I visited in Salt Lake City in June of 2001 for a conference. I flew into the city and a friend met me and we had lunch at Red Butte Cafe, and then drove downtown to do sightseeing. The biggest attraction seemed to be Temple Plaza -- a big Mormon enclave. The buildings in this area are all very beautiful, typical of the Mormon architecture with large tall spires. I also got to see the interior of the Mormon Tabernacle, and it is quite a sight! We wanted to go to the Great Salt Lake but were told it is too smelly! (Luckily I got a good view of it while flying out of the city later (see photo). The Olympic Village for the winter 2002 games was not yet ready, so we could not see that. We also went to the famous Genealogy Center -- they are supposed to have information about families from all over the world. We wanted to get a drink, but since Utah is so strict on the alcohol policy, bars are called "social clubs", and they ID you at the door and write down information about you, supposedly--strange!
We discovered another weird twist when we tried to bring our own wine to dinner but since it didn't have a "tax sticker" we had to order from the restaurant. I was staying at the U of U campus and it's lovely, there are mountains in the background and even though it was June, I could see snow caps! I met a lot of locals, and they told me about Mormonism and the "mission" concept and how they marry early and one girl from a nearby town, Provo, said she sees a lot of polygamous families still, even though that is typically not accepted behavior anymore. They also told us about how rural much of the state is.
There was a nearby park called "Arches" and some nearby canyons that I never got a chance to visit but heard they are lovely--I would love to come back.${QuickSuggestions} ${BestWay} There are taxis around the U of U area, but renting a car would be the easiest way to get around.