The best way to see Salt Lake City

When I went to Salt Lake City for the first time in May of 2008 on a business trip (to film for a documentary), I was in awe of the mountains (it was my first time seeing real mountains in person). So naturally, my favorite memories from that trip were the ones in which we got some lovely views of them from on high.

Our second to last day we went to the Sundance Institute (an hour or so outside of SLC) and took the ski lift to the top (we're not wusses, we were just short on time so we didn't hike it). The views were amazing. It was also my first time being at that altitude and I made the mistake of running up part of the rest of the mountain, and could hardly breath. But the views were breathtaking. And the drive was beautiful too (the drive between Park City and Ogden at the Sundance Film Festival was equally gorgeous and one of the only positive things about that trip). If you're there in the non-skiing season, it's definitely worth taking the lifts to the top just for the views. You can also use the lifts to bring mountain bikes to the top and bike down.

Our last morning in Salt Lake City, one of the people we were filming took us up in his small 4-seater private plane. We flew around the mountains, dipping and swaying with their peeks (not for the weak of stomach mind you) and over the Great Salt Lake, which was so much more amazing than I expected it to be. We got to see Promontory Point, wild bison, old Native American caves, the Spiral Jetty (totally underwhelming btw), salt mines, red and orange water (different minerals in different parts of the water). It was seriously such an amazing experience and I got to see parts of the lake that I never would've otherwise. So if you can hire a pilot to fly you around Salt Lake City, do it. It would be expensive, yes (although probably not as expensive as you're imagining if you do it in a small plane for 4 people or less), but I think it's worth it. The best things that Salt Lake City has to offer you are its natural wonders, some of which would take days of hiking or hours of driving uninhabited dirt roads or boating through dangerously shallow waters to see. And some of which can only be seen from above. As proof, the slide show: