Utah Is Your Easy Winter Vacation Destination

Whether you’re looking for a break, vacation or quest for fun this winter, Utah is the place for adventure — wherever the trail takes you along the way.

Written By Paula Colman

A skier making a turn down a snowy mountain, kicking up a spray of snow behind them.

Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort | Scott Markewitz

Throughout the year, people from across the United States visit Utah to experience its breathtaking landscapes and outdoor adventures. Stretching from The Rockies to The Great Basin and featuring five national parks, 40+ state parks, mountains, hot and cold deserts, over one million acres of water and over 500 inches of annual snowfall, Utah represents a convergence of climates, cultures and possibilities for the curious as well as the cooped up.

Some swap their international plans for a place that sounds remote but still feels close to home. Indeed, every dad over 40 has recited Clark Griswold’s mantra and dreamed of just going and going until they reach Arches National Park, which, unlike WallyWorld, never closes.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Photo: Jay Dash

"A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking. "

– Earl Wilson

Utah’s Winter Playground

Winter in Utah provides even more places to play. With 15 ski resorts scattered throughout the state, beginners and experts, powderhounds and parents, budget-conscious or big spenders can find a place to enjoy Life Elevated®.

Utah’s resorts and wintertime landscapes are the polar opposite of visiting a theme park: the latter is a highly-staged production that is the same every time you visit. Do you want to do exactly what everyone else has done, written about and posted online? Regale about that great log flume ride where you waited two hours in line? Instead, imagine describing the sounds and Instagrammable visions of making fresh tracks all morning on Powder Mountain’s Lightning Ridge or the exhilaration of doing laps in a catski to the backcountry where you are waist-deep in fresh powder under sun-drenched skies.

Even better, a looped song won’t worm its way into your head, because Utah’s gelid venues are accompanied by an ever-changing cacophony of nature’s best. Skiing Mineral Basin at Snowbird, snowshoeing at Eagle Point or snowmobiling in the Uintas provides a dynamic sensory experience every day, week, month, season and year. The weather can be warmer, the snow can be deeper, the trail can have a different path or profile than before. It looks, feels and even smells new, preparing us to live boldly in the moment.

Deer Valley Resort

Photo: Scott Markewitz

Seeking What is Real, Not What’s on Reels

More than ever, people are taking more pleasure in “small” moments. Cheering a toddler (or especially a grown-up) as she glides down the bunny hill for the first time melts the most-jaded soul, and spotting animal tracks while hiking an otherwise pristine snowy trail will replace cynicism with a mix of wonder and wariness every time. These aren’t the adrenaline-filled images captured on most brochures or web pages, but they are the ones we carry with us and recall first when asked, “How was your vacation?”

Whether you’re sailing off Solitude’s Fantasy Ridge or sipping Italian hot chocolate slopeside at Alta’s Baldy Brews (yes, Utah is the capital of craft chocolate), you feel on fire and want to share it with everyone around you. However, more surprising, it’s a feeling that’s as thrilling with the kids as it was your first time. It’s like watching the viral video of two teens hearing Phil Collin's "In the Air Tonight" for the first time, a song recorded decades before they were born. Anticipating their reaction (or your kids’ or grandkids’ squirming beside you), as you patiently wait until Collins drops his most famous drum break, and then relive the wonder from that almost-forgotten segue. It’s about sharing a moment, the present one or from years ago.

We are all a bit nostalgic these days. We’re camping, touring national parks, cycling and doing a lot of things — especially outdoors — we did or wanted to do in a different time.

What’s funny is that while some perceive Utah as a place from a different time (inside secret: It’s how we keep it to ourselves in the offseason), people who live and play here not only do all of these things regularly but take them to the next level making them fresh and exciting with each iteration, especially in winter. We ski and kite ski, sled and bobsled, ice skate and ice climb, snowshoe and snow bike. What this means is that, not only is there a lot to do, there is always something to do off the slopes, as well.

"Cheering a toddler (or especially a grown-up) as she glides down the bunny hill for the first time melts the most-jaded soul."

Sundance Mountain Resort

Photo: Marc Piscotty

Embrace the Unexpected

Vacation travel in Utah is being reimagined by replacing or complementing an itinerary with a guide, someone that suggests what not to miss along the way and, especially now, encourages you to wander and embrace the unexpected. Visit Utah is your guide to the undiscovered.

Swap your ski boots for hiking boots. Add some crampons, because frankly, it sounds pretty cool to say, “Crampons!”

Cross country skiing in Bryce Canyon National Park

Photo: Hage Photo

"When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen."

– A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

There is so much to do in Utah even when you’re not resort skiing. Backcountry and cross-country skiing are both available without a lift ticket. Rent some snowshoes or those cool crampons for a walk or trail run in the woods that will transport you from Park City’s Main Street directly to Narnia. Fat tire biking, another example of Utahn’s ability to adapt, has become one of the state’s fastest-growing activities year-round. With five-inch wide knobby tires (and even fatty ebikes available to rent at many bike shops and resorts), people of any age or ability can ride the growing number of groomed or tamped trails along the Wasatch Range. Again, no lift ticket required. These are just a few examples. Visit Utah is your guide to Life Elevated® providing plenty of winter activity ideas all over the state.

Whether you’re looking for a break, vacation or quest for fun this winter, Utah is the place, as always, for adventure — whatever you plan to do or wherever the trail takes you along the way. Let Visit Utah be your guide to help make it easy, as well.

About the Author – Paula Colman

Paula Colman is not a professional skier, mountain biker, sommelier or chef, but spends her time pursuing these and whatever else pops up along the way with an inordinate amount of enthusiasm and humor. As a recovering attorney and practicing parent, who has lived in seven states across all four time zones, she landed in Utah over a decade ago and decided that she could study for the bar or learn to ski…hmmm. She now shares her stories about outdoor adventures and entertainments throughout Utah as a regular contributor for Visit Utah, Ski Utah, ApresSkiUtah.com and others and on Instagram at @harpo_utah.

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Where to Ski

There are a lot of reasons to believe Utah is home to The Greatest Snow on Earth® and some of the best ski resorts around. Get started by choosing which resorts to visit while you’re here, or follow an itinerary for some local tips.

Utah Ski Resorts

When to Ski

December to April are the prime ski months with March typically achieving the highest averages at 100 inches. If you’re traveling from within driving distance, keep an eye on Ski Utah's Snow Report.

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