Clearfield, UT Outdoor Activities

After moving to Utah in 1997, Will Westrate got right to work, assembling a team of fishing experts to lead expeditions along the Provo and Weber Rivers. Each of Will’s hand-picked guides have tallied more than 1,000 days of fly fishing on the local waterways, utilizing their knowledge to mimic seasonal food sources and catch fish on their way back from shopping. The Park City Anglers also regularly explore the Strawberry, Duchesne, and Currant Creek, as well as some smaller streams and tributaries throughout the region.

Blue Sky Adventures beckons adventure nuts with its 3,300-acre Blue Sky Ranch filled with abundant wildlife, mountain peaks, meadows, and canyons. The outdoor experts offer activities year-round. Summertime days are spent rafting, fly-fishing, horseback riding, biking, and spending warm nights in a yurt. During the winter months, nature lovers can take in the white-blanketed sights on a sleigh ride or dogsled, or try to sneak up on a rare species of snowman in a pair of snowshoes. Other group adventures include archery and a geo-cache scavenger hunt for the mountain’s golden egg.

Whether mounds of freshly fallen snow or fields of verdant grass blanket its ranges, Soldier Hollow hosts outdoor excursions that help visitors stay active year-round. The spring’s warm winds herald the opening of the resort’s championship-level golf course—whose 36 holes overlook Heber Valley and Mount Timpanogos—and the outset of scenic trail rides atop Rocky Mountain Outfitters’ trained horses. Meanwhile, mountain bikers traverse the marked trails, exploring the rugged wilderness and challenging tree stumps to races during self-guided tours.

When winter coats the slopes with fresh powder, Soldier Hollow adapts its activities for the frozen landscape. Using the mountain’s equipment, visitors hurtle down 1,200-feet of tubing lanes during two-hour sessions as wooded cross-country trails let skiers follow the tracks of deer who’ve stolen hikers’ sleds.

Native Americans first discovered the naturally warm waters of Crystal Hot Springs during their wintry travels through the Wasatch Mountain ranges. Sheltering that first wave of travelers, the hot springs later soothed the muscles of weary workers of the transcontinental railroad before being incorporated as a business in 1901. Separate hot and cold springs share space some 50 feet from each other, cooling or warming sinews and allowing visitors to immerse themselves in naturally high mineral content. Guests can also take refuge in more than 100 available camping sites and sample the fast and furious dips of the slide park. The aquatic expanse is open seven days a week over both the winter and summer, cooling down visitors during sweltering August days or warming them up after a January footrace against a yeti.