What are the top three things that pop into your mind when thinking of Utah?
As a travel agent I have the unique opportunity of speaking with hundreds of travellers as well as my social media followers, giving me a real sense of public opinion on travelling through the Beehive State. Unsurprisingly Mormons, desert and national parks topped the list of interests.
But while Utah certainly has an abundance of all those things, there is so much more on offer here, making it (in my opinion) one of the most underrated frontier states in all of the U.S.
The most surprising thing about Utah – aside from the fact it has the third largest number of national parks in any U.S. state – is that the is that the sheer number of state parks and national monuments are so impressive they rival any of the Mighty Five® which the state is better known for; these are Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks.
If you’re an adventure lover and a fan of the great outdoors, there really is no other place on the planet quite like Utah. One hour you can be swiftly pedalling down ruby red-coloured slick rock, the next you’re wedged between a towering slot canyon, waist deep in crystal clear water. You could be cruising down world-class ski slopes in the morning, and hiking through a wonderland of hoodoos (columns of weathered rock) and pine trees that same afternoon.
Utah shines in every season, with 238 days of sun a year (well above the national average) so when you visit really depends on what you’re hoping to experience. For snow lovers, mid-November through to April is best, especially in January to March if you’re craving deep pow. For hikers, look at the seasons of Spring (March to May) and Autumn (September to November) for comfortable conditions. The summer months (June to August) are best for alpine hiking and water sports.
We laced up our boots in the capital, Salt Lake City, to kick off a monumental road trip. You can take a hike from day one on your visit by heading out to the Great Salt Lake or acquaint yourself with the state’s fascinating Mormon roots by checking out the Temple Square complex. The Utah State Capitol building and the National History Museum are also well worth some time while you’re still in the big smoke, and if you can catch the Utah Jazz basketball team at home, it’s game on!
We ventured through rocky desert landscapes, pristine forests, glistening waterways, and the wild west ...
From Salt Lake City, we ventured through rocky desert landscapes, pristine forests, glistening waterways, and the wild west, all the way down through the deep south of Utah, to Las Vegas, Nevada.
While hiking and landscapes were what we were originally craving on this visit, we found ourselves smiling from ear to ear with charming locals, falling in love with quirky desert towns, and having foodie experiences that still make my taste buds moist at the memories.
If I had to sum up Utah in an elevator pitch, I’d say it’s like a game of pass the parcel. When the music stops and you rip off the next layer of wrapping paper, you’ll be squealing with delight and it’s one of those games where Mum and Dad have packed an epic present in each layer.
DANA’S TOP FIVE EXPERIENCES Here’s five epic recommendations, a detailed road trip itinerary from our creator and the best way to discover (and book) the real Utah with get lost:
It’s not a cliche: it should be a God-given right for everyone to have the opportunity to experience the magic and diversity that Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks offer. It still blows my mind how different each of these parks are, yet they’re so easily accessible to navigate within a week.
The AU$115 America the Beautiful pass, gives you access to all federally managed land units (national parks, national forests, national monuments, etc.) It’s good for a year from the month of purchase. You can pick one up at any national park entrance station.
Part of the ‘Trail of the Ancients’, this national scenic byway is a roadway that drastically switches back and forth on itself at a mind boggling 11 percent grade, carved into a cliff face. You breathe in while you’re driving this stretch of road simply as a natural protection instinct from the sheer drop. Yet, the views over San Juan River Canyon will balance your adrenaline. It is simply stunning at the top. It was a combination of both these elements that made me really feel alive.
I went all gung-ho to tick off the Mighty Five® national parks. And while they are certainly pretty epic in their own right, I was floored by how insane the lesser known parks were. I was questioning how they could not be honoured with the same national park status? There are 44 state parks, 9 national monuments, and several other areas defined as really cool landmarks. At this point, I decide that I need to move to Utah to visit each and every one.
TAKE A HIKE
AU$108 for an annual State Park Pass which is a no brainer if you’re visiting a few. They can be around AU$15 per park if you pay individually.
