The Lodge at Blue Sky
Hotel Name: The Lodge at Blue Sky
Number Rooms: 46
Location: 25 minutes from Park City; 40 minutes from Salt Lake City Airport.
Much of the magic of the American West is in its remoteness and scale; in tapping into the feeling of vastness and discovery that is somehow linked to our sense of patriotic self. The team behind the Lodge at Blue Sky has perfected that feeling, while also performing a trick of geography and plopping the great wide somewhere down 40 minutes from Salt Lake City airport. With 46 rooms and 3,500 acres, in the summer, channel your inner Buffalo Bill or Calamity Jane as you shoot clays on the championship-caliber course (guided by an instructor in tweed and a tie instead of camo, natch) or explore the property on horseback; come winter, the Lodge has a ski lounge at the base of the mountain in Park City, less than 30 minutes away. We’d suggest they bottle this feeling, but the on-property High West whiskey distillery already has that covered.
What We Loved: The Scandinavian-meets-eco-ranch accommodations – whether the Sky Lodge, Earth Suites, or Creek Houses – each reflect aspects of their eponymous topographies. But we’re tearing ourselves out of bed in the morning for a sunrise horseback ride up the mountain for breakfast cooked in a cauldron over an open campfire.
What We Didn’t Love: This is an outdoor paradise – so if the weather doesn’t cooperate, you may feel like a cowboy in a chicken coop.
Right For: The world’s coolest bachelor or bachelorette party.
Wrong For: This is a spot for active adventures – beach bums are not the target audience.
Best Time to Visit: Year-round
TLF Tip: Whether you set out on a summer mountain bike or a winter snowshoe, stop into the Tavern, an 1800s cabin-turned-Western-saloon perched in an alpine field, for a tipple and to take in the views.