Top 5 Weekend Getaways
Maybe it's been one of those weeks. You just took the bar exam. You prepped a 68-slide PowerPoint for work. Your 13 year old came out as vegan. Or maybe it hasn't. Your fridge is empty and you don't want to go shopping. A hangnail's getting you down.
For some, it's a weekend getaway. For others, it's a MUST GET AWAY. Either way, Utah.com has you covered with weekend retreats in every corner of the state. With so much adventure so close, it barely matters which direction you go.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City
Winter or summer, adventure-seekers descend on Salt Lake City like yesteryear's sky-darkening droves of hungry crickets, and for the same reason: they know a good thing when they see it. Some come for the snow they read about on a license plate. Others come to get religion, or at least a skyward glance at its gothic-and-gold-angel architecture. Some prefer hurtling downhill on two wheels, or climbing uphill on their own two feet. Salt Lake is the kid-in-a-candy-shop (or cricket-in-a-cornfield) entryway to enough outdoor, indoor and cultural extravagances to satisfy any kind of appetite. Beware the seagull.
Park City
Park City
Think of every fun thing you can do with frozen water, add five, then go to Park City and find them all. If it's skiing you like, they've got skiing. If it's tubing, step right up. Or maybe you prefer ice-skating, sleigh riding or eating fancy food while the snow makes everything pretty. This place is gorgeous -- we're pretty sure half as many people would go to the Sundance Film Festival if it were in Nebraska.
Wendover
Wendover
It's called the party bus for a reason: because it takes you to Wendover, a little town with as much glitter and glitz as folks this side of the state line can handle. A mirage in the middle of a dried-up inland sea, Wendover offers shows for the show-starved, cards for the cardsharps, and beds for the road-weary. Too much neon for your blood? Slap on a backpack, crunch out into the Bonneville Salt Flats and explore the out-of-nowhere warm lakes, race car tracks and bizzaro art installations.
Zion National Park
Zion gets embarrassed by all this attention. Oldest, most popular national park in Utah? Sure. Three million annual visitors? At least. Those sandstone pinnacles are red cuz it's blushing. Look down on the world and everyone with even a reasonable fear of heights from the terrifying top of Angels Landing. Jump into the marine adventures of the Subway and Narrows hikes. Take pictures that will change your life. But please, don't gawk.
St. George
Brigham Young knew what to do when things got cold, and so should you: hightail it to the sunny heart of Dixie. And not just because it's the gateway to Zion (which it is). With world-class golf courses, rough-riding bike trails, Saharan sand dunes and general red-rock-o-rama, this town has enough adventure to satisfy any kind of pioneer.
Travel Tip: Phone Preparedness
You say you rappelled 200 feet in the shadow of a California condor? Pictures or it didn't happen. A few pro tips to keep your phone at the ready for maximum technological advantage:
Pack the car charger you always forget.
Expedite the agonizing debate over which Instagram filter to use. Narrow down three ahead of time that make you look stronger, tanner, more contemplative.
Call Mom before you get out of range. Let her know where you're skiing and exactly when you'll be back to pre-empt an overhasty call to Search and Rescue and/or the morgue.