(9) Salt Lake City: Where Early Birds Get the Best Views (And We Accidentally Became KOA Rule Breakers)
We just spent the last three days nestled in the mountains around Salt Lake City (SLC), and thanks to “Tour Guide Tyler,” we had an absolutely amazing time! Tina’s son was beyond the picture of the greatest host ever, enabling us to navigate the best spots for sightseeing, hiking, and beer tasting. Seriously, this guy deserves a tourism award!
Meet Our Hero: Tour Guide Tyler and His New Digs
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After setting up camp at the KOA (oh boy, more to come on this camping spot later!), Tyler and Tina picked us up and took us to see his new humble abode. And let me tell you—SLC has HUGE sticker-shock for anyone wishing to be a homeowner in this area!
But Tyler managed to snag himself an adorable two-bedroom home complete with fireplace, garage, and backyard garden. His move-in date is later this month, and we couldn’t be more excited for him as he embarks on the adventure that awaits with homeownership. There’s something so hopeful about watching someone start this new chapter!
The Great 7 AM Side-Eye
The highlight of our stay was all the breathtaking hiking we did. Per our usual routine, we rose and were out the door early; this time at 7 AM sharp. Tyler did give us a slight side-eye at the suggestion of this break-of-dawn launch to our days, but Tina wasn’t fazed in the least, and Tyler quickly got on board with getting a jumpstart to the days.
**And here’s why we’re hiking geniuses**: We soon realized how brilliant we were to make this choice as we noticed it wasn’t long until other hikers were filling in the void behind us, forming long car lines full of disappointed people who couldn’t find parking. Meanwhile, we were up there living our best mountain life!
Mother Nature’s Wildflower Extravaganza
Mother Nature was absolutely looking out for us by displaying a carpet of colors nestled in a wide variety of wildflowers at Sugarloaf Mountain. We’re talking purple, yellow, white, red—every color you can imagine spread across the mountainside once again displaying nature’s own paint palette!
There’s actually a festival next week for this area, so we were thrilled to explore without the major crowds that would be embarking soon. We also caught magnificent views of Devils Castle from up there—despite the ominous name, it’s just a stunning rock formation that looks like some ancient fortress.
Donut Falls: Nature’s Whimsical Masterpiece
Another incredible hike we experienced was in Big Cottonwood Canyon, where we traversed the landscape to reach Donut Falls—a waterfall that flows through a unique donut-shaped opening in the rock! I mean, come on, Mother Nature, showing off much?
Utah’s Weather Drama
The temperatures were more extreme in this area of Utah than we’d experienced so far. Mornings in the mountains gifted us with a chilly start, hosting temperatures in the 50s, while by afternoon in SLC it was climbing to the upper 90s! Talk about commitment issues, Utah!
The Great Salt Lake was also sweltering! It was a short visit because of the heat and terrible bugs. But, it sure looks pretty in pictures.
Needless to say, Aspen and Willow spent most of their time in the air-conditioned RV until they joined us for some quality time in the evenings outside Reba for socializing and microphone karaoke at the campsite. I’m pretty sure our fellow RV neighbors were wondering how long our a cappella performance would be in town! 🎤
Brewery Surprise: Hops in the Mormon Holy Land
You may think that because this is the hotbed of the Mormon community, SLC would be lacking in the brewery or bar department, but that was absolutely NOT the case! We were able to partake in some delicious hops and barley beverages daily in some pretty chill locations. Who knew Salt Lake City was hiding such liquid treasures?
Line Dancing at The Westerner
We also kicked our heels up line dancing at The Westerner nightclub, and folks, this venue has no shortage of people watching! People from seemingly all walks of life found their way to this exceptionally large dance floor. Weight-lifters dancing next to cowboys, tourists like us stumbling through steps next to locals who clearly knew every move—it was beautiful chaos!
There was even a live band in the later half of the evening, and we scored some free cowboy hats! 🤠 A special shoutout to Natalie and Max (Tyler’s friends) for joining us on the dance floor.
Pro-Tip Alert: Make sure you have your ID because you’ll need to have it scanned at ALL bars and breweries, or they won’t let you through the door. No exceptions, no sob stories, no “but I’m clearly over 21” arguments!
The Tale of Two Cities
Salt Lake City was a unique urban area in several ways, and in other ways not so much. They have a significant unsheltered population and are in need of an architectural facelift in several neighborhoods. Then other areas clearly show significant wealth and prosperity, as evidenced by the high-end stores and well-manicured properties.
But here’s the thing—no matter where you are, those majestic mountains are just a glance away. It’s like having natural cathedrals surrounding the entire city!
Fascinating SLC Fun Facts
The streets are cleverly aligned to their location as associated with the Temple in the center of town. Now THAT’S one building experiencing a significant architectural feat! We heard that the LDS community is about doubling its space by adding square footage below the structure! Can you imagine that construction project?
Another interesting tidbit: SLC has several elaborate haunted houses that take up quite a bit of real estate space but are only open a couple of months a year. That’s some expensive seasonal entertainment right there!
KOA Confessions: Our Accidental Rebellion
Now, about the KOA—it’s the first time we stayed in an urban location, and it actually had wonderful tree cloud cover and nice-sized spaces where we were able to park Reba during our stay. Located just outside the downtown area, it was really convenient for our Uber driver Tyler to pick us up and for us to ride our bikes into Temple Square. They had all the amenities available, but we didn’t stick around the campground to take advantage of them.
We also didn’t take advantage of reading the rules very closely. Here’s a summary of the rules I later discovered in the brochure that we unknowingly broke during our stay:
✅ Used dog fencing (oops!)
✅ Used an outdoor rug (whoops!)
✅ Let our visitors park adjacent to our site (my bad!)
✅ Didn’t have our visitors pay a $4 fee each time they came (sorry, Tyler and Tina!)
Oops!** 😅 Turns out we were accidentally rebellious campers! Good thing the KOA staff was understanding (they may have not really cared), or we might have been banned from urban camping forever!
Winter Dreams and Future Adventures
Our days in SLC were filled, and yet there’s so much more to explore! We were told repeatedly how different and breathtaking winters are when the mountains are blanketed with snow and ski enthusiasts swarm to the area. We definitely see another trip here in our future—maybe when we can follow ALL the campground rules!
What Made It Special
Beyond the stunning landscapes and surprising nightlife, what made this Salt Lake City experience truly magical was the people. Tyler went above and beyond to share his city with us, and Tina embraced our crazy early morning schedule without question. This is what the RV life is all about—the unexpected connections and unpredictable nature of living out of a 24 foot tenement on wheels!
Next stop: The beautiful Grand Teton Mountains of Wyoming, where we’ll undoubtedly find new ways to accidentally break rules and fall in love with America’s natural beauty all over again!
*Keep exploring, keep connecting, and maybe actually read the campground rules next time! 🚐✨*
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