Staying busy all summer: Utah's resorts plan to do out-of-season business

Nearly all of Utah’s 14 ski resorts have opened for summer activities ranging from hiking, biking and zip line riding to disc golfing, dining and enjoying music.

Many of the resorts opened this past weekend. Brian Head Resort will be open Fridays through Sundays June 23-Sept. 10 and then reopening Sept. 16 for Rocktober Fest.

FAMILY FUN

• Park City Mountain Resort: The Park City base area (through Oct. 1) and Canyons Village area (through Sept. 4, plus weekends Sept. 5-Oct. 1) are open. Family activities include an alpine slide, a 4,000-foot alpine coaster, a ZipRider and Flying Eagle zip lines, a bicycle park, the Canyons Golf Course and miniature golf on the Canyons Village side.

Park City also has activities for children weighing 20-100 pounds, including a kids’ zipline, rope course and tubing.

Park City also has hundreds of miles of hiking and mountain biking terrain and a series of outdoor events throughout the summer.

• Snowbasin Resort: Open weekends through Oct. 8, the resort offers gondola rides, mountain biking, hiking, disc golf and other activities and events.

Free family movie nights will take place Monday evenings June 26-Aug. 7 on the Snowbasin lawn. Earl’s Lodge will be open for dining, allowing for a “dinner and a movie” under the stars.

Viewers of the solar eclipse Aug. 21 can take the gondola up to Needles Lodge and enjoy culinary options there while waiting for the celestial event.

“Bark at the Basin” is set for Sept. 10, with guests encouraged to bring their pets to the resort’s annual 5K hike and fundraiser benefitting the Best Friends Utah Animal Society. The hike ends at Earl’s Lawn, where owners and pets can enjoy the afternoon’s “Blues, Brews & BBQ” concert. Dog treats specially made by Snowbasin Resort chefs will be available, with all proceeds going to Best Friends Animal Society.

Snowbasin also will have “Introduction to Mountain Biking” clinics from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Saturdays June 17-Aug. 19, allowing people to learn trail etiquette, how to navigate rocks and roots, and improve their ability to climb hills.

• Nordic Valley: Weekend offerings include a 400-foot slip-’n’-slide, lift-served mountain biking or disk golf.

• Brian Head: A high-speed quad chairlift allows access to lots of terrain and the Giant Steps Lift offers trails for intermediate and advanced mountain bikers. Brian Head also offers an archery range, zip line course, tubing and a climbing wall.

• Snowbird: Open through Oct. 15, offerings include mountain biking, gemstone mining, mountain coaster, alpine slide, mountain flyer, vertical drop, ropes course, climbing wall, bungee trampoline, scenic rides on the aerial tram and more.

At Camp Snowbird, campers learn about the mountain environment and connect with Snowbird’s unique location through sports, art and wellness activities by exploring the mountain, as well as crafts, swimming and games for ages 5-12 years. Snowbird also partners with Wasatch Adaptive Sports to offer nature hikes, fishing, adaptive mountain and road biking bungee trampoline and alpine slide, and mine and water tunnel tours.

• Solitude Mountain Resort: Open through Oct. 1, offerings include lift-served mountain biking and hiking, chairlift rides, an 18-hole disc golf course and more.

• Sundance Mountain Resort: A nearly 2-mile-long zip line tour, mountain biking and hiking trails, art classes and more are among the activities available at the resort, open through Oct. 8.

FOOD

• Snowbasin: Monthly “Dining Discovery Dinners” feature unique mountain-top experiences with themed culinary expeditions. The annual John Paul Campout, set for July 14, offers guests a chance to camp under the stars at 9,000 feet while enjoying a full evening of culinary delights, campfires, cowboy storytellers and live guitar music. Other Dining Discovery events at Needles Lodge include traditional country Italian on July 29, Cajun crawfish boil on Aug. 25, and “Farm to Fork Dinner” on Sept. 22.

Snowbasin also hosts its “No Name Chili Fest” Sept. 4 in which the resort’s culinary team prepares batches of their own personal chili recipes for the guests to sample, taste and vote on — the winning chili will be served at the John Paul Lodge for the entire 2017-2018 winter season. The event is a benefit for the Utah Food Bank, and guests are encouraged to bring nonperishable items to help fill a gondola with donated goods.

• Deer Valley Resort (open through Sept. 4, plus weekends until Sept. 17): Cuisine is served on the outdoor decks of Royal Street Café and Deer Valley Grocery Café, and Deer Valley-inspired brick oven cuisine is offered at its newest restaurant, The Brass Tag. Custom gourmet picnic baskets or bags can be acquired for an evening concert, and the Silver Lake Snack Shack is available for a quick bite on the hill.

• Solitude Mountain Resort: The resort offers dining options served on the outdoor deck of Honeycomb Grill and at Stone Haus Pizzeria & Creamery, with the Thirsty Squirrel available for après enjoyment. In August, Taste of the Wasatch will feature food tastings presented by chefs from over 50 top Utah restaurants and resorts.

• Sundance Mountain Resort: Dinner options include the Tree Room, and four special Supper Club events will be held at Bearclaw Summit at the top of Sundance.

