A frequent point of pride you might hear from a longtime Utah resident is, “At least we have seasons!” This is technically true. Spring and fall are brief and summer is too hot but, boy, can we do winter. While some locales wear a fresh coat of snow well, others commit to a full transformation once the temperatures drop. Take, for instance, the Midway Ice Castles, which emerge every winter like the Northern Lights, seemingly out of thin air. While enough to stand on their own, the Ice Castles are just one of Utah’s winter wonderlands that you’ll find outside of traditional ski resorts. Some you can see in a day, but others provide a full weekend of winter activities.
Heber Valley
While Park City might be the obvious choice for the winteriest of Utah’s winter wonderlands, Heber Valley might be the most wonderful. In the winter, you’ll find sleigh rides, ice skating, ice fishing, snowshoeing, snow tubing and Utah’s only ice castles.
As the story of the Midway Ice Castles (icecastles.com) goes, a father from Alpine built an ice cavern in his yard for his kids during their first winter in Utah.
It was such a success, the enterprise grew. The current iteration is a sprawling architectural marvel and the work of dozens of artists, featuring ice caverns, slides, tunnels and sculptures, weighing more than 25 million pounds. Nearby, Soldier Hollow Nordic Center (utaholympiclegacy.org) is home to a 1,200-foot-long snow-tubing hill, with multiple lanes, for some high-velocity winter thrills. It’s a must for kids and families that like an adventure they can do together. Likewise, in winter months, Wasatch Mountain State Park (stateparks.utah.gov) is open for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling through alpine terrain.
In the heart of Midway, the Midway Outdoor Ice Rink ( midwayicerink.com) at Midway Town Square is a spacious, open-air rink. In Midway and Heber, you’ll also find local outfitters who offer horse-drawn sleigh rides (rockymtnoutfitters.com) at the Ice Castles and guided ice fishing tours on Strawberry Reservoir (utahicefishing.com), which is especially scenic covered in ice and a blanket of snow.
Salt Lake City
When holiday shopping drives the crowds to Downtown Salt Lake City, anywhere you look winter magic can be found, and no visit to the Gateway Mall or City Creek Center is quite complete without a little holiday treat. People strap on skates and sip hot cocoa while taking the sights and sounds of the season at Gallivan Center Ice Rink (thegallivancenter.com). The outdoor public ice skating rink is open all winter long.
A staple on the list of seasonal sights is The Grand America (grandamerica.com) in the heart of Downtown. Seemingly overnight, the hotel is decked with hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights (70,000 strands of lights, to be exact) and the pièce de résistance is the window displays. As visitors progress from window to window on The Holiday Window Stroll, artists tell a beautifully intricate visual story with Christmas themes.
Northern Utah
A little north of Salt Lake City, discover a mix of winter adventure and small-town holiday charm. Tour Bountiful, all lit up for holidays while taking a spin on the Ice Ribbon (southdavisrecreation.com)—a 520-foot ice loop. Further north in Ogden, the Ogden Christmas Village (christmasvillage.ogdencity.com) illuminates downtown with North Pole-inspired cottages, lights, entertainers and fireworks at the Ogden Amphitheatre. The centerpiece of the season is the Ogden Electric Light Parade on Washington Boulevard.
