📍Yellowstone National Park – Final Stop: Salt Lake City

We’ve reached the last stop of our Yellowstone trip—Salt Lake City! Since it was our first time here, we planned three full days and nights in the city (including one day driving from Yellowstone to SLC 🚗💨). There are plenty of attractions both in and around the city—check out the map in Figure 2 for reference. Let me break them down for you: Outside the City: 1. Antelope Island State Park ⭐️ This spot gets a lot of hype online—even the car rental employee recommended it. But honestly, it was a letdown. I’d suggest skipping it. • The park is state-run, so the National Parks Pass isn’t accepted ($15 per vehicle 🚙). • Poor facilities: many areas are still under construction 🚧. Since it’s a high-salinity lake, people who step in can’t rinse off properly—causing skin irritation. Restrooms and showers are unfinished and unavailable. • Bugs everywhere 🦟: Maybe it was the timing (mid-July, near noon), but the beach was covered with non-biting mosquitos—super dense and creepy. And shaded areas? Full of spiders 🕷️. • Extremely sunny ☀️: We attempted the 20-minute Buffalo Point trail but gave up due to zero shade. • Wildlife? Just the usual American bison 🐂. Verdict: If you’re going to or coming from Yellowstone, you can definitely skip Antelope Island. 2. Salt Lake / Mirror of the Sky ⭐️⭐️⭐️ In July, the salt flats are completely dry—no “mirror of the sky” effect. But the cracked salt earth is still photogenic 📸. Downside: The drive is long and straight (1.5 hours from downtown to Bonneville Salt Flats), and it’s easy to get drowsy 😴. Plus, many roads in Utah have an 80 mph speed limit 🚦. Inside the City: 3. Salt Lake Temple / Temple Square ⭐️⭐️ These are all in one area. The temple is under renovation and won’t reopen until 2026 🏗️. 4. Utah State Capitol / Ensign Peak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Highly recommend hiking up Ensign Peak before sunset! You’ll see the sun setting on one side and city lights glowing on the other—total La La Land vibes 🌆🌄. The Capitol is right nearby (we didn’t go inside). ‼️ Note: Sunset direction may vary by season. 5. Outdoor Brand Outlets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We skipped the big SLC outlets and went to individual brand outlets instead. • Arc’teryx outlet: Great discounts! 🎉 • Patagonia & Burton: Just okay deals. • Pleasant surprise: Found a cool outlet called Recreation 🛍️. #Yellowstone #YellowstoneNationalPark #USNationalParks #SaltLakeCity #SaltFlats #Outlets #Outdoors #OutdoorGear