In the U.S. state of Utah, Interstate 80 (I-80) runs 196 miles (315.4 km) east–west through northern part of the state, passing through the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the Wasatch Mountains and Echo canyon. In western Utah the highway was built along the corridor of the Victory Highway, U.S. Route 40 and the Feather River Route. In eastern Utah the highway was built along the corridor of the Lincoln Highway and the Mormon Trail. The easternmost section also follows the historical routes of the First Transcontinental Railroad and U.S. Route 30S. The section of I-80 between Redwood Road and the Salt Lake International Airport was the last piece of the transcontinental freeway to open to traffic.

The freeway enters Utah in the city of Wendover (which is adjacent to the Nevada city of West Wendover) on the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats. The highway closely follows the historical routes of the Wendover Cutoff of the Victory Highway and the ex-Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route (now part of the Central Corridor) across the salt flats and the larger Great Salt Lake Desert. In the middle of the salt flats a concrete sculpture, Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, stands just off the westbound lanes of I-80. The freeway arrives at the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake and closely follows the southern shore towards the western suburbs of Salt Lake City. However, the historical routes from which the route of I-80 was derived were routed farther away from the lake, passing through the towns of Grantsville and Tooele before crossing a bottle neck between the Oquirrh Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. While traversing the neck, I-80 features a view area with views of both the Lake and Antelope Island. After passing the neck the road forks with I-80 proceeding towards the north end of Salt Lake City and State Route 201 proceeding towards the south end. Historically, this intersection was the separation of U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 50. After the intersection the freeway corridor is again bottlenecked with the Great Salt Lake to the north and the Kennecott Utah Copper smelter and tailings pond to the south. Visible in the distance is the Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine, at one time the largest manmade excavation and the Kennecott Smokestack, one of the tallest freestanding structures in the United States. Along this portion the freeway passes the historical site of the Saltair resort.

The freeway enters the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area on the former alignment of North Temple Street until passing the Salt Lake International Airport where the freeway veers slightly south departing the North Temple Street corridor which leads to Temple Square in Downtown Salt Lake City. I-80 merges with Interstate 15 for about 3 miles (4.8 km) passing along the western and southern edge of Downtown Salt Lake City. After separating from I-15, the freeway loosely follows an alignment just south of 2100 South towards Parley's Canyon, where the freeway joins the historical route of the Lincoln Highway. Parley's Canyon carries I-80 up the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains as a six-lane freeway, cresting the mountains at an elevation of 7,120 feet (2,170 m) at Parley's Summit. Both features were named for Parley P. Pratt, an early settler to the Salt Lake Valley, and early Mormon leader who was asked to survey a new route across the mountains to replace the route through Emigration Canyon. Pratt successfully surveyed, completed and operated a toll road through the canyon that today bears his name until he was murdered by the estranged husband of his twelfth wife.

Beyond Parley's summit lies Park City, a mining town today better known for its many ski resorts. Upon reaching the Rockport Reservoir at Wanship the freeway turns north, following the tributaries of the Weber River toward Echo Reservoir and dam. Upon reaching Echo Canyon and the junction with the eastern terminus of the western section of Interstate-84, the freeway follows the canyon east until the Wyoming state line near Evanston. The portion through Echo Canyon follows the historical routes of the Mormon Trail, U.S. Route 30S, and the First Transcontinental Railroad. A rest area in the canyon, just east of the junction with I-84 features signs pointing out features in the canyon that were obstacles in the canyon for both the Mormon pioneers and the construction workers of the railroad, including Pulpit Rock, which was partially demolished when the railroad was converted to double track.

Interstate 80 follows the routes of two major auto trails through the state. In western Utah, I-80 follows the historical route of the Victory Highway from the Wendover at the Nevada state line to the junction of U.S. Route 40 near Park City.

Throughout Utah, I-80 is signed as the modern route of the Lincoln Highway, except through Salt Lake City, where the Lincoln Highway is routed along State Route 201 and Parley's Way. The route of the Lincoln Highway across Utah was generally derived from the route of the Pony Express and the Central Overland Route. However west of Salt Lake City, much of the original route of the Lincoln Highway is inaccessible. The original route of the Lincoln Highway proceeded southwest from Tooele towards Ely, Nevada. This area is now used for military bases such as the Dugway Proving Ground and Tooele Army Depot. When these bases were formed the area was closed to the public. Interstate 80 in Utah and U.S. Route 93 in Nevada are the modern signing of the Lincoln Highway between those two cities. East of Salt Lake, I-80 closely parallels the original route of the Lincoln Highway.

From 1926 until the 1970s, all of the modern I-80 corridor was signed as U.S. Highways. From the state line at Wendover to Park City I-80 replaced U.S. Route 40. From Park City to Echo I-80 replaced a what was originally numbered U.S. Route 530, and U.S. Route 30S from Echo to the Wyoming state line. The US-530 designation was replaced with U.S. Route 189.

Interstate 80 was constructed in segments, starting in the 1950s. By the late 1970s the Utah portion of I-80 was largely complete, except for a gap on the western edge of Salt Lake City. A 5-mile (8.0 km) section between Redwood Road and the Salt Lake International Airport holds the distinction of being the final link of the transcontinental freeway to be completed. This section was dedicated on 22 August 1986. This coincidentally was close to the thirtieth birthday of the Interstate Highway System, which was noted at the dedication and considered to be a milestone in the history of highway construction in the United States. It was also noted at the dedication that this was only 50 miles (80 km) from Promontory Summit, where the golden spike of the United States First Transcontinental Railroad was laid.

Reconstruction of I-80 began in August 2007, from State Street (US-89) east to 1300 East (former SR-181). Dubbed "Innovate 80," phase one of the project involved temporarily widening bridges on the eastbound side of the freeway to accommodate five lanes (three lanes in one direction and two in the other). The center lane was made reversible so there would be three westbound lanes during the morning commute and three eastbound lanes during the evening commute. Phase two began December of that same year, reconstructing the westbound lanes and replacing the bridges. The bridges were all constructed in advance and then moved to their respective positions, beginning with the Highland Drive bridge, the 900 East bridge, the 700 East bridge, the 600 East bridge, the 500 East bridge, the 300 East bridge, and the 700 East ramp, which extends over 600 East. The westbound bridge moves were completed July 31.

Phase three began in October 2008, involving the eastbound lanes and bridges being reconstructed from 700 East to 1300 East (traffic traveled on the new pavement on the north side of the freeway). However, the bridges on the eastbound lanes were replaced with the traditional manner, constructing them on the spot of where they would lay. With the project's completion in November 2009, there are now five lanes in each direction (one of those being an auxiliary lane in between exits) compared to three lanes prior to 2007. As part of the project, sound walls were added, grade-level signage was replaced with overhead signs, on- and off-ramps were lengthened, and the State Street bridge received a bridge deck replacement, as opposed to a new bridge.