If the aqua coloured truck doesn’t stop you in your tracks as you pass by the town of Boulder, the scent of perfectly cooked Mexican wafting through your window will have you parked up in no time. Sit under the cottonwoods to enjoy their fare, and take some extra away with you to fuel you on your next hike.
You’re in the most adventurous state in the U.S, so it’s time to try something new. Challenge yourself on a higher graded hike, mountain bike, canyoning adventure, bouldering ledge, rock climb, fly fishing trip, ATV, jet ski, water ski, snow ski, snowboard or slackline. If you’ve ever wanted to try something new that will really get your heart racing, Utah is calling your name.
TAKE A HIKE
Choosing to get out of your comfort zone = priceless
DAY 1 SALT LAKE CITY DAY 2 SALT LAKE CITY TO GREEN RIVER DAY 3 THE FIRST OF THE MIGHTY FIVE DAY 4 THE WILD WEST DAY 5 MONUMENT VALLEY TO CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK DAY 6 WORKING ON THAT MIGHTY FIVE DAY 7 BRYCE CANYON TO KANAB DAY 8 THE FINAL FIVE DAY 9 ZION TO CEDAR CITY DAY 10 CROSSING THE FINISH LINE
In a city where there’s no shortage of places-to-be, the Tommie is the new place to be in Los Angeles.
It’s not difficult to see why this Hollywood hotspot has racked up this reputation in six short months. During the day, go full maxo-relaxo at the rooftop pool, a relaxed oasis which feels miles away from the craziness of the day-to-day L.A.
By night, debauchery seekers should head around the corner to the Desert 5 Bar, a hedonistic treat in the form of sweeping city skyline views, endless pitchers of margaritas, live music and a serious, serious vibe.
In between these two bookends you’ve got sleek 1960s-themed rooms to kick back in, and a restaurant with a very meat-strong menu from an award-winning chef (Wes Avila) to eat at.
There might be finer or quirkier places to stay, but nowhere in New York City quite has the bohemian street credit of The Hotel Chelsea, which has re-opened after a four-year renovation.
The hotel probably peaked as a creative hub in the 1960s and the 1970s, when the likes of Patti Smith (pictured below), Jimi Hendrix, Robert Mapplethorpe, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Madonna and a heap more resided at the Chelsea, on 23rd street Manhattan.
Jack Kerouac could often be found there when not on the road. Decades earlier Dylan Thomas drank himself into a stupor in his room, and earlier than that Thomas Wolfe wrote You Can’t Go Home Again within the confines of the hotel’s grungy walls. Leonard Cohen wrote “I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel…you were talking so brave and so sweet,” in memory of Joplin, forever entwining the two.
The hotel is now a upmarket trip down memory lane, refurbished with new coats of paint and expensive art. The Spanish restaurant has been retained, but upgraded. The rooms are glamorous, featuring restored marble fireplaces, Marshall speakers and retro couches. There’s a spa, a gym and, obviously, a bar. It’s shabby elegance has gone, replaced by a nostalgic elegance.
Colour is splashed throughout, reflecting the building’s colourful history.
Circa Hotel & Casino is a new behemoth property in Sin City, geared entirely towards rabid American sports fans.
The first new casino-resort to open in downtown Vegas since 1980, Circa now sits head and shoulders above its ageing predecessors — both physically and metaphorically — boasting an amphitheatre-style pool dubbed ‘Stadium Swim’, an enormous sports bar (which is, in fact, Nevada’s largest indoor bar spanning 50 metres) and a three-story indoor betting stadium (yes, you read that correctly). This is the hottest ticket in town for America’s sun-seekers and sports lovers. Just be sure to bring a fat wallet for the booze and betting tables.
YouTube superstar couple, Johnny and Iz Harris are no strangers to visiting unique properties around the world, so when given the opportunity to renovate and design their own forest retreat just outside their home in Washington DC they grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Taking a historic and dilapidated church from the late 1800s, the couple completely transformed the former place of worship into the ultimate entertaining pad with enough room for an entire family. Some properties are just built to be most enjoyed during winter and the Shenandoah Church House is one of those, with its roaring indoor fireplace and outdoor seven-seater hot tub.
