Nestled in the southern Utah Mountains, namely the Wasatch Mountain range, there is a small place called Park City which came to life in the Frontier days of the Old West, and is without doubt one of the most remarkable resort towns of the tourism industry.
It has zip lines that travel half a mile across the glacier-cut valley. It has mountain bike trails that run off the ski-lifts so the pleasure of the ride is not tempered so much with the pain of the ascent. It has hot spas, an Olympic village with all the obvious quality amenities that that implies, fishing in rivers or lakes, hiking into panoramic views that are truly astonishing and the photographs of which sell on-line for hundreds of dollars. It has world class snow trails in winter with more than 4,000 ski-able acres. It has ice rinks, and toboggan runs. It has all of this and it has more than 60 historically registered Victorian shops as part of its boutique shopping center in the Historic Old Town.
It is quite remarkable, but not least because of all this: it is remarkable because of how it came to be. Originally it was a silver mining town, and the boom of the silver rush led to dozens of millionaires being made from the mining and the accorded increase in business. Park City was a boom town, until the silver vein started to deplete, and the combination of fire after fire, mine explosions and waning silver turned the boom town into a ghost town. In the 1980’s Park City was revived as a recreational resort town, focused on the incredible ski slopes of the area. It got a shot in the arm when the Sundance Film Institute moved its annual film festival to Park City shortly after the renovation. It remains the host city of the Sundance Film Festival, each year for two weeks in January.
In 2002, the world became aware of Park City when it hosted the Olympic Winter Games. Snowboarding came into the forefront and the local talent as well as world class athletes continues to snow board the Wasatch Mountain as well as train along side skiers and other athletes in the Olympic Park Utah, located here in Park City.
Year round, Park City offers adventure, recreational activities and fun for the whole family. Winter excursions can be arranged locally from dog sledding to snowshoeing tours of the Mountain. Snow mobile trails beckon for the more adventurous visitor and horse drawn sleigh offer cozy comfort for the more romantic travelers.
In the warm months consider the famous mountain bike trails, they lay claim to the birth of mountain biking here and the trails certainly support that claim. The Provo River is famous for trout fishing and just minutes away from Park City. If your sporting interests lie more in world class shopping, there are boutiques and designer shops here to keep you in retail therapy for some time to come.
This stunning area of natural beauty offers an amazing destination for your next holiday.
Find the perfect Park City lodging by browsing our extensive list of luxury hotels, home and condo rentals – or design the perfect family or group ski vacation with our custom ski vacation packages.
