Things to Do in Kaysville

Play sessions at Monkey Mountain do more than help kiddies burn off bottled-up energy. Whereas open-play and drop-off sessions allow children to laugh and bound across forest-themed play areas, the center also nurtures children's intellectual and interpersonal skills. Staff members help kids develop social and collaborative skills by encouraging them to play with one another, whether by climbing the mini rock-climbing wall or navigating obstacles and slides inside the four-tiered jungle gym. Even toddlers can safely tumble in a supervised soft play zone. Drop-off services such, including Little Primates Play School, serve as supplement to formal pre-school courses and are offerred seven days a week. Camps, birthday parties, and other special events round out a full menu of frolic-friendly engagements. Additionally, Monkey Mountain works to improve the lives of endangered animals by contributing $0.25 of every child's admission to a featured charity year-round.

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.

Propulsion Pilates' instructors rely on the familiar Pilates contraptions that fill most studios, but they alter the time-tested workout regimen by incorporating it into a more modern style of circuit training. They combine sequences on the Reformer, Tower, and Wunda Chair with occasional cardio exercises and kettlebell work, creating challenging sessions that manage to refine technique while bolstering strength and flexibility. To keep classes teetering on the cuttingest of edges, the instructors attend at least two Pilates workshops every year to update their mental cache of fitness tricks, but they always leave a little disappointed that a flying Reformer machine appears to be at least another six months off.

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.

Named one of Parents magazine's Top 10 Birthday Chains in 2010, Color Me Mine's international franchise of DIY ceramics studios cater to an older crowd as well. Hundreds of unadorned ceramic pieces—including vases, flatware, and busts of Elvis—await the attentions of muses of kids and their keepers alike, as do glazes in earthy tones and bright crimsons to frighten bulls away from china cabinets. Guests follow simple step-by-step instructions that leave plenty of room for creative expression. When painters are satisfied with their work, the professional kiln-workers help glaze, fire, and de-genie it for them, and they may retrieve the finished piece after a few days.