Salt Lake City
Salt Lake sits at 4,226 feet — the highest P0 city we cover — and the thin air does not soften the sun the way it does at sea level. In July the UV index pins at 10 while the thermometer reads a deceptively dry 93°F; the burn arrives before the sweat does. The other problem is Brigham Young’s 1847 grid: streets platted 132 feet wide, famously sized to turn an ox team without profanity, leave the sidewalks stranded on the bright shoulder of an asphalt river. Our routing reads the few blocks that break the rule — Temple Square’s walled gardens, the City Creek arcades, the Sugar House canopy — and stitches them together. Honest where it has to be.
Stay Cool routes around shade in Salt Lake City, UT. The app picks the cooler side of every street using real building heights and live sun position — peak summer UV here is 10, average July high is 93°F, and tree canopy covers 16% of the city. Below: the most reliably-shaded walking routes we've found, plus deeper neighborhood field notes when available.
Highlights · 3
- 01Temple Square, the walled interior
The one downtown block built against the grid — fifteen-foot sandstone walls and a planted interior throw cover the wide streets outside cannot. We route the north arcade past the Tabernacle.
Shade74%Walk4 minBest at1 pm - 02City Creek to Eagle Gate Plaza
The closest thing downtown has to a canyon — the City Creek mid-rises and the Eagle Gate towers hand off a thin afternoon stripe across Main and State.
Shade61%Walk6 minBest at3:30 pm - 03Sugar House Park to the Monument
Mature cottonwood and sycamore do the cover the buildings cannot — our shade math reads conservative through the park loop. The 1300 East crossing is the honest gap.
Shade67%Walk8 minBest at2 pm