City Creek Mall - Downtown Salt Lake City

Whether you have a long layover at the SLC Airport or just looking for a reason to come downtown. City Creek Mall should be at the top of your list. Built-in 2012, this mall is one of Utah's nicer malls. Here is everything you need to know when visiting City Creek Mall.

City Creek has lots of high-end stores including Louis Vuitton (West end/1st floor) and Tiffany & Co (west end/2nd floor). As well as middle-class stores like Maceys(middle/1st and 2nd floor) and Nordstroms (west end/1st and 2nd floor). Some cheaper stores including claire's (east/1st floor) and Forever 21 (middle/2nd floor). Some of the busy stores will be Lululemon (west/2nd floor) and Sephora (middle/1st floor). There is also an Apple store (west/1st floor) if you're looking for the newest tech. With over 100 stores, you are sure to find something you like. My personal favorite is Lush (middle/1st floor) where you can get bath bombs and other deliciously smelling products. 

There are also tons of food options at City Creek as well. If you are looking for a nice sit-down meal, check out Brio Italian Grille and The Cheesecake Factory. Make sure to put your name in early and expect a 2-hour wait. You can also go to some quicker options like Costa Vida or Jonny Rockets. Or if you are really in a hurry go inside the food court! There you will find plenty of faster food picks. The Chick-fil-a will always have a long line. There will be a ton of Uber eats/Door Dashers there to pick up to-go orders. I personally recommend going to Taste of Red Iguana and getting the Enchiladas Suizas. These are corn tortillas filled with sour cream chicken, avocado cheese, and topped with Mole Poblano. They are delicious! All food options will be on the east end of the mall.

You will find multiple parking entrances on all sides of the mall. I personally recommended skipping the first few levels and heading straight down to the bottle two parking levels. Here I've never had trouble finding a parking spot and get in/out quickly. Parking is free for the first two hours and is only $2 for every hour after that. So really anywhere you plan to go downtown, City Creek is an easy and cheap place to park. If you want to skip the line at the gate, you can pay for your parking inside the parking garage before you get in your car. These kiosks are located near all elevators and escalators. Credit cards only. You won't get any parking validations from any of the retail stores, but you can get one extra hour if you dine at Brio, Cheesecake, Texas de Brazil, or the Nordstrom Grill. You might need it after waiting 2 hours for a table! 

There's plenty more to City Creek Mall than just the shops and restaurants. At the west end of the mall, you will see a child splash pad as well as a decorative fountain. Both of these were actually designed by the same company that designed the Fountains at Bellagio Hotel in Vegas. Every once in the while you can spot this fountain dancing to a tune. (Pro tip: these usually happen on the hour every hour) This is a fun place to rest your feet and let the kids play. On the other end, the east end, during the holidays you can find Santa! He is ready to take pictures and hear what you'd like for Christmas. 

On the flip side, if you come in the summer on a perfect weather day, you might get surprised with an open/outdoor mall! On days with perfect weather, City Creek will open up the roof. This lets in all the nice fresh city air and really gives off summer vibes. 

When the roof is open and you feel the summer vibes, your pup might just love it too! Yep, dogs are welcome and City Creek and most stores will let you bring your pup in too! You just can't bring them into the food court or some stores. But, a lot of stores love when you bring your furry friend! They will have water bowls and sometimes even treats! This mall is perfect for the entire family.

In the food court, there is a kid's play zone. It is themed for the Real Salt Lake Soccer team. It has some padded toys to climb and it is located inside. This is always a very popular spot. Your kid is sure to find a new friend here. (You might just need to grab a coffee from Starbucks first. This many kids in one indoor location can be pretty loud. Starbucks is located just outside of the mall on Main street and 1st South, by the Trax station)

If you are wondering why they named this mall City Creek, well the answer is pretty easy. There is a creek and runs throughout the entire mall. You can even catch a glimpse of some fish in the pond right outside of Maceys. City Creek Canyon and City Creek Creek are actually real water sources. If you were to go just 2 miles up the road to the east of the capital building, you will see the start of the City Creek tail head. The creek runs throughout the mall and is very cute and relaxing!

In the center of the mall, you will find a Trax station. This station is right in the middle of the free fare zone, so feel free to use it for free! If you are coming from the airport, the Greenline will take you right to the main airport terminal. Trains come every 15 to 20 minutes, so this makes visiting city creek mall on a longer layover very easy! It can also take you to Gateway Mall, the Utah Jazz areas, and plenty of places in between!

Here is a picture of the Trax line as well as the bridge that connects the East and West sides of the mall. This bridge is perfect if you don't want to go outside to deal with traffic. City Creek mall is 2 blocks wide and almost 2 blocks thick. It crosses directly over Main Street. Don't get confused and think the malls over when you get to Main street, there is still half the mall on the other side! 

Here is a view from the bridge. It's a pretty cool view of the city. If you come during winter, the streets will be filled with Christmas lights. It's very pretty and festive! Don't forget to take a good selfie!

If you are looking to travel a little outside of the mall, Regent Street is just one street over. Get here by heading South and crossing 1st South. Here you will find more restaurants to eat at including Pretty Bird, Good Burger, and Mazes Tacos. All are delicious! Pretty Bird is especially popular, it's amazing if you like fried chicken.

You can also head north and cross South Temple and find yourself at the Ladder Day Saints temple. If you are not from our state, I definitely recommend walking by. Utah is heavily known for the Mormon religion, so it is pretty cool and educational to see this temple in person. People from all over the world come to visit it! 

One final note I'll leave you with. Back at City Creek Mall, you can spot these animal prints in some places. These are prints of some wild animals native to Utah's mountains. See if you can find them all! Here is a picture of the black bear prints I found today. 

Thanks so much for reading and have fun shopping!!