Hello fine biking folks. Going to be moving to SLC basin area, but have never been there before. I am bike-only (and walk, and jog; no car), so wanted to ask how getting around in winter was.

Nobody in SLC? In particular, what area of SLC has the fewest hills?

Hi Tim, and welcome to Utah! Utah tends to be a very car-centric place, but in the SLC metro area, public transportation is decent. As far as riding all winter, that can be a challenge at times. Fat bikes are becoming very popular for winter riding, but I don't recall seeing anyone commuting on one. It probably happens, however. We do have the "Greatest Snow On Earth", and sometimes lots of it, but for the most part you may be able to get around by bike. We are hoping for a lot of snowfall this winter because we are desperate need water because of very dry conditions the past two years.

The greater SLC area is a mountain valley, but hills are something you will likely have to deal with. What part of the Salt Lake are you moving to? Working at?

Not sure where yet, probably south of downtown. A flatter place is best. Near post offices and groceries.

I guess all I can say is that the nicer areas are in the foothills or above on the east side. I assume you are looking for an apartment?

If you're into funky-old homes and neighborhoods, Sugarhouse area is very popular among younger people. It is not entirely flat, but not into the foothills yet either. There is good public transportation near downtown, near the University of Utah (but that's hilly), near Sugarhouse, and in various other places. I live on one of the foothill benches in Sandy near Little Cottonwood Canyon. My rides are always hilly; no matter which direction I go I'm buying a 700 to 3500 foot elevation gain by the time I make it home again.

Have a look at https://www.rideuta.com/ and consider locations with good bus and light rail access. From my home to the Historic Sandy light rail station it's about four miles down a hill. I can get there in under fifteen minutes. Coming home takes me a half hour on bike. Once I get to the light rail, I can get downtown in 25 minutes. You probably want to be closer to downtown, and closer to the rail.

Also, Salt Lake and Utah Valley have an extensive MUP system that can get you from Ogden all the way to Provo (If you're inclined to ride 200 miles each way). The main artery is known as the Jordan River Parkway, but it has offshoots here and there to take you into other parts of the city as well. I've taken it from 90th northbound to about 45th, and I've taken it southbound all the way to Saratoga Springs (from my front doorstep that's about 60 miles round trip). The MUP is mostly flat with a few exceptions near where the Salt Lake valley and Utah valley meet up. It's not in the most convenient location -- at least for me it means I have to pass under the I-15 freeway to get to it. But once on it, you can put on some distance pretty quickly. Here's a map of the MUP and bike lane system: Salt Lake City / Salt Lake County Bike Map

Salt Lake City and the surrounding municipalities have reasonably good bike lanes, though sometimes I'm frustrated by a first class lane suddenly ending on a busy road with no shoulder. I suppose that happens everywhere you have cities that were developed before bike advocacy. But SLC is one of the better places in the country for bike advocacy and accommodations.

Salt Lake City's best riding is the foothills and canyons. Riding Wasatch is great: You can get from Draper to Midvale with only about eight traffic lights, covering 20 miles. And the view is very nice, as it overlooks the city. Be prepared for some hills on that ride though. And heading up any of the five largest canyons on Salt Lake's east side gets you into some beautiful countryside, at the price of about a pound of sweat and tears.

I just noticed your mention of "Winter", which hasn't been addressed in other posts I've read. Things do get dicey here in the wintertime, and for that reason access to public transportation is highly useful if you're living car free. Temperatures can drop into the single digits in December and January... sometimes even lower overnight. More typical temperatures those months are in the teens to low 30s. So you have to be prepared for the cold. Additionally, we get snow. Some years we get a lot, other years the city only sees a handful of big dumps. When the snow does come down, the roads get plowed within a few hours. Residential neighborhoods are the last to get plowed, while major arteries are the first. The plows will leave walls of snow along the roadside. Sidewalks and intersection ramps can become icy and clogged with snow. Frankly on a snow day, and even the day or two after sometimes, you're probably better off either staying home, or taking public transportation, or a fat snow bike. But it's not all bad -- the snow is not constant, and the cleanup starts almost as soon as the first accumulation occurs. But it's definitely not road biking conditions in December and January. And the ski canyons really do become inaccessible those times of year to cyclists due to traffic, high snow walls, and temperatures.

If you're living in flat areas near public transportation you'll be fine throughout the winter. If you are living in the foothills, and without proximate public transportation, and need to use your bike to get to the public transportation, December and January won't be much fun. But there are foothill neighborhoods that are well serviced by public transportation. Use the map I linked to in a previous post to identify where they are. Mine happens to be, because the bus that takes people from the main arteries to the ski resorts passes a tenth of a mile from my home.