A day in Park City, Utah: From yoga to craft cocktails

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The insight in this post is based on a virtual trip and additional research, I have not yet visited the location myself due to the pandemic restrictions. The virtual trip was hosted by local tourism experts as part of the Women In Travel Summit (WITS) online, organized by Wanderful* community. 

Park City is wrapped by the Eastern side of the Wasatch Mountains, part of the Rocky Mountain Range in Utah (altitude range: 6,720 – 9,990 ft). The city is known by many as one of the best winter ski resort destinations in the world. But Park City is much more than heaven for snowy slope fans. A day in Park City, Utah can include many things from yoga to craft cocktails.

Park City is a year-round destination, and according to Forbes, summer is actually better than winter. The reasons include high temperatures with low humidity and a coating of lush greenery over the mountains. One of the main daws, however, is athewide range of activities for people of all interests and fitness levels. The city is a destination you can spend weeks in, some even chose to stay and make it home. But for today’s adventure, we are just going to spend a day in Park City as a teaser.

Morning:
Slow stretch in nature 

Begin your day with a hearty breakfast at the hotel. The St. Regis Deer Valley* specifically caught my attention. There is a range of dining options with a view of Deer Valley, including a beautiful outdoor terrace. Plus they have a private ski beach and a split-level outdoor pool. Seems like a lovely place to wake up at.

For your first activity, start slowly at Park City Yoga Adventures. Even if yoga is not a part of your regular fitness routine, you would still enjoy this excursion because there are many different ways to ‘do yoga’. For example, guests can take up paddleboard yoga in a 100-year-old hot spring. You can also do yoga by the pool, do silk yoga, and even do yoga on a hike. Here, all experiences are very unique and some will not be found anywhere else.

Note: There is a free Park City transit system, see routes and schedules here.  

Afternoon:
Find your inner Olympian or relax at a spa

Pop into the family-owned and operated Hearth and Hill for some lunch, Bartolo’s for brunch if your heart is craving poached eggs or Freshies Lobster Co for a lobster roll. There is a much longer, curated by a local, restaurant recommendation list on the Female Foodie.  

For an afternoon activity, we headed over to the Utah Olympic Park. Built for the 2002 Winter Olympics the park became a permanent attraction and a member of the Olympic Legacy Foundation. The visitors can explore two on-site museums and participate in a range of adventure courses, from zip-lining to a summer bobsled experience in a speed-controlled car, or even extreme tubing. Learn more about available activities and passes here. 

If extreme adventures are not your cup of tea, Park City is also home to a 35,000-square-foot spa sanctuary at the Montage Deer Valley* resort. Montage Spa offers a selection of alpine-inspired treatments from massages and facials to water treatments and saunas. And just look at that view! 

Fun fact: Park City is less than half a day away from anywhere in the United States but if you fly to Salt Lake City it’s only a brief 35-min drive away.

Evening:
Wind down with a cocktail 

Exhausted but energized by the day’s adventures it is time for some treats. For the treats, we will go to High West Distillery. Founded in 2006 by David Perkins and his wife Jane, High West is one of the most respectable distilleries in the US. Their newly renovated compound is set on a 3,500-acre cattle ranch called Blue Sky Utah. For a quick chat, we met with Holly Booth, lead bartender at the High West restaurant, who spoke fondly of their elevated cuisine and focus on local produce. Holly’s coworker Steve spoke about the uniqueness of their heavy-handed cocktails from behind the bar and how the higher liquor amount laws actually allow them to be more inventive with their cocktail creations. 

There are three restaurants: Distillery & Tasting Room, Refectory, at the Blue Sky Ranch location, and The Saloon and The Nelson Cottage located by Park City’s Historic Main Street. The Refectory has limited dining hours and offers a curated Thursday night supper experience. The Saloon, on the other hand, is open to in-door dining daily. The Nelson Cottage has Prix-fix dinners on select nights of the week.

Pre-book your tours ahead of time or join their team for a virtual experience from the comfort of your couch. 

If you are still bursting with energy after dinner, head over to the OP Rockwell Cocktail Lounge & Music Hall for some live music and late-night craft cocktails, or simply explore the Historic Park City on foot, bar-hopping and shopping as you wish.

All images are courtesy of Park City Tourism. 

At home:
Have a Park City-inspired cocktail party:

High West Distillery’s Holly Booth shared her favorite classic cocktail recipes which you can quite easily make at home. If you can’t get High West Bourbon use your favorite local release. The cocktails are from easiest to hardest. If you don’t have a shaker use a mason jar – super easy! To make a Simple Syrup all you need is sugar and water, it is very easy to do, here are is a quick recipe on Liquor.com.  As a side note, while I have you here if you like cocktails come find me on Instagram, I really got into the whole craft cocktails life at home over quarantine.

Also, Masterclass* has a great mixology class: Lynnette Marrero & Ryan Chetiyawardana Teach Mixology*

I hope to visit Park City in person soon – drink the cocktails, see the sights, and do paddleboard yoga in a cave. But in the meanwhile, as we wait for the world to heal, we can try to add colour to our every day with small special moments and plan for the future, because according to Cornell University Study (2021) planning a trip can benefit mental health during extended high-stress periods which is what we are living in now.