Fruit Trees for Salt Lake City, Sandy, Bountiful and the Salt Lake Valley, Utah

In the cold snap of late January 1949, the Salt Lake City airport fell to −22°F. Up on the east side of the valley, two NOAA stations just under 5,000 ft, Lower Mill Creek and Cottonwood Weir, bottomed out at −5°F and −6°F. About 750 ft of height made 16°F to 17°F of difference, and that's the idea behind this map of fruit trees for Salt Lake City, Sandy, Bountiful and the Salt Lake Valley, from Point of the Mountain north through Salt Lake County and south Davis County to Kaysville.

By our standards the winters here are mild, and nearly everything we sell has come through colder than this valley plans for. What decides your crop on the Wasatch Front is spring, and where your yard sits when cold air drains down on a still April night. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The number at every spot is the 30-year planning low our cold hardiness calculator uses, built from NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter and adjusted for the lay of the land. It leans cold on purpose: a safe number to plan around, not the record. You also get the MFTC zone (that number in half zones), the typical winter (an average year's coldest night, what USDA's zones are built on, so theirs read warmer) and the spring frost reading, how many degrees warmer or colder the spot runs than downtown Salt Lake City on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown plans for −2°F (MFTC 6b), with a typical winter of 9°F. The middle of the valley's growing ground plans for −7°F, and half of it falls between −8°F and −6°F. The warm end is the north end of the city, where Capitol Hill and the Marmalade District plan for −1°F. The cold end is the Jordan River bottoms between Sandy and South Jordan (−10°F) and the river bottom in northwest Salt Lake City (−9°F). Up the canyons, Emigration Canyon plans for −15°F (5a).

Why the map looks the way it does

The Salt Lake Valley (the old name is the Jordan Valley) is a bowl: the Wasatch on the east, the Oquirrhs on the west, the Traverse Mountains across the south, peaks up to 7,100 ft above the floor, and one wide opening to the northwest, toward the Great Salt Lake. Everything drains north along the Jordan, and the lowest ground is that northwest corner around the airport and the shore, 4,200 to 4,210 ft. On a clear, calm night the cold follows the water. In the VTMX field study of October 2000, researchers tracked slope flows off both mountain walls after dark and jets of cold air out of Parleys, Emigration and Big Cottonwood canyons, and on quiet nights the whole basin's air turned and ran north toward the lake two or three hours before midnight, cooling about 1,000 ft deep over Wheeler Historic Farm in Murray.

Midwinter does the same thing slower. High pressure parks over the Great Basin and the valley fills with a cold-air pool that can sit for days or weeks, the inversion that traps the smog. It sets up after a heavy snow under clear skies, light wind and long nights, and snow on the ground tightens the lid: University of Utah researchers found the odds of fine-particle pollution breaking national standards go from about 5 percent with bare ground to about 22 percent with snow. Drive up out of the brown air onto the benches in January and you've left the cold pool.

The station records show it. In the cold snap of January 21, 1937, the Midvale station on the floor read −25°F and the airport −20°F, while downtown's old station read −11°F and Lower Mill Creek, up on the bench, −9°F. Over the 42 years both ran, Midvale's coldest night of the year came in a median 11°F colder than downtown's. Downtown sits on the floor too, only 30 ft above the lowest ground near it, but a city holds heat: masonry and pavement store the day's warmth and buildings block the night sky, most of all on calm, clear nights. The old downtown station's coldest reading in 64 years was −11°F; the airport, on open ground by the lake, has hit −30°F.

The floor isn't one temperature end to end. Around downtown and Murray it plans for −5°F to −6°F; from Midvale south it's −10°F to −11°F, with the benches above Sandy and South Jordan only reaching about −8°F. We haven't found a published explanation. What fits is the shape of the ground: the south end is the upper floor, farthest from the dense city, where Dry Creek from the east, Willow Creek in Draper, and Bingham and Midas creeks from the Oquirrhs all bring their cold down to the river. Back in the mountains it's colder again: Mountain Dell Dam, at 5,420 ft east of the city, runs a median 18°F colder than downtown's old station.

Not every bad night is a pooling night. When arctic air pours in deep and on a wind there's no inversion, and higher ground runs colder. In the 1979 and 1990 outbreaks Bountiful Bench ran colder than the airport; in the December 23, 1990 cold snap Bountiful Bench (4,950 ft) read −16°F, the airport −11°F and the Triad Center downtown −6°F. The planning low is built from records holding both kinds of night.

