Wasatch Range with Park City

Wasatch Range with Park City Travel Guide

Utah's Wasatch Mountains form a rugged divider spanning the center of the state for 160 mi from north to south, providing spectacular staging ground for some of the finest ski resorts in the country, if not the world. With exceptional Wasatch Mountain terrain, the lightest, driest, deepest powder around, the ski resorts of the southern Wasatch in and around Park City please even the most discriminating skiers and snowboarders. And, surprise-surprise, it's not just about the snow: this part of Utah is home to world-class fly-fishing streams, a variety of challenging golf courses, and loads of high adventure in the backcountry. And after all that recreating, you can enjoy a drink in a chichi club, move on to a yummy supper, and then, if you don't feel like going home to the hot tub just yet, you can cut loose with some live music on Main Street.

Park City's rep of being Utah's "Sin City" is inextricably tied to its past: it, along with the towns of Alta (where Alta and Snowbird are located) and Brighton (where Brighton and Solitude are located) were birthed by raucous mining camps and a significant vein of that wild lifestyle continues to this day. In contrast the Heber City area is a classically Mormon pioneer-formed community, as is Provo, home to Brigham Young University. Recreation opportunities abound here, too, but the nightlife is decidedly toned-down.

The area north of Salt Lake City has striking scenery but far fewer tourists than the more popular regions to the south. Heading north from Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front you pass a number of bedroom communities that fuse Odgen, the largest town in northern Utah, with the greater Salt Lake City area. North beyond Ogden, Utah is still rough and rugged country, not so unlike the way it was when the Transcontinental Railroad builders met in lonely Promontory to drive their celebratory golden spike and link the two coasts for the first time, in 1869. A large part of the region is within boundaries of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, home to breathtaking landscapes and countless miles of mostly undiscovered trails. In the northeastern part of the state is Logan, home to both Utah State University and the Utah Festival Opera. Logan is also a reliable homebase for hiking, biking, boating, and skiing excursions. Northern Utah is not necessarily the place for urban culture, but if you want genuine small town charm you're likely to find a dose or two here. It doesn't get more down-home than the legendary fresh raspberry shakes made by locals in Bear Lake.