And soon, you can keep them all close at the New York City mansion made famous from the 1972 absolute classic The Godfather, which will be available to rent on Airbnb from July 28.
The iconic 1930s built home is instantly recognisable from the front, with the stately drive and gate lined with hedges leading to the stonewalled exterior of the famous house.
While renovations have been made throughout there are still many recognisable features from the home, including the study of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), and Vito Corleone’s basement bar.
This is an unmissable stay for any film buffs or fans of the trilogy. The best thing about this all is that you hardly have to make them an offer they can’t refuse: it’s just $50 USD a night to stay at ‘the family’s house’.
You’re not told where you are you are staying until after you book (all we know is that they’re within a few hours drive of Toronto) and when you do arrive, the shimmering mirrored walls of the cabins give the impression they are camouflaged.
There’s forest bathing and hiking but if it’s us, we’re hanging out in the cabin…invisible to the rest of the world.
Nature seems to save its absolute best for Utah, where rock, mountain, lakes and valleys coexist in perfect harmony in America's west.
Within hours of flying in, our group is already travelling into the deep, ancient mountains of Zion National Park, near St George in the southwest of the state. This is a place steeped in natural wonders, adventure experiences and it’s one of the very few states in America ripe for those looking to experience the outdoors in its rawest form.
We arrive at the famous Angel’s Leading Ledgewalk via ferrata in Kolob Canyon, and very quickly I understand that Utah is not the place for your average outdoorsman. For the uninitiated, via ferrata means ‘iron path’ in Italian and is a type of climbing apparatus whereby metal rungs are drilled into vertical cliff faces thousands of metres in the air. Whilst the climber is attached to a steel cable, they walk across the cliff face with nothing but empty space and a cavern below them.
This particular via ferrata is advertised as something one can do from years 8 to 80, but obviously your comfort with heights may limit that severely. While you can now do via ferratas round the United States, here in Utah it affords you two spectacular advantages. The first is that the landscape here is nothing less than jaw dropping, as you spiderman through the seemingly painted chasms like you’re in a Kate Starling painting.
The second is that you’re guided by the man who actually created this particular course. Ian Crowe’s background in engineering affords you not just the benefit to ask a bunch of probing questions, but the added security knowing that if you go down, he’s going with you.
The next morning before the sun rises, we’re at Zion Outfitters sliding on thick neoprene socks and waterproof orange hiking boots. Before long we’re marching down a river flowing freely in an extraordinary cavern with walls about 150 metres high. The idea of walking in water for five hours sounds like a particular type of machiavelian torture chamber, but in reality it is one of the most amazing earth grounding experiences you can have in the natural world.
The walls are striated in reds, golds, blacks and whites, while trees sometimes defy gravity from cracks in the surface, and the rocky outcropping afford amazing light and shadow photo opportunities.
The water in late summer for a tall person can come up to your waist, higher in spring, and even higher the further you walk upstream, but the wetness of this experience is a welcome cooldown from the Utah heat.
The following day, no longer waterlogged but definitely feeling the memory of the trail’s watery beauty in my quads, we find ourselves in the darling hamlet of Cedar City. It’s a quirky model all-American town with an actual replica Globe Theater. As in, famous playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, which our host Becki Lewis tells us is a major draw for the iconic town.
“We do about a dozen productions a year and people come from all over, even New York where the acting troupe is from. We have seminars before and after shows for anyone that wants to learn more about the plays. It’s a great way to get introduced to Shakespeare, even though we do other more contemporary plays here as well.”
But art thou looking for outdoor adventure in Utah? Back to the epic. Brian Head Resort is an epic ski destination in Southern Utah. This unplugged destination offers some amazing powder snow and epic backcountry skiing opportunities throughout the winter, and all without the crowds that typify the resorts up north.
In the summer, the fun doesn’t stop, as mountain bikers flock to the hill to fly down at breakneck speed. At Capitol Reef we stop at a pick-it-yourself cum honour system apple orchard, grabbing a few ripe Red Delicious off perfect trees which could be cartoons. I throw some cash in a little basket hanging on a tree like something out of the 1920s.
