Salt Lakers who drive to the train never have to hunt for downtown parking. 

• Talsey Hunter
• Skip traffic and take Trax to the City Creek Mall.

Editor's note: The following article was originally published as part of City Weekly's 2025 City Guide, out now in print and available online.

There's a simple trick to driving in Salt Lake City that, once mastered, means never having to hunt for parking ever again: Park near a train stop.

No really, that's it. Utah's capital city is served by three high-frequency Trax light rail lines (soon to be four), plus the regional Frontrunner Train and the S-Line Streetcar through Sugar House. If one's destination is within a half-mile or so of a train stop—and most major ones are—then that person need only get themselves to the Trax or Frontrunner station nearest to their home, where competition for parking from fellow car-owners is likely to be far less intense.

One-third of Utah's population lives in Salt Lake County, and the bulk of the Wasatch Front's day-to-day travel demand is derived from people going into, out of, around and through the capital city. Drivers aren't in traffic; they are traffic.

A multi-modal trip combining driving and rail service is not just possible, it's a convenient alternative that many Salt Lakers have been missing out on for years. And with plans to expand and improve the passenger rail network before the 2034 Olympics, this life hack will only pay higher dividends in the future.

Here are a few examples of how to go multi-modal to Salt Lake City's marquee destinations, starting from a baseline assumption that readers have already made it to a train station. For more information on transit routes, schedules and fares, visit rideuta.com.

To the Delta Center
Trax: Blue and Green lines to Arena Station; Red line transfer at Courthouse Station
Frontrunner: North Temple Station

According to the Downtown Alliance, the busiest days in Salt Lake City are when something is happening at the Delta Center. And that's more true now than ever, with the Utah Hockey Club joining the Utah Jazz in the heart of the city, plus a range of year-round programming like Disney on Ice, concerts and monster truck rallies.

Don't let gridlock on the streets spoil a great night—drive to a Trax station and transfer to either a Blue or Green train, or arrive directly on Frontrunner with a short walk from North Temple Station. Better yet, you can make a night of it by heading to Main Street for drinks and bites after (or before) the big game and catch the train home from a different station.

To the University of Utah
Trax: Red Line to Stadium Station, University South Campus Station, Fort Douglas Station or University Medical Center Station; Blue and Green lines transfer at Courthouse Station
Frontrunner: Transfer to Red Line Trax at Murray Central Station. Editor's note 06/02/2025: Red Line service to the University is currently halted for maintenance and riders will be redirected to bus bridges serving the U campus through the bulk of summer 2025.

Universities are like their own mini-cities, and Utah's flagship campus is lucky to have the option of passenger rail. The U hosts four Trax stations, currently serviced by the Red Line, but plans are in motion to extend the rails into Research Park and double the Trax frequency on campus with the addition of a new Orange line to the SLC Airport, via downtown. Much of the car traffic headed to Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Huntsman Center, the LDS Institute, Kingsbury Hall, Pioneer Theatre or the medical center would be far more efficiently addressed by folks parking elsewhere and catching a train for the last leg of their trip.

To Temple Square/City Creek
Trax: Blue and Green lines to City Center Station or Temple Square Station; Red line transfer at Courthouse Station.
Frontrunner: Transfer to Green Line Trax at North Temple Station; transfer to Blue Line Trax at Salt Lake Central Station and Murray Central Station.

While most Utah drivers know that Salt Lake City's (and County's) addresses are based on the Latter-day Saint Temple at Temple Square, it may not have occurred to many that the true zero-zero point in that grid is the intersection of South Temple and Main Street. This is also where the original 2002-era Trax route bends through the core of the city, which is why the best way to get to Utah's most famous man-made landmark is by train.

But multi-modal travelers should still note the abundant underground parking at Temple Square and the corresponding LDS-owned shopping center to its south. For a fun night in the city, it's often easiest to park at City Creek (the first two hours are free) and then utilize Trax to visit multiple destinations in a single evening, like the Delta Center/Main Street combo noted earlier.

To Sugar House Monument Plaza
Streetcar: Fairmont Station
Trax: Red, Blue and Green lines transfer at Central Pointe Station.

Salt Lake's historic neighborhoods developed around trolley lines that used to be ubiquitous throughout the capital city. And it's no coincidence that the most beloved areas of town are those that retain a pre-car philosophy in their built environments.

Sugar House is one such neighborhood, and its seemingly endless growing pains are largely the consequence of trying to shoehorn car traffic into a space that wasn't built for it and, now, trying to undo that mistake and revert back to being a "second downtown" designed around people.

The good news is that it's working—so long as you don't try to experience Sugar House by car. Instead, catch the S-Line Streetcar (or try biking the beautiful trail that runs alongside it) to Fairmont Park, where a short walk along McClelland Street will deposit you on Monument Plaza. A streetcar extension is in the works, which in time will deposit riders directly at the shopping center on Highland Drive and a stone's throw from Sugar House Park.