On Saturday afternoons between March and December, the town of Bandera, the self-appointed Cowboy Capital of the World, hosts Cowboys on Main, a street party with chuck wagons, barbecue booths, and roping trick demonstrations. Hill Country Equestrian Lodge, a 275-acre ranch, offers private lessons or simply a place to relax after a quiet ride in the adjacent Hill Country State Natural Area, where great birding is a welcome plus.
Gruene is the place to scoot your boots, beginning with Gruene Hall, the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas. The nearby Gruene Mansion Inn, an 1872 Victorian home, is within easy reach of the town’s dance halls and the Guadalupe River, popular for tubing.
WHERE: Fredericksburg is 70 miles west of Austin. VISITOR INFO: www.texashillcountry.com. LBJ NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK: Tel 830-868-7128; www.nps.gov/lyjo. WILDFLOWER CENTER: Tel 512-232-0100; www.wildflower.org. BECKER VINEYARDS: Tel 830-644-2681; www.beckervineyards.com. HOFFMAN HAUS: Tel 830-997-6739; www.hoffmanhaus.com. Cost: from $135. HILL COUNTRY EQUESTRIAN LODGE: Tel 830-796-7950; www.hillcountryequestlodge.com. Cost: from $180. GRUENE DANCE HALL: Tel 830-606-1281; www.gruenehall.com. GRUENE MANSION INN: Tel 830-629-2641; www.gruenemansioninn.com. Cost: from $190. BEST TIMES: Feb–May and Sep–Nov for pleasant weather; Mar–Apr for wildflower season; late May–mid-Jun for Kerrville Folk Festival; early Nov for WurstFest in New Braunfels.
Biking and Hiking Amid Arches and Canyons
MOAB AND RED ROCK COUNTRY
Utah, U.S.A.
The adventure-travel epicenter of canyon country is a surprisingly small town. But even with a population of just under 5,000, Moab affords enough great-outdoors options—plus enough movie-worthy scenery—to rival a town ten times its size. Begun as a Mormon settlement in 1855 and enjoying a boom as a uranium mining center in the 1950s, Moab reinvented itself in the 1980s, when proponents of a nascent sport called mountain biking discovered that the endless miles of colorful slickrock were perfect for fat-tired fun.
Moab has off-road trails galore, but the punishing 10-mile Slickrock Trail is a rite of passage for serious bikers. The city’s unique location, in a narrow green valley split by the Colorado River, has made it perfect for prime river-rafting as well. Local outfitters will guide you through its white water or arrange multi-day float trips through the placid Labyrinth or Stillwater canyons on the Green River.
Moab is an easy 10 minutes from Arches National Park, famous for its extraordinary 2,000-plus salmon-colored sandstone spans sculpted by the elements. Enjoy magnificent vistas from the park’s 18-mile scenic drive, or along easy trails such as the 3-mile one to Delicate Arch, the unofficial state symbol. Moab is also 40 minutes from Canyonlands National Park, Utah’s largest park, it packs an abundance of reasons to visit into its 530 square miles that are divided into three distinct sections separated by the Green and Colorado rivers. The Island in the Sky district is the closest to Moab and, with 20 miles of paved road, the most accessible by car.
Hiking trails crisscross both parks, while prospectors’ roads left over from the area’s mining days bring in 4WD enthusiasts, who arrive for Jeep Safari on Easter weekend. September brings chamber music, jazz, and bluegrass during the world-renowned Moab Music Festival, while fat-tire fans gather in October for the Moab Ho-Down Bike Festival.
Among the many places in town to hang your hat, the Gonzo Inn offers a touch of retro 1970s charm and a pool for soaking your slickrock-weary body. Or drive half an hour to the Sorrel River Ranch, a 180-acre property set on a scenic bend in the Colorado River.
Turret Arch is framed here by North Window Arch in Arches National Park.
WHERE: 238 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. VISITOR INFO: www.discovermoab.com. ARCHES NATIONAL PARK: Tel 435-719-2299; www.nps.gov/arch. CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK: Tel 435-719-2313; www.nps.gov/cany. GONZO INN: Tel 800-791-4044 or 435-259-2515; www.gonzoinn.com. Cost: from $160. SORREL RIVER: Tel 877-359-2715 or 435-259-4642; www.sorrelriver.com. Cost: from $400. BEST TIMES: Apr–mid-May and Sep–mid-Nov for the nicest weather.
The Greatest Snow on Earth
SKIING THE WASATCH RANGE
Park City and environs, Utah, U.S.A.
With 11 ski resorts within an hour’s drive of Salt Lake City and an annual snowfall of 500 inches in some areas, it’s no mystery why Utah was chosen to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. What’s more, the charming century-old mining town of Park City is arguably the best little ski town in the country.
Only 4 miles north of downtown Park City sprawls The Canyons Resort, encompassing 3,700 family-friendly skiable acres, with diverse terrain and an arsenal of lifts that whisk skiers up to eight mountain peaks and 167 variable runs. U.S. ski and snowboard Olympic teams and wannabes train at Park City Mountain Resort, choosing among its 108 trