Salt Lake City in winter, if you aren’t skiing
Half the people who land here in January are attached to somebody else’s ski trip. This is the guide for them.
6 min read · updated · by Southwest Adventure Tours
The best winter day out is an elk sleigh ride
It isn’t close. Hardware Ranch, in Cache Valley about 85 miles north-east of the city, is a 19,000-acre wildlife management area run by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. When the snow drives elk out of the high country, several hundred of them come down onto the feed ground here, and you can go out among them on a horse-drawn sleigh.
It works because the elk have long since decided the horses aren’t a threat. A vehicle would push the herd off; a slow-moving sleigh doesn’t. You get close enough to hear them, which is the part that surprises people. Everybody expects a bugle, and the bugle is an autumn sound. In winter they chirp and mew.
The season runs roughly mid-December to early March, on weekends, with exact dates set each year by the state according to snow and elk numbers. They move from year to year, so confirm before planning a trip around it.
The guided day tour runs 7.5 hours at $99 and adds a driving tour of Logan and Brigham City, which is a good way to see Cache Valley: Utah State University, the Logan Tabernacle, and some of the best dairy country in the West.
Dress harder than you think. You’re sitting still in an open sleigh in a mountain valley in January. Hand warmers cost almost nothing and are the single best thing you can bring.
Gain some altitude: the winter views are the best of the year
Salt Lake City sits on a valley floor at 4,226 feet with mountains on both sides, and the single best thing you can do here in winter is climb a few hundred feet out of it. The city reads completely differently from above once there is snow on the Wasatch.
The Utah State Capitol grounds are the easy one: free, open, and twenty minutes on foot from Temple Square. From the south steps you get the downtown grid, the Oquirrh Mountains and, on a clear day, the Great Salt Lake beyond.
Higher up, Park City sits at 7,000 feet, and the canyons climb faster than anywhere else this close to a US city. Winter light at that altitude is low, hard and very clean, and the drive up is half the reward.
The Salt Lake City driving tour climbs onto the bench and up to the Capitol and is the easy way to do all of this in three hours without a rental car in the snow.
Winter is the best season for the night sky
Cold air holds less moisture, which means it’s more transparent. Winter skies at Antelope Island are the clearest and steadiest of the year.
You trade the summer Milky Way core for Orion, the Pleiades, the winter Milky Way and the brightest stars in the sky. The Geminid meteor shower in mid-December is technically the richest of the year.
The practical advantage is the timing: astronomical dark arrives early, so the winter tour picks up at 6:30 PM and has you back by 10:30, which fits around a normal evening rather than replacing it.
It is cold and exposed (you’re standing still on an island in the middle of a lake), so bring one more layer than you think. Many of our guides consider these the best skies of the year.
When you need to be indoors
The Natural History Museum of Utah is the single best indoor half-day in the city. Utah is one of the great fossil states and the Cretaceous material here, much of it collected from the Grand Staircase, is world class. Allow two hours minimum; three is better.
The Cathedral of the Madeleine. Romanesque outside, Spanish Gothic inside, with a painted vaulted ceiling and Munich stained glass. It is the most surprising interior in Utah for most visitors and it’s free to enter.
The Union Pacific Depot, opened 1909 and now restored as part of the Asher Adams Hotel. The Grand Hall survived with its stained glass and murals intact.
Temple Square in December puts up a large Christmas light display that runs from late November through the new year, and the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concerts are a real event if you can get in.
The Museum Tour strings the first three together with a guide and transport for $89, starting at 11:30 AM, which suits a slow winter morning.
Antelope Island is at its best when nobody is there
The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island tour runs all year, and winter is quietly the best season for it.
The bison are easy to find: the herd concentrates on the lower slopes when there’s snow above. The gnats are months away. The light is low all day. And there’s almost nobody there.
The winter itinerary shifts to a 1:00 PM pickup and a 6:30 PM return, following the earlier sunset.
It is cold and there’s nothing between the island and the Wasatch to slow the wind down, so dress for it properly. Photographers: snow on the mountains across the water, frost patterns on the salt, and a horizon that disappears in flat light. This is the version of the island our guides photograph.
Practical winter notes
Canyon traction laws are enforced. Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons require snow tires or chains during winter storm conditions, and cars are turned around at the mouth. A rented sedan on all-seasons frequently doesn’t qualify. Tour vehicles are equipped for it.
Snowbird's summer tram tour doesn’t run in winter. The Snowbird Summer Excursion is a late-May-to-early-October product. In winter that mountain is a ski resort.
Downtown pavements are cleared and salted, but wear boots with grip anyway. The Main Street hill in Park City is worse.
The airport is ten minutes from downtown and rarely closes, but storms do cause delays. Build in slack around a ski week.
Days are short. Sunset in late December is around 5:00 PM. Full-day tours are built around this and start and finish earlier; plan your own days the same way.
Common questions
What is there to do in Salt Lake City in winter besides skiing?
The strongest winter day out is the Hardware Ranch elk sleigh ride in Cache Valley, roughly mid-December to early March. Beyond that: stargazing at Antelope Island, which has its clearest skies of the year in winter; the Natural History Museum of Utah and the Cathedral of the Madeleine indoors; Temple Square’s Christmas lights in December; and Antelope Island itself, which is at its quietest and most photogenic under snow.
Where are the best winter views over Salt Lake City?
From above the valley floor. The Utah State Capitol grounds are free, open and twenty minutes on foot from Temple Square, and give you the downtown grid, the Oquirrh Mountains and often the Great Salt Lake beyond. Higher again: Park City at 7,000 feet, or any of the canyons. The three-hour driving tour covers the Capitol and the bench overlooks without you having to drive in snow.
When does the Hardware Ranch sleigh ride season run?
Roughly mid-December to early March, on weekends, with the exact dates set each year by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources according to snow conditions and how many elk are on the feed ground. The dates move from season to season, so confirm before planning a trip around it.
Is Antelope Island worth visiting in winter?
Yes, and arguably it’s the best season. The bison concentrate on the lower slopes and are easy to find, the biting gnats are months away, the light stays low all day, and there’s almost nobody there. It is cold and exposed, so dress properly, but this is the version of the island the guides photograph.
Can you stargaze in Salt Lake City in winter?
Winter is the best time. Cold air holds less moisture and is more transparent, so the skies at Antelope Island, a certified International Dark Sky Park, are the clearest of the year. You trade the summer Milky Way core for Orion and the winter Milky Way, and the tour picks up at 6:30 PM and returns by 10:30 rather than running past midnight.
Do I need snow tires to drive in Salt Lake City?
Not for downtown, which is plowed and flat. You do for the canyons: Little and Big Cottonwood have traction laws that are enforced during storms, and vehicles without snow tires or chains are turned around at the canyon mouth. Rental cars on all-season tires frequently don’t qualify.