The Great Salt Lake never freezes over, but don't count on it as a heater. It averages about 16 ft deep, the airport on its shore holds the valley's −30°F record, and in the 2016-17 winter researchers caught colder air off the lake sliding in under the valley's pool. We haven't found a source that measures what the lake does to winter lows or bloom along the Salt Lake or Davis shore.

Downtown, the Avenues and the east side of Salt Lake City

Within 3 miles of downtown the floor plans for −5°F, the benches −2°F. Central City plans for −2°F, and 9th & 9th, Liberty Wells and Sugar House −3°F. North and east of downtown the ground climbs onto the old Lake Bonneville beaches. The Avenues, on the foothill bench, plan for −2°F, and Ensign Downs, 660 ft up under Ensign Peak, 0°F, the warmest number at any named place we checked. Federal Heights and Yalecrest plan for −2°F, Foothill and Sunnyside −3°F, the East Bench −4°F. In spring the gap gets wide: on a still bloom night the Avenues run 8°F warmer than downtown, Federal Heights 10°F, the East Bench 11°F and Ensign Downs 13°F, while Sugar House and Liberty Wells run even with downtown.

USU Extension calls the east bench historically the best fruit ground on the Wasatch Front, since it escapes the coldest midwinter nights and gets less spring frost, and warns that the edge disappears where cold air backs up behind a hedge or wall. Parts of the Avenues and Yalecrest sit in the draws themselves, so look at which way your lot drains. This is early bloomer ground: Harlayne apricot, Contender peach, Rainier cherry, and the tender end of our list that I can't recommend for most of Montana, like Javid's Iranian Seedling almond (−20°F).

Rose Park, Glendale and the west side

West of downtown the city is flat lakebed at 4,226 ft, 0 to 10 ft above the lowest ground, with the Jordan and the Surplus Canal running north toward the lake. Fairpark plans for −5°F, Poplar Grove, Glendale and Rose Park −6°F, Westpointe −8°F, and Jordan Meadows, Avondale and Morton Meadows, on the river bottom, −9°F. On a spring frost night the west side runs 1°F to 2°F colder than downtown. Everything we sell clears −9°F, so choose by bloom: this is apple, tart cherry, grape and bush fruit ground.

Millcreek, Holladay, Murray and Cottonwood Heights

Millcreek plans for −3°F (6b). Canyon Rim, Olympus Heights and East Millcreek, 230 ft to 310 ft up, plan for −4°F and run 6°F to 8°F warmer than downtown on a spring night. Olympus Cove is the lesson in drainage: 710 ft up, but in a drainage where cold air comes off the mountain, it plans for −6°F with only a 5°F spring edge. Holladay, first called Big Cottonwood, plans for −5°F on a bench 130 ft up, and Holladay Heights −4°F with a 7°F spring edge.

Murray is floor. The land slopes west to the Jordan, Big and Little Cottonwood creeks join it inside the city with wetlands along all three, and the town plans for −6°F (6a). Cottonwood Heights sits at 4,791 ft, 330 ft above the floor, where the Big and Little Cottonwood valleys narrow into canyons; it plans for −6°F and runs 11°F warmer than downtown in spring. The canyon mouths and creek bottoms carry cold air out at night, so keep stone fruit out of the creek line.

Sandy, Draper, Midvale and Point of the Mountain

Midvale is where the floor turns cold: the town plans for −9°F, Midvale Terrace, 150 ft up, −6°F. Sandy runs from mountain slopes on the east down to the Jordan on its west border. The town point plans for −9°F, with Sandy's floor at −11°F, and up the east side Sandy Hills and Granite Mesa plan for −7°F and −6°F with an 11°F spring edge. Dimple Dell shows how a draw cuts through bench ground: Dimple Dell Heights runs 9°F warmer than downtown in spring, and Dimple Dell Oaks, down in the draw a mile and a half east, only 1°F.

Draper plans for −8°F, and its old farm ground on the floor (Draper Old Farm, Somerville) −9°F, even with downtown to 2°F colder in spring. Highlands of Hidden Valley, 390 ft up, plans for −6°F with an 11°F edge. Suncrest, on the Traverse ridge at 6,089 ft and 1,330 ft above the floor, plans for −6°F but gets only a 4°F edge; that high, you're above the warm belt. Point of the Mountain is one of the country's best-known hang gliding wind sites, so skip the open top.

