Greatest Snow on Earth: Salt Lake City is known for having some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the country. Within one hours' drive from downtown, you can choose from nine world-class resorts. Olympic Legacy: Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002.

With an array of jaw-dropping red rock formations, including 2,000-plus natural arches (the most you'll find in any area on Earth), Arches National Park delights more than 1.5 million visitors each year.

Recreation in, and around, the lake The best place to swim or float in the lake is at Antelope Island State Park, where white oolitic sand beaches provide easy access to the lake without the brine flies that are prevalent on other areas of the shoreline. The beach area also has showers to rinse off the salty water.

Snow falls frequently during the winter, contributed largely by the lake-effect from the Great Salt Lake. The only source of precipitation in the summer is monsoon moisture moving north from the Gulf of California. Summers are hot, frequently reaching above 100 °F (38 °C), while winters are cold and snowy.