it fairly manageable for most hikers. The scenery is what really makes this trail stand out though. The path winds through meadows, forests, and wide-open mountain views almost the entire way.

Coming from sea level, we definitely noticed the elevation on some of the steeper sections near the top. It’s not necessarily a difficult hike, but hiking near 10,000 feet can definitely make you work a little harder than expected.

At the end of the trail is Cecret Lake, which somehow looked even clearer and prettier in person than in photos. There’s a relatively flat trail around the lake, and we ended up stopping there for a while just to snack and enjoy the views.

For such a short hike, it packs in a surprising variety of scenery.

Snowbird

Most people think of Snowbird as a winter ski destination, but it’s also a really fun summer stop for families.

We spent an entire afternoon there after hiking Cecret Lake, and the kids absolutely loved it.

The activity passes are definitely expensive now — significantly more than when we first visited several years ago — but the all-day passes do include quite a few attractions like the mountain coaster, alpine slide, ropes course, bungee trampoline, and more.

One of the highlights even if you aren’t doing activities is simply taking the tram or gondola up for the mountain views. The scenery from the top is incredible.

If you’re visiting with kids and trying to save a little money, one option is just buying activity passes for the kids while adults explore or watch from the base area.

It ended up being a really fun way to spend the afternoon after a morning hike in the mountains.

Donut Falls Hike

Donut Falls is another great hike near Salt Lake City and an especially good option for families.

The trail is located about 35 minutes outside the city along Big Cottonwood Canyon Drive, and honestly, part of the experience is just the drive itself. Once you leave downtown and start climbing into the canyon, the scenery changes quickly from city streets to dense forest, mountains, and rushing streams.

The hike can either be around 1.5 miles or closer to 3.3 miles roundtrip depending on parking situation. There’s a very small parking lot near the trailhead that only fits around a dozen cars. If that lot is full, you’ll need to park farther down near the main road, which adds quite a bit of extra walking.

We visited on a June afternoon and luckily managed to get one of the closer spots.

The trail itself winds through the forest alongside the river almost the entire way, which keeps it scenic and cooler even on warmer days.

At the end of the trail is Donut Falls, where the waterfall pours through an opening in the rock above — giving the falls their name.

If you want to get close to the waterfall, expect to do a little scrambling over rocks and possibly through shallow water, so definitely bring shoes you don’t mind getting wet.

Our kids especially loved this hike because there were plenty of places to climb around, play near the water, and explore along the trail. It was definitely a popular hike and fairly crowded, but it never felt overwhelmingly busy while we were there.

Downtown SLC

Salt Lake City surprised us a bit the first time we visited. It’s clean, easy to navigate, and has a really nice mix of outdoor access and city attractions.

  • Temple Square – Temple Square is probably the most recognizable area in the city and home to the Salt Lake Temple, the largest temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even if you’re not religious, it’s worth walking through the area to see the architecture and gardens. The grounds are beautifully maintained and it’s a peaceful area to explore downtown.
  • Utah State Capitol – The Utah State Capitol is another stop worth making while in the city, especially since it’s close to Temple Square and easy to combine into the same outing. Honestly, it’s one of the prettier capitol buildings we’ve visited. Sitting up on the hill also gives you nice views overlooking Salt Lake City.
  • City Creek Center – City Creek Center is a nice outdoor shopping and dining area downtown. It’s modern, walkable, and an good place to grab food or spend a little time wandering around.
  • Natural History Museum – The Natural History Museum is excellent for families and one of the better museums we visited in the area. The exhibits are really well done, especially the dinosaur and geology sections, which feel very fitting for Utah. It’s the kind of museum where both adults and kids stay interested the whole time.
  • Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park – Tracy Aviary is a smaller attraction but a really nice stop, especially with younger kids. Located inside Liberty Park, it has a variety of bird exhibits and feels easy to visit without needing an entire day
  • Antelope Island – Antelope Island makes for a great half-day or full-day trip outside the city. The island sits in the Great Salt Lake and is known for its large bison population, hiking trails, and wide-open scenery. It can get brutally hot in the summer with very little shade, but the landscape feels unique compared to almost anywhere else we’ve visited. There are both short walks and longer hiking options, plus a visitor center if you want to learn more about the area.

Living Room Hike

The Living Room Trail is one of the most popular hikes near Salt Lake City, especially around sunset — and after doing it, we understood why.

The trail climbs steeply above the city, eventually opening up to incredible panoramic views over Salt Lake City and the surrounding mountains.

At only about 2.3 miles roundtrip, the distance doesn’t sound bad, but the 1,000 feet of elevation gain makes this hike feel much harder than expected. The trail is basically uphill the entire time.

There are a few areas with loose rock and some drop-offs, but overall it felt safe for our family. The biggest challenge was simply how steep it was.

At the top, hikers have arranged rocks into makeshift chairs and couches overlooking the city, which is where the trail gets its name.

Watching sunset from up there was absolutely worth the climb.

One thing we would definitely recommend though: bring a flashlight or headlamp if you’re hiking for sunset. The trail was pretty dark by the time we made our way back down.

Ensign Peak Hike

Ensign Peak is another popular hike very close to downtown Salt Lake City and a much shorter option than Living Room.

The trail is less than a mile roundtrip, though the entire hike is basically straight uphill to the overlook.

Like many hikes around Salt Lake City, there’s very little shade, so this one can feel much harder on hot afternoons.

The payoff at the top is a wide overlook facing the city and mountains, plus a large flat viewing area that makes it easy to stop and take pictures.

Because it’s so short and close to downtown, it pairs really well with visiting the Capitol Building nearby.

Bonneville Salt Flats

Some of our favorite family photos ever came from the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The Salt Flats are about 1.5 hours west of Salt Lake City, so it’s definitely more of a detour than a quick stop. Once you’re actually there, you may only spend 15–30 minutes walking around unless you’re really leaning into a photo session.

That said… the pictures kind of speak for themselves.

We visited while driving north toward Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, so it worked well as part of a larger road trip.

Getting there is easy — you basically drive straight west from Salt Lake City until reaching the Salt Flats rest area. From the parking lot, you’re only a few steps away from the flats themselves.

The landscape feels surreal. The bright white salt stretches endlessly toward the mountains in every direction and almost doesn’t look real in person.

The flats cover around 30,000 acres and were formed from the remains of an ancient lake that once covered much of the region. Today, Great Salt Lake is just a small remnant of what used to exist here.

You can actually drive onto portions of the salt flats in designated areas, and the site is famous for land speed records because of how flat and open it is. We were driving a rental car though, and there was absolutely no chance we were risking that.

If you happen to visit after rainfall, the flats can also turn into a giant reflective surface that mirrors the sky. We didn’t get that version during our visit, but even completely dry, the area was one of the most unique landscapes we’ve ever seen.

Wrap Up

Utah is one of those states that keeps pulling us back. Every time we visit, we end up finding another area that looks completely different from the last.

One day you’re hiking to alpine lakes in the mountains above Salt Lake City, and the next you’re standing on endless salt flats or driving through desert landscapes that barely seem real.

What we especially love about Utah is how much variety it packs into relatively short distances. You can combine mountains, city exploring, hiking, lakes, desert scenery, and national parks all into the same trip without spending entire days driving.

There’s still a lot more from Utah we want to share in future posts — especially Zion and some of Brian’s additional trips out west — but even these stops alone were enough to make Utah one of our favorite states for outdoor adventures and road trips.

Additional SLC Hiking Recommendations (coming soon!)

Zion National Park (guide coming soon)

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