QUALITY OF LIFE

Visitors by the millions trek to Utah to experience the state’s grand majesty

by GARY DAUGHTERS

Utah’s Arches National Park is a wonderland of exotic landforms. ith its vast mountain ranges, other-worldly National Parks, pristine lakes and rivers and the “Greatest Snow On Earth,” Utah is worth an adventure unto itself. W That’s the estimation of the famed Michelin Green Guide, which has bestowed upon Utah a singular designation: In 2018, the Michelin Guide awarded Utah three stars, the fi rst-ever such ranking conferred upon a state by the esteemed bible of travel.

Citing Utah’s “high quality of service” and “the beauty of its world class landscapes,” the Guide identifi ed Utah as a state “worth making a special trip for American and international visitors.”

In ever greater numbers, tourists are voting with their feet. In 2017, the last year for which records are available, visitors to Utah spent a record $9.15 billion, which supported 148,000 jobs and resulted in $1.34 billion in state and local tax revenue, according to the Utah Offi ce of Tourism in the Governor’s Offi ce of Economic Development. Travelers also purchased more hotel rooms and spent more money on arts, entertainment, recreation and restaurants in Utah than ever before.

From a visitor’s standpoint, outdoor Utah is a feast for all seasons. The warmer months mean hiking, climbing, biking, hunting and fi shing among prodigious mountains, deep desert canyons, stunning rock formations, and virgin forests, lakes and streams. For winter sports, Utah offers 14 ski resorts, 10 of which are less than an hour from Salt Lake City International Airport. According to Ski Utah, the state’s average “snow density” of 8.5% yields a mix of dry, fl uffy powder and wet, heavy fl akes, perfect for skiing and boarding.

Only Alaska and California feature more National Parks than Utah. Known as the Mighty 5, Utah’s Bryce Canyon, Zion, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches National Parks cover a combined 1,300 square miles and host more than 10 million visitors each year.

Zion National Park in extreme southern Utah is the state’s most visited park and the third-most popular in the country. Zion welcomed 4.32 million visitors in 2018, slightly down from its record of

4.5 million in 2017. Bryce Canyon enjoyed a record 2018 with more than 2.6 million visits, up 108,000 from 2017 and 1.6 million from 2010.

While Zion is known for its colorful sandstone cliffs, bewitching “hoodoos” greet guests at Bryce. The tall, skinny spires appear in greater abundance in the park’s cathedral-like northern section than anywhere else in the world, according to the National Park Service. Ranging from human-size to well over 100 feet tall, hoodoos are the products of 40 million years of erosion and “frostwedging,” the geological process of weathering caused by water seeping into cracks, freezing and expanding.

In addition to the Mighty 5, Utah features 11 national monuments, five national forests, two national recreation areas, a national historic site and 43 state parks. While most of these stunning, natural assets are found in the southern half of the state, northern Utah offers compelling attractions, as well, such as Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base, Ogden’s Eccles Dinosaur Park and the Ogden Nature Center, Lagoon amusement park in Farmington and Antelope Island State Park in Syracuse.

Throughout the year, Utah hosts numerous arts events, including the Moab Music Festival, Tuacahn Theater Series, Utah Arts Festival, Utah Festival Opera and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This is not to mention the annual Sundance Film Festival, the state’s most popular arts happening, which draws more than 100,000 guests to Park City each January. Launched in 1978, Sundance has evolved into an international beacon of independent filmmaking and has served to propel such indie classics as Hoop Dreams, Reservoir Dogs, Paris is Burning, and Sex, Lies and Videotape.

Artisanal chocolate, anyone? Utah, according to foodandwine.com, enjoys “one of America’s most compelling chocolate scenes, one any chocolate lover should know more about.” A burgeoning farm to table movement is being forged by inventive chefs at eateries such as Tupelo in Park City, Block Restaurant in Provo, Table X, Pago and Vertical Diner in Salt Lake City and Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm in the remote Boulder, population 225.

And who would have guessed that Salt Lake City is home to some thriving breweries and distilleries? These include Beehive Distilling, the state’s first postprohibition producer of gin, Waterpocket Distillery, named for the Waterpocket Fold in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park, and RedRock Brewery, maker of exotic beers such as Elephino, Golden Halo, Le Quatre Saison, Frölich Pils and a seasonal Belgian ale called Rêve.

The Mighty 5 cover a combined 1,300 square miles

Photo: Sportstock