• Park City: A variety of al fresco and farm-to-table dining options across the resort are available this summer. Jupiter Java and Crescent Burger are open at the Park City base area and Legends Bar and Grill is serving lunch and dinner seven days a week. Red Pine Lodge, located at the top of the Red Pine Gondola, is serving lunch daily. The Farm and Red Tail Grill is scheduled to open in late June, following the completion of the Grand Summit renovation. Guests can also enjoy the weekly Park City Farmers’ Market, held in the Cabriolet parking lot at Canyons Village every Wednesday.

• Alta: Alta Lodge is open for Sunday brunch through Oct. 1, except for July 29 and Aug. 5 due to private events.

ADVENTURE

• Deer Valley Resort: The resort is continuing its largest-ever summer investment to modernize and update its existing mountain biking/hiking trail inventory with the creation of Tsunami, an expert-level flow trail. For the third summer in a row, Deer Valley has enlisted world-renowned bike park development company Gravity Logic to help deliver the highly successful trail updates.  The Tsunami trail will contain large 10-foot berms and jumps and 25-foot table-tops and step-downs. The trail begins in the meadow behind Bald Mountain at 9,000 feet and will end at Silver Lake Village at 8,100 feet. One-and-a-half miles and 900 vertical feet of the trail will open in sections throughout the course of the summer season.

Each Wednesday in July and August, Deer Valley Resort will extend its mountain biking playground hours to host the Twilight Ride Series with Scott Sports. The Scott Twilight Ride Series takes place 4-8 p.m. on the Silver Lake Express and Sterling Express chairlifts. All Deer Valley summer operations at both Snow Park and Silver Lake Lodges will remain open for the extended Twilight Rides. Private biking lessons will be available if reserved in advance.

• Sundance Mountain Resort: The resort provides year-round guided fly-fishing trips on the Provo River, Weber River and other local streams and private waters. Each guided fly-fishing trip includes one guide for every two guests to maximize the attention each guest receives.

• Eagle Point Resort: The Tushar Mountains surrounding the resort offer hundreds of miles of trails for mountain biking, ATV riding and hiking, while the valleys beneath the 12,000-foot peaks provide canoeing and fishing on the many lakes and streams. Guests can rent mountain bikes from the resort, and a return shuttle assists those riding down the single track trails on the resort property. The resort also offers a disc golf course.

“Crusher on the Tushar” takes place July 8. The cycling race begins in downtown Beaver and finishes at Eagle Point Resort. “Tushars Ultra” offers environmentally sustainable, destination trail races. Trailrunners will compete on one of the most challenging courses in the “Great Circle Trail Series,” all above 10,000 feet. The 100K, marathon and half-marathon begin and end at Eagle Point Resort on July 29.

• Alta Ski Area: Alta includes the Albion Basin, a prime wildflower hotspot in the Wasatch Range. Camping in the Albion Basin campground is open July 21-Sept. 3. New this year, the Albion Grill will serve lunch (dates to be determined).

• Brighton Resort: While the resort does not use its lifts during the summer, it offers hiking on Brighton Lake and Silver Lake trailheads. Brighton also is one of four resorts hosting the 2017 Wasatch Wildflower Festival this year. On July 22, guests can enjoy guided walks and activities designed to be fun, family-friendly, non-commercial, free of charge, and open to all interests and ability levels.

MUSIC

• Deer Valley Resorts: The Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater will offer shows multiple times a week. World-renowned artists, headlining musicians and local bands regularly take to the stage during Utah Symphony/Utah Opera’s Deer Valley Music Festival; Park City Institute’s St. Regis Big Stars, Bright Nights Outdoor Concert Series; and the Grand Valley Bank Free Community Concert Series.

• Sundance Mountain Resort: Activities include weekly concerts and the Bluebird Café Concert Series, which will consist of four shows in July and August. The Summer Theatre will take place July 20-Aug. 12. This year’s show is “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat,” presented in partnership with Utah Valley University.

• Beaver Mountain: The 2017 Beaver Mountain Music Festival, set for Aug. 18-19, will feature 13 bands, including four nationally touring acts, a children’s village to include hands-on musical instruments, art and nature education, a nonprofit organization fair, live DJ lounge, hip-hop and spoken word lounge, and a mountain bike race.

• Park City Mountain: The Summer Concert Series returns June 24 to Canyons Village with the first of five free summer concerts on select Saturdays through Sept. 2.

• Snowbasin Resort: “Blues, Brews and BBQ” started its fifth year June 11, showcasing nationally and regionally touring artists and bands. The free concert series occurs 12:30-5:30 p.m. every Sunday until Sept. 24 on the lawn of Earl’s Lodge at the base of Needles Gondola. Starting June 25, guests can kick off their Sundays with Snowbasin Resort’s “all-you-can-eat” Mountain Top Brunch, located at 8,710 feet in the Needles Lodge.

• Cherry Peak Resort: A summer concert series is being planned, with Andrew McMahon, Maddie Wilson and Scotty McCreery among those in the lineup.

• Eagle Point Resort: The Lunar Transit Festival, a music and art festival by New World Presents, will take place June 30-July 3.

• Snowbird: Oktoberfest takes place every Saturday and Sunday Aug. 12-Oct. 15, including Labor Day on Sept. 4.