Sundance Resort, Sundance

A wooden haven nestled against the backdrop of Mount Timpanogos, The Spa at Sundance is so devoted to a seamless relationship between its services and the natural world, it can be hard to tell where its walls end and the plants outside begin. Vanity Fair sums up the universal appeal of the resort's hideaway: "There’s a mystical, magical quality that comes with being pampered high in the mountains in the middle of the dark woods."

Many of the treatments here rely on raw ingredients. Scrubs are made from pure honey and ground cornmeal, and an herbal poultice massage eases tense spots with muslin bags full of lavender, chamomile, and calendula. Perhaps the most signature experience is the Sage and Sweet Grass Ritual, during which clients are wrapped with Great Salt Lake mud. As they relax, the smoke from burning sage and sweet grass sweeps over their body in a ritual process called smudging.

The smudging is one example of the spa's fondness for borrowing from Native American culture. As a whole, it aspires to the notion of "Hocoka," a Sioux word that denotes a hallowed place for healing. Even the spa's essential oil scents are based on the earth's Four Directions, which were said to interact with the four seasons and the human life cycle.