Great Salt Lake Country

Great Salt Lake Country covers the central Wasatch Front of Utah, the densely populated valley between the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains. The terrain is dramatic — Salt Lake City sits at 4,200 feet on the lakebed of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, the Wasatch rising abruptly to over 11,000 feet at Mount Olympus and Twin Peaks just east, and the Bonneville Salt Flats stretching west across Tooele County. The Great Salt Lake itself defines the western edge. Salt Lake and Tooele counties cover the region. Salt Lake County holds Salt Lake City (the state capital and the largest city in Utah), West Valley City, Sandy, Murray, Draper, West Jordan, and the Cottonwood Canyon ski areas; Tooele holds Tooele, Grantsville, and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Anchor attractions include Temple Square (the headquarters of the LDS Church), the Utah State Capitol, the Natural History Museum of Utah, This Is the Place Heritage Park, the Hogle Zoo, the Bonneville Salt Flats, and Antelope Island (just over the line in Davis County). Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, and Alta ski resorts cluster in the Cottonwood Canyons. Most trips here center on Salt Lake City and the canyons. Salt Lake City handles the urban itinerary — Temple Square, the Capitol, the Genealogy Library, the food scene; the Cottonwood Canyons hold the deepest powder skiing in the country; Antelope Island runs bison-and-bird visits; the Bonneville Salt Flats draw land-speed-record visitors each summer.