Bluffdale, named for the bluffs and dales along the Jordan, plans for −9°F, and the south end of town toward the Jordan Narrows −8°F to −9°F with spring readings 5°F to 7°F warmer than downtown. At the Narrows, on the nights VTMX studied, a wind came down from Utah Valley around 9 to 10 pm that stirred the shallow inversion there and warmed the lowest 250 ft. On the −9°F floors, Honeycrisp and Zestar!® apples, Meteor tart cherry and Honeyberry make sense; stone fruit goes on the benches.

West Jordan, South Jordan, Riverton, Herriman and Daybreak

The Jordan bottoms here are the coldest named ground in the valley: LKC Jordan View Estates, Dusty Downs Estates and Ridgecrest all plan for −10°F. West Jordan and Riverton plan for −9°F, and South Jordan, on a bench 110 ft up, −8°F over a floor at −11°F. Dusty Downs reads 2°F colder than downtown on a spring night while LKC Jordan View Estates, about a mile east, reads 5°F warmer, which is why you check your own lot. West of the river, Herriman, at 4,932 ft, plans for −8°F and runs 6°F warmer than downtown in spring. Daybreak, the first piece of Kennecott's west-side plan, sits on a bench 180 ft up at −8°F but reads 2°F colder than downtown in spring. Put D'Anjou pear and the apricots on the Herriman benches and the apples and haskap along the river.

West Valley City, Kearns, Taylorsville and Magna

West Valley City, put together in 1980 from Granger, Hunter, Chesterfield and Redwood, plans for −5°F on the floor, and Hunter −5°F. The low ground at Granger West and Alpine Meadows plans for −7°F and −6°F and reads 2°F to 3°F colder than downtown in spring, the coldest spring readings of any named place on the floor we checked. Kearns is the warm side of the west valley: −5°F (6b) on a bench 220 ft up, with Sunset Downs and Creekview, 280 ft to 300 ft up, at −4°F and 9°F to 11°F warmer than downtown in spring. Magna, first called Pleasant Green, plans for −6°F. Coon Creek runs north and west through town to the lake; East Magna, on the floor, plans for −7°F, and Magna Mill, on the hillside at the foot of the Oquirrhs, −4°F with a 7°F spring edge.

Bountiful, Centerville, Farmington and Kaysville

South Davis County is a thin strip between the Wasatch and Farmington Bay. North Salt Lake plans for −5°F, and its hillsides (Hillside Oaks and Orchard Hills East, 530 ft to 720 ft up) −5°F with spring readings 10°F to 13°F warmer than downtown. Bountiful's downtown, at the mountain base, plans for −7°F. In the December 1990 cold snap NOAA's Val Verda station (4,540 ft, south Bountiful) read −9°F against −16°F at Bountiful Bench, 400 ft higher. Centerville plans for −6°F, with Deuel Creek Heights 9°F warmer than downtown in spring and Chase Lane Village, on the flats, 2°F colder. Farmington plans for −5°F, and Farmington Hills 13°F warmer than downtown in spring. Fruit Heights, the bench town east of Kaysville, plans for −7°F at 4,706 ft, and the subdivisions just west of it carry names like Peach Tree and The Orchard (−7°F, 7°F to 8°F warmer than downtown in spring). Kaysville plans for −7°F.

The bigger problem here is wind. Ridge-level east winds push cold, dense air over the Wasatch, and it speeds up down the west slope and hits hardest at the foot; Centerville and Farmington get it most. Gusts hit 104 mph in Centerville on December 15, 1988 and 112 mph at the University of Utah on September 8, 2020, when about 1,000 trees went down in Salt Lake City and Manning Orchards in Fruit Heights lost many of its own. On October 12, 1986, Centerville had 84 mph while the airport had 7 mph. Stake young trees well, and make a windbreak at least as tall as the fruit trees and 40 to 60 percent dense, with gaps at the downhill end so it doesn't dam cold air.

Spring frost and bloom on the Wasatch Front

In a normal year peaches bloom here around April 8 to 10 and tart cherries around April 25 to 30, and USU says apricots bloom first of all. On April 23, 2008, apricots in Salt Lake and Davis counties were at full bloom and apples just showing green. Michigan State's fruit people put the point where open blossoms of all of them start dying near 28°F.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians: at the airport the last 32°F is April 14 and the last 28°F March 30, with 192 frost-free days, and one year in ten the last 32°F comes after May 7. Bountiful-Val Verda (4,540 ft) runs April 19 and 178 days, Farmington 3 NW April 20 and 177, Bountiful Bench (4,950 ft) April 28 and 180, Cottonwood Weir (4,986 ft) April 30 and 172, and up in the mountains Mountain Dell Dam May 18 and City Creek Water Plant May 20. Red Butte Garden uses May 7 for the Wasatch Front, the airport's late-year date.

