Anyone Live or has Vacationed in Utah?

[Oracle of Delphi]

My wife Kimberley and I are going to take a 6 week vacation in July/August of this year. Two weeks we will spend home in Plano, Texas visiting my parents and extended family. However we saw a commercial on TV about visiting Utah. It looked really cool and neither of us has ever been there. So we were thinking about renting a car in Texas and driving to Utah and back since we will have four weeks to play like little kids in Utah.

So does anyone on these great forums live there, or have you visited there?

If you have let me know, I would like to know what you thought of Utah.

Thanks in advance!

Edited March 31, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Satty]

I know you wont be able to get good booze, the maximum alcohol content in beer is 4% in Utah.

[Chris_Doane]

Vacationed there a while ago. Going to Moab is a must. Arches National Park is right in Moab. Canyonlands NP is near by too. Great hiking, biking, 4x4'ing (huge network of 4x4 trails in Canyonlands) and white water rafting. You can rent a Wrangler in Moab if you dont have an offroad vehicle. Can also rent Mt. bikes.

If you don't have a GPS, don't hike in the back country. Pretty easy to get lost...and then...pretty easy to die.

Arches NP:

http://www.nps.gov/arch/

Canyonlands:

http://www.nps.gov/cany/

Monument Valley in the SE corner of the state should also be on your list.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/monument_valley/

[trinacriabob]

However we saw a commercial on TV about visiting Utah. It looked really cool and neither of us has ever been there.

If you have let me know, I would like to know what you thought of Utah.

Yes, there are some cool canyon type places but expect it to be hot, parched and dry. I am NOT a fan of the Intermountain West at all. Beyond the stark grandeur, it is too sparsely populated (I've always thought I'm agoraphobic since anyplace that is wide open and untreed brings on instant depression) and lacks any kind of cultural sophistication. Then, add Utah's demographic situation - that is, with over 50% of the state being Mormon, it is not a comfortable place for people of other religions to make a life....Mormons tend to be nepotistic and advancement is difficult, so I know several garden variety Protestants and Catholics (nominally, not particularly religious) who left because of the "glass ceiling." Therefore, I don't want to drop my tourist dollars in such a place. SLC is kind of cool with a street-friendly downtown and some good restaurants...one to two days in the area could be ok. The Great Salt Lake is pitifully stagnant, so it can't be used for beaches or water sports. It's downright gross. I see more negatives than positives.

If I was doing a Western grandeur vacation, I think I would opt for Montana or Colorado in a heartbeat.

Edited April 1, 2007 by trinacriabob

[Chris_Doane]

Yes, there are some cool canyon type places but expect it to be hot, parched and dry.

Yes, most deserts, or near desert areas, are like that. Make sure to take a water bottle on your hike.

Then, add Utah's demographic situation - that is, with over 50% of the state being Mormon, it is not a comfortable place for people of other religions to make a life....Mormons tend to be nepotistic and advancement is difficult, so I know several garden variety Protestants and Catholics (nominally, not particularly religious) who left because of the "glass ceiling." Therefore, I don't want to drop my tourist dollars in such a place. SLC is kind of cool with a street-friendly downtown and some good restaurants...one to two days in the area could be ok. The Great Salt Lake is pitifully stagnant, so it can't be used for beaches or water sports. It's downright gross. I see more negatives than positives.

That's why you go to Moab or Park City...you won't run into any of that. Besides he's going on a vacation, not moving there. Lighten up, it's a beautiful state.

[trinacriabob]

That's why you go to Moab or Park City...you won't run into any of that. Besides he's going on a vacation, not moving there. Lighten up, it's a beautiful state.

Thanks for the come back and carrying forward/harboring some back and forth from before. I voiced that I ALSO do not like the other places for their dryness and bleakness. That's what these threads are for. I think the vegetation in CO and MT are nicer; that's why I recommended those instead. I doubt that, coming from Delaware, he's a rabid mountain biker. That's what the Moab scene is all about -- intense fanatical mountain bikers and such to the point that it's almost "cultish."

Pontiac-Custom-S: your call. Digest the posts and make your decision.

[Chris_Doane]

That's what the Moab scene is all about -- intense fanatical mountain bikers and such to the point that it's almost "cultish."

Yea that's all there is to do in Moab.

(Oh by the way I didn't bring anything up from the past Bobby, you did. All I did was respond to something I disagreed with.)

[Oracle of Delphi]

I doubt that, coming from Delaware, he's a rabid mountain biker. That's what the Moab scene is all about -- intense fanatical mountain bikers and such to the point that it's almost "cultish."

Pontiac-Custom-S: your call. Digest the posts and make your decision.

Ahhh, but I am! I ride Ironhorse bikes, right now I have one of their Mountain bikes and a Trail bike. I love them both and use them often.

http://www.ironhorsebikes.com/

Edited March 31, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Chris_Doane]

Ahhh, but I am! I ride Ironhorse bikes, right now I have one of their Mountain bikes and a Trail bike. i love them both and use them often.

http://www.ironhorsebikes.com/

Oh well even better. I ride Yeti bikes myself.

http://www.yeticycles.com/

Probably want your all-mountain out there....I assume that's your full suspension bike.

Oh I forgot to mention Dead Horse State Park too:

http://www.stateparks.utah.gov/park/index.php?id=DHSP

It's on the way to Canyon Lands NP. A place I heard about after my vacation was over unfortunately. Everyone told me it was incredible.

[Robert Hall]

I've been to Park City in the winter, beautiful place. Drove to SLC for a concert once, wide streets..was surprised I could get coffee and beer. I've driven across the state on 80..the salt flats and salt lake are very strange to drive through. I want to go to the Bonneville Speed week sometime and visit the national parks. It's too sparsely populated and red state for me to visit very long, though.