Recently, we traveled to Park City, Utah. The question we both got asked most prior to our trip was, “Why Utah?!” We have to laugh because while everyone else was wondering what the heck was in Utah, we had an entire bucket list of items to cross off. If you’ve enjoyed our recent posts, then you probably would love a trip to Utah yourself. We will outline everything you need for the perfect Park City vaca in this post.
Where Should I Stay?
We stayed at the Sundial Lodge in the Park City Canyons Village. We booked our room through Air BNB, but learned that it is far better to book directly through the property owner. The condos at Sundial Lodge are individually owned. If you find one you like on Air BNB or VRBO, search for the property’s owner and reach out directly to the host. It will save you the extra fees and taxes and allow you to pay the lowest possible rate.
Our condo was a full kitchen suite, so we did a good bit of snacking and cooking up quick meals in the room when we were tired from adventuring and didn’t feel like dressing up and going out. There is a Wal-Mart located half a mile down the road and a market on property as well. (There are also grocery services in Park City that allow groceries to be ordered and brought to you, as well as a Whole Foods nearby, both of which we did not use during our trip). Being there for a full week, we really enjoyed having the extra space the suite provided and the full kitchen.
We ate some meals on Village property as Sundial Lodge is located conveniently at the center of Park City Canyons Village, giving guests easy access to restaurants at any of the resort properties. Our room not only had its own balcony, but also had access to the large balcony in the center of the building. You can see the view from the sunset photo.
Our room came with complimentary WI-FI, DirecTV (two TVs), Netflix, access to the pool, hot tubs, and fitness room. During ski season, the rooms also have other winter features to offer. The most convenient part of staying at Sundial was the central location. We mean this in terms of Canyon Village itself and as a central point for all of the other locations we visited. Park City was the perfect place to stay because we traveled in all directions around it.
We were extremely pleased with our condo and would like to extend our sincerest thank you to the hosts, Kristin and Brad. Everything was clean, updated, and even better than we expected! Kristin went above and beyond to give us recommendations and was always available to answer our questions. For this, we are so appreciative. Some of the best parts of our trip are owed to Kristin and her expertise.
If you are interested in booking a stay at the Park City Canyons Village, you can reach out to Kristin Hoffmon via e-mail at inquiry@canyonsvillagerentals.com. You can visit their website and Facebook page for more information too!
What Should I Bring?
We found that there were a few items we needed that we didn’t expect. We’re going to give you all the details here so you know what you’ll need ahead of time!
- Gum: We had gum on us, but ended up needing to buy more. At elevations of 8000-10000 ft during our stay, our ears popped a lot during our drives up and down the mountainous land. Gum helps with that a lot.
- Nasal Spray/Mist: Crazy, right? We did not expect to both get bloody, dry noses during our stay, but it happened. Coming from SWPA, our bodies (and sinuses) are used to a little more humidity. We had to hit Wal-Mart and both of us had to invest in saline spray to keep our nasal passages moistened. Without it, your nose feels really sore from the dry weather if you’re not used to it.
- Chapstick/Lotion: Going along with the second bullet point, our lips and skin got a bit dry during our stay. We were constantly applying lip balm and chapstick and also made sure to apply lotion every night before bed to keep our skin from itching.
- Sunscreen: Utah temperatures are pretty much ideal. During the day, they can be anywhere from 65-80 and there’s no humidity so you never really feel too hot. But take it from us, you will get sun. We got burnt our first full day in Utah and we applied sunscreen every day after that! You’re at a higher elevation and closer to the sun, but with no humidity, you don’t even realize you’re getting burnt!
- Sweats: Of course we brought every cute outfit we could think of. We brought every hiking essential from our Lululemons and bikinis to our best hiking shoes. However, the evenings get chilly and we neglected to bring cozy sweatpants and heavy sweatshirts to cozy up in by the fireplace and fire pits. SO, we each bought a pair of men’s sweatpants and a generic sweatshirt from Wal-Mart our second day and wore the heck out of them every night when we returned to the condo.
What Should I Do?
Shop & Dine on Historic Main Street
Ashley visited Park City with her family in 2004 and Historic Main Street is one of her most vivid memories. It’s such a cool experience to walk down the historical street, visiting the shops and stopping for a drink or meal at the cute little places located there. The two we visited while there were 501 on Main for lunch and The No Name Saloon for dinner and drinks. In addition to the numerous restaurants, there is a wide variety of stores, from souvenir shops to upscale clothing brands. Regardless of if you plan on shopping, eating, or just sightseeing, it’s a must-see.
Visit Sundance for the Best Views
If this looks like something you’d like to do, read all about it in this blog post.
See the Real Life Up! House & Stop by a Utah Sign
If this looks like something you’d like to do, read all about it in this blog post.
Hike to Diamond Fork Hot Springs
If this looks like something you’d like to do, read all about it in this blog post.
See the Bonneville Salt Flats
If this looks like something you’d like to do, read all about it in this blog post.
Find a Moose
If you’ve been following our social media this week (namely Instagram stories), you know that we were determined to find a moose. We don’t have them in southwestern PA and we knew that they were in Utah, but kind of rare to see. Every time we met a local we asked them about where to find one. In fact, while at a Dunkin’ getting coffee we asked the barista where we could find one and the young man replied, “A Moose?! This is UTAH.” Uh yeah, we know. And we found one. Well, two– a bull that was just growing back his antlers and a cow. You might not be able to tell from the photos, but they are massive creatures.
Everyone says not to waste your time, that it’s hard to find one, but almost every evening at dusk, we went for a drive (or already were on one) and kept our eyes peeled. Your best bet is to look for them in the mountains!
Other Things to Do in Utah
There were a few activities we had tentatively planned if we had time, so we’re going to add those things here in case you have a little bit of extra time and want to try these things too:
1. Visit Olympic Park: You can try out bobsledding like Ashley did in 2004. Warning: it’s really fast! You can do a ski jump simulator, as well as many other fun things!
2. Go for an electric bike ride around Park City: There are bike pick-ups and returns all over the city. We had this on our list, but never got to it. The views are gorgeous and the bike paths abundant!
3. Take a ride up on the Gondolas in Canyons Village: Though we rode the Gondola at Sundance, we never got around to riding the one at our own resort! *forehead slap* We totally meant to because supposedly the views from the top are breathtaking.
4. Head south to Bryce Canyon and Moab: These are in southern Utah and woud’ve been about a four hour+ drive each way, but they are totally still on our bucket list. If you have the time or aren’t spending your entire vaca in Park City, check them out!
We hope we’ve given you a few reasons to add Utah to your list because it truly is an amazing place to visit. It is our hope that everyone understands “why Utah” now. 😉
xo,
Ash & Er
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