Interstate 215 (I-215), also known locally as the Belt Route, is an auxiliary Interstate in the U.S. state of Utah that forms a three-quarters loop around Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs. The route begins at the mouth of Parley's Canyon at a junction with I-80 east of the city center, and heads south through the edge of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area's eastern suburbs of Millcreek, Holladay, and Cottonwood Heights. It continues west through Murray before turning north again, passing through the city's first-ring western suburbs of Taylorsville and West Valley City. It then enters North Salt Lake and Davis County for a short distance before reaching I-15 northwest of the city center.
The terminus of I-215 at I-80, to the east of Salt Lake City
I-215 northbound approaching Legacy Parkway, to the northwest of Salt Lake City
View east along the southern portion of I-215
Looking southward at the southern terminus of SR-186 toward the counter-clockwise end of I-215 at the mouth of Parley's Canyon
Parleys Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Utah. The canyon provides the route of Interstate 80 (I-80) up the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains and is a relatively wide, straight canyon other than near its mouth. The mountain pass at the top of the canyon is known as Parleys Summit. With an elevation of 7,120 feet (2,170 m), the pass is the highest point along I-80 in the state of Utah. Both features are named for Parley P. Pratt, an early settler of the Salt Lake Valley and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who surveyed the area to find a better transportation route through the Wasatch Mountains than the previous route which traversed Emigration Canyon.
View along Interstate 80 eastbound in Parleys Canyon
Statue of Parley P. Pratt facing Parleys Canyon at dawn