Those dates don't show the benches frosting less, and two things fit that. The two highest bench stations sit more than 700 ft above the airport, and free air cools about 3.6°F per 1,000 ft. Station dates also count every frost, including ones that come with a front or snow (April 15, 2008 blew snow over the buds at 23°F to 28°F), when higher ground is colder. The spring layer on this map is the still, clear night, when cold drains and pools, and that's the night you beat by picking your spot. USU's rule is that ground 50 to 100 ft above the valley floor is less freeze prone.

In 2026 the whole Wasatch Front got hit. Record March warmth pushed bloom about three weeks early, with peaches out around March 15 to 20, and freezes on April 3, 4, 17 and 18 held stations below 26°F for more than eight hours. The governor's emergency order listed ten counties, Davis among them, with apricots, cherries, plums, peaches, pears and apples each losing 95 to 100 percent. In Montana's 2026 bloom frost, growers up on the benches fared much better than those down low.

Put apricots, peaches and sweet cherries highest and out of the draws, apples and haskap lower (open haskap flowers take 19°F). An east slope is ideal and a north slope holds early bloomers back; a south or west wall pulls bloom earlier and walks it into frost season. Most fruit can lose half its blossoms and still bear. For small trees USU suggests a tarp secured over the tree with a 60-watt bulb in the canopy, pulled once the morning air passes 32°F, and frost cloth of 0.5, 0.9 and 1.5 oz per square yard buys about 4°F, 6°F and 8°F.

What the weather records say

The coldest readings on record inside the map are −30°F at the airport (February 9, 1933) and Mountain Dell Dam (January 11, 1963). Midvale hit −25°F on January 21, 1937, the day downtown's old station set its −11°F. The bench stations set theirs later: −15°F at the University of Utah (January 31, 1985) and −16°F at Bountiful Bench (December 23, 1990).

Timing can matter more than depth. On November 16, 1955, a floor station at 4,242 ft read −18°F and the airport −14°F, early enough that trees were still hardening off; WSU says November cold that same week killed fruit trees around Yakima at −3°F. Don't push nitrogen or heavy watering late in the season. The floor gets about 55 inches of snow a year and the benches up to 100, and snow insulates roots, the weakest part of a dormant tree. Published USDA zones differ: Red Butte Garden gives 6a to 7b for the Wasatch Front, other guides zone 7 for most of the urban corridor. Ours run 6a and 6b because USDA maps an average winter and we map the bad night.

What you can grow here

The coldest bottoms on the valley floor plan for about −10°F to −11°F, and everything we sell has come through −10°F or colder, so nearly the whole list clears winter here. Chicago Hardy Fig, at −10°F, is the only one with no room to spare, and on the −11°F bottoms it's only worth a try. In the Salt Lake Valley you choose by bloom and site.

The east bench and the warm slopes (0°F to −8°F, 5°F to 13°F warmer than downtown in spring)

Apricots: Tomcot and Goldrich (−30°F). Peaches: Redstar and Glohaven (−25°F). Nectarine: Fantasia (−20°F). Sweet cherries: Bing (−20°F) and Stella (−25°F). Plum: Santa Rosa (−20°F). Pear: Golden Russet Bosc (−30°F). Almond: SnowCzar (−25°F), an early bloomer. Our pollination maps show which pairs bloom together.

Downtown and the floor (−2°F to −10°F, even with downtown to 3°F colder in spring)

Apples: Arkansas Black (−40°F), Newtown Pippin (−30°F) and St. Edmund's Pippin (−20°F). Tart cherries: Montmorency (−35°F) and Evan's Bali (−45°F). Grape: Concord (−30°F). Bush fruit: Red Lake currant, Hinnomaki Red gooseberry, Royalty raspberry. On a town lot, Persimmon (Montana Trial) (−25°F) and the fig fit too. Keep pears and apricots off the low ground; they bloom early.

