John Hamilton -- Utah Photo Gallery.

Nestled in the heart of the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains, at the base of the ominous face of Mt. Olympus, lies the beautiful city of Salt Lake. Once a lonely alpine desert, the city's founding fathers designed an ingenius irrigation system 150 years ago that made the desert blossom.

The city is bordered on the west by the Great Salt Lake, the second saltiest body of water in the world, and the Oquirrh Mountains, home of the world's second largest Copper mine.
The outdoor enthusiast couldn't be happier. Numerous canyons and mountain ridges offer climbing, cycling, mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, skiing, hang gliding, and many other possibilities.
Metropolitan Salt Lake City covers six square blocks from North Temple to Fourth South. The wide streets, spacious blocks, and diversity of commerce make it a wonderful place to live and visit. Seven million people visit Salt Lake every year. The Mormon Temple, and State Capitol Building offer contrast to the continuous, modern restructuring of the city.

Two large Main Street shopping malls, art galleries, museums, and over 100 fine restaurants are located within walking distance of hotels, the Delta Center, and the Salt Palace Convention center. Culture and the arts prevail as everyone has access to a symphony orchestra, ballet company, opera company, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, museums of art, natural history, a planetarium, and several theatrical and dance companies.

Temple Square, at the center of the city, was a major undertaking for the early pioneers. The six-spire temple, which towers above the stone walls surrounding the square, took 40 years to complete.

Interesting Facts about Salt Lake City
• Salt Lake Valley is 25 miles long and 22 miles wide, bordered by Rocky Mountains' Wasatch Range on the east and the Great Salt Lake and Oquirrh Mountains on the west.
• Elevation at the hightest peak of the Wasatch Mountains is 11,500 feet; this mountain range receives an average snowfall of 530 inches annually. And it isn't your average snow, it's light and fluffy, some of the best snow anywhere.

• Eight major ski resorts within a half hour drive from Salt Lake City.
• Salt Lake City's elevation is 4,330 feet at the valley floor. The nearby mountains rise up to an astounding 6,000 feet from the the valley floor.
• Salt Lake was ranked by LIFE Magazine as one of the top vacation getaways in the country (spring of 1995).
• Mormon Pioneers, under the direction of Brigham Young, settled the city in 1847.
• Home of ZCMI, America's first department store.
• The Great Salt Lake, the remnant of a huge body of water called Lake Bonneville that once covered nearly all of Utah, is the second saltiest body of water in the world.
• Kennecott Copper mine, on the Western mountains(Oquirrh Range), is the world's largest open-pit mine, producing 14 percent of the copper for the United States.
• The largest genealogical library in the world resides in Salt Lake. It is free to the public and has over one billion names on file.
• The first traffic light in world was invented by a Salt Lake City policeman, Lester Wire in 1918.
• First artificial kidney and heart were developed and transplanted at the University of Utah.
• HeadQuarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as Mormons.
• Financial, educational, distribution, warehousing, cultural, commercial, and communications hub of the region.
• Home of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Source:"Site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Salt Lake City", by Nanette McDonald.