The next day is a bucket list moment for myself – a filmmaker in another life – when we visit Sundance, the mountain resort made famous by the film and arts community that resided and worked there. We visit exquisite restaurants and famous Owl Bar, frequented by the likes of Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford.
While most of our travelling group take to the mountain to hike or bike, I opt to instead visit the local art studio, to learn from the myriad artisans how to spin plates, make jewelry or in my case, perfect the art of crafting beautiful, artisan candles. I love bringing a bit of hand made magic home from magical places.
We stay in ‘Switzerland’…or as close to Switzerland as possible while still being in the southwest of the United States. Zermatt Utah Resort is an eerie carbon copy of it’s Swiss namesake. Complete with chateaux style hotels and mountain cuisine, Utah’s Zermatt Resort is something to behold; a grand hotel with spa and ski service, and quite simply the best apple strudel you can find in the New World. It’s kitch and crazy and I loved every minute of it.
At Soldier Hollow in Midway, a town which hosted the Biathlon event for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, we strap on some roller blades and roll around shooting precision .22 caliber rifles at targets, all while being guided by a Olympic Biathlete Zach Hall. I never gave the Biathlon much thought when watching on TV, but after channelling a little of my inner-James Bond, it is my new favorite event.
IT IS TRULY A UNIQUE ADVENTURER’S PLAYGROUND, READY TO BE DISCOVERED. JUST BE SURE TO PACK AN EMERGENCY STASH OF BOOZE AND WATERPROOF SHOES.
On our final night we land in Salt Lake City; a brackish mix of staunch belief and wild outdoorism. It’s surrounded by geological brilliance, and cultural importance, and an interesting history beginning with its Mormon founders.
This is a unique American city where the food and bar scene is cosmopolitan and prolific, but with a sprinkling of country hospitality. During the day, we explore Utah’s famous Natural History Museum which resides right along the great bath tub ring of the Great Salt Lake, with a petrified ocean that you can see from space and a fossil record that would amaze even the most advanced of paleontologists.
In the evening I dive deep into the bowels of the city and explore Carson Kitchen, a modern American eatery where every plate is a welcome adventure. Then at Fisher Brewing Company, I finished a beer flight featuring every ale on the menu before seeking out a nightcap at an alluring establishment called BAR-X, which made me feel like I was back in a trendy part of East Village, New York rather than a Mormon-stronghold.
Even the arduous stumble home to the Peery Hotel was a delight in itself, this old Grande Dame of lodging made me feel honoring it’s historic roots while prioritising modern comfort.
In the morning I leave the mountains for my metropolis home, and I marvel out the window at the immense span of land beneath me. This is some of the oldest earth on Earth, a wilderness that many visit, but fail to even scratch the surface.
Utah is not glamorous from the outside. It’s probably not yet fully set up for hordes of tourists, but therein lies the beauty of this natural amphitheatre.
It is truly a unique adventurer’s playground, ready to be discovered. Just be sure to pack an emergency stash of booze and waterproof shoes.
get lost’s man on the ground Roberto Serrini is no stranger to being out and about in a foreign city after dark, so he’s a good judge when it comes to this sort of thing.
Ever wanted to join the Mile High Club? No need to bother with cramped Qantas toilets.
There’s an actual flight you can take where you and your spouse/significant other/lover you met at Bingo can get down to business while the plane you’re on flies 5,280 feet up in the air. And yes, for those playing along at home – that is exactly one mile in the air.
In what is possibly the most Vegas thing ever, Love Cloud are a ‘scenic’ flight tour company that offer short ‘joy rides’ over Vegas. For $995, you get your own cabin just back from the cockpit, with “custom made romantic interiors, a wireless sound and light system, red satin sheets, sex position pillows and cushions, and a custom made foam mattress to make your flight extremely comfortable.”
If you’re more of a ground-level sort of operator when it comes to getting frisky, Love Cloud also do romantic three-course dinners ($1,595) as well as weddings (weirdly cheaper at $1,195).
But it’s the ‘MHC Flights’ that are most popular, with participants even receiving ‘His and Her Mile High Club VIP Certificate Cards’ which you’ll be able to proudly display at home for friends and family to see.
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