Emigration Canyon and the mountain valleys (−15°F to −17°F)

Emigration Canyon plans for −15°F on the canyon floor at 5,412 ft, and Little Mountain, farther up, −17°F and 4°F colder than downtown in spring. Everything we sell clears −17°F except the fig, which is only worth a try at the −15°F end, against a south wall. With last frosts around May 18 to 20 at the mountain stations, stick with Haralson apple, Kerr applecrab, Meteor tart cherry and Montana Black Currant. Over the top toward Park City, our Park City, Heber and Wasatch Back map covers you.

Soil, water and pests

The floor is old Lake Bonneville bed, limey marl and clay, and the benches are its old beaches, sand and gravel. Soils run alkaline (pH above 7), and iron chlorosis (yellowing leaves) is the common result; USU says wet soil and spring over-watering make it worse. Don't plant where water stands more than 24 hours, test drainage first (dig 2 feet, fill, let it drain, refill; under 10 hours is well drained) and water by drip. Fire blight is here; USU says to prune it out with tools dipped in 10 percent bleach for at least 10 seconds. Hang codling moth traps by 100 degree-days (base 50°F), and watch stone fruit for peach twig borer, greater peachtree borer and coryneum blight.

Fruit history here

Hunter, now part of West Valley City, was settled in 1876, irrigated from 1881, and grew fruit trees as its main crop. Hector Haight settled Kaysville as a farm town in 1847, Bountiful's name comes from its reputation as good garden country, and Fruit Heights was East Kaysville until 1939, named for the orchards on its bench; Manning Orchards there is still known for its peaches. Salt Lake County had 489,000 acres of farmland in 1950 and 82,267 in 2002. South of the Traverse Mountains, our Provo, Orem and Utah Valley map takes over.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Salt Lake City?

Downtown Salt Lake City plans for −2°F, MFTC zone 6b, and nearly all of the valley's growing ground is 6a or 6b. Published USDA figures differ: Red Butte Garden gives 6a to 7b for the Wasatch Front, and other guides put most of the urban corridor in zone 7. USDA's zones are built on an average winter's coldest night (about 9°F downtown); ours are set by the bad night we plan for.

When is the last frost in Salt Lake City?

At the airport, NOAA's 1991 to 2020 median last 32°F is April 14, and the last 28°F March 30. One year in ten it's after May 7, the date Red Butte Garden uses. Bench stations in Bountiful and at Cottonwood Weir run April 19 to April 30.

Can you grow peaches in Salt Lake City?

Yes. The valley plans for −10°F to 0°F and every peach we sell has come through −25°F or colder, so winter isn't the problem. Bloom is: peaches bloom around April 8 to 10 in a normal year, so put them on the east bench or a slope, out of the draws.

Are the benches warmer than the valley floor?

On the still, clear nights that do the damage, yes. In January 1949 the airport hit −22°F while two east-side stations near 5,000 ft stayed at −5°F and −6°F, and on a spring frost night the east bench runs 6°F to 13°F warmer than downtown. On some arctic nights it flips: in December 1990 Bountiful Bench read −16°F to the airport's −11°F.

Where are the frost pockets in the Salt Lake Valley?

For winter cold, the Jordan River bottoms between Sandy and South Jordan (−10°F) and the river bottom in northwest Salt Lake City (−9°F). For spring frost, the low ground at Granger West and Alpine Meadows, Somerville in Draper, the draws through the bench like Dimple Dell, and canyon floors like Emigration Canyon.

Why didn't my fruit trees fruit in 2026?

Record March warmth pushed bloom about three weeks early, and freezes on April 3, 4, 17 and 18 held stations below 26°F for more than eight hours, below the 28°F where open blossoms start dying. For a no-crop year USU advised cutting nitrogen, watering a little less without letting trees go dry, skipping codling moth sprays on apples and pears, and still treating stone fruit for peach twig borer.

Warmer spots, colder spots

Here's the number to plan for at named places on the map, warmest first. Each one is the 1-in-30-year low for that spot: the cold hardiness calculator's number from the same weather stations, sharpened by our microclimate model for the ground right there. Zone is our MFTC zone, set by that one bad night, not by an average.

The weather stations behind it

These are the long-record stations in and around this map, with each one's own numbers since the winter of 1995-96. The last column is this map's 30-year number right at the station, which won't match the station exactly: it's a blend of the stations around it, the way the calculator works everywhere.

Source: NOAA records through ACIS, winters 1995-96 through 2025-26. What the "carried forward," "gaps filled" and AWOS rows mean is explained in how our microclimate maps work.