"After Hours" in Salt Lake City Recommendations

Another one of my posts from the other place, in response to a question about a guy who was in from out of town on business and needed suggestions about what to do “after hours” in SLC. I’m an old fogey, so my recommendations skew that way, and they’re a little out of date, but I thought I’d port them over here just in case. Other thoughts?

There’s TONS of awesome stuff to do in SLC after work.

(I’m not mentioning most of the tourist-y things. You can find those yourself if you want to do them. My picks – the Natural History Museum if you like dinosaurs; Temple Square if you want to learn about the LDS church or catch a random organ recital over lunch—yes you will be bothered by missionaries but you can politely say you’re not interested and don’t need any help getting around)

First, if you like to ski, there’s still going to be skiing for at least a couple of weeks. The snow won’t be great, but the crowds shouldn’t be too bad. There are buses that take you right up to the resorts. (That’s not exactly after hours, but if you have an extra day before or after your trip.)

Second, there are lots of good hikes nearby that you can get done before the sun sets, even if you have to wait to get off of work. Three easy options are Ensign Peak (cool view above the capitol building of the valley; super short but kinda steep hike, but lots of hills beyond the hike you can explore if you want), The Living Room (different view of the city; couple miles each way; best way to get there is if you have a car, but you can get there on public transit), and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (long, winding trail in the foothills of SLC; great for running once you get up there). (Pretty good photos from all of these places.)

If you have a car, there are tons of hikes /climbs up and around the canyons near salt lake in the Wasatch Mountains. Some might be a little long for after work, but just look on alltrails or your favorite website to find distance and length requirements.

We have an awesome AAA baseball team, the Salt Lake Bees, in a stadium with the “best views in baseball.” They have a home stand this week into this weekend (if the weather improves…). Thirsty Thursday = $3 (edit 3.50) beers. It’s also easily accessible on public transportation from downtown if you don’t have a car, or don’t want to take it out. (TBH if you’re staying in a downtown hotel, taking the light rail to the ballpark will be faster than getting your car out, driving down, finding a place to park, and walking.)

www.milb.com/salt-lake/schedule

We have a major league soccer team, Real Salt Lake. They have home games on the 20th and 30th this month. It’s a really fun experience, and the stadium is on the light rail (just a pretty long ride).

SLC has a really strong, growing microbrewery culture. And because of some ridiculous zoning laws, many of them are grouped together. You can rent a bike or participate in our bike share program to get around from one brewery to another (you can do scooters too-- we have all the regular companies, but if you get too tipsy you might be calling a Lyft). The “main beer drag” is from 300 West and Mainstreet east and west, from downtown to about 3300 south north to south.

My favorite breweries to visit because they’re fun: Fisher, TF (really great atmosphere), Proper (skee ball, old school video games, nice place); Kiitos (pinball!), Squatters (kind of a Utah original, most of their beers are just OK–food ranges from OK to good); Red Rock (better than Squatters IMO, for beer and food and decent atmosphere – but it’s pretty far from the rest), Bewilder (people like it; I’ve not experienced the atmosphere, but I’m kinda meh on the beers so far). My favorite breweries for beer: Red Rock, EPIC (their tasting room is just really small, but they’re the most awarded brewer in SLC) TF, Proper, Shades (for sours) Grid City (good food), Level Crossing (pretty good food, my current favorite beer).

There are other good breweries/brew pubs worth visiting that are just a bit out of the way from the “main beer drag” like Uinta, Hopkins…,. a few others.

There are also a bunch of pretty cool bars in the downtown area. My favorites are Bar X/Beer Bar (owned by Ty Burrell of Modern Family fame), Quarters (old-school arcade bar), Bourbon House, The Rest (a hidden restaurant/bar below Bodega), Purgatory. If you’re willing to take a Lyft, or a REALLY long train ride, to the suburbs, Prohibition is really cool. I think they have cabaret shows on the weekends and the lines are LOOOONG without a reservation.

Bar trivia is a big thing in SLC. You can play by yourself or if you’re feeling extroverted, you can ask to join a smaller team. Just google around for places. I think the Green Pig (in downtown) still has trivia on Wednesday nights. Lots of other places are a bit of a drive/Lyft.

(PLEASE remember that Utah’s DUI law is .05, so if you’ve had more than one, get a Lyft or an Uber.)

Our shopping is just meh. City Creek Center, a half-open-air shopping mall downtown, is fine and has the normal stores you would expect. Walking around is pleasant. Utah Woolen Mills is a famous men’s clothier. There are some quirky shops downtown (like Ken Sanders Rare Books – moving soon!) but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go shopping here. Park City shopping is a little more interesting, and they have some nice art galleries up there, but definitely not worth the drive.

There’s a weird SCUBA spot in an underground spring / crater in a mountain resort town called Midway. I don’t think you could get up there after work right now (the cool “back way” road is closed during the winter), but they close at 8 p.m., so… maybe.

homesteadresort.com/…/homestead-crater/

You just missed the window to take a bobsled ride at the olympic track (edit: this was a winter post–you can bobsled in the summer, too!), but there’s still an opportunity to curl on the olympic ice with the olympic stones. (Sold out through April, but if you’re coming later… You’d need a car to get to the Olympic Oval, and I think you’d probably want to bring some friends along – you’re part of a group lesson but it’s way more fun with people you know. checkout.utaholympiclegacy.org/activities/56

Maybe they’ll have cancellations-- might be worth asking about.)

Beyond hiking, you might get good pics at the capitol, or at Red Butte Garden (they don’t have a ton of flowering plants, so spring isn’t usually the most impressive time there) or at Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park, or on hikes.

Drive out west of SLC to the Salt Flats on a clear night and get amazing star pics. That’s a good hour drive each way though.

OH, you didn’t mention culture or music, but SLC has one of the few year-round symphony orchestras in the country, and they’re good. They perform pretty much every weekend. Get front-row orchestra seats. They’re much cheaper than the other parts of the orchestra section, and you get to be right up to the musicians. They’re usually sold out, but if you call the day of the performance, some season ticketholders may have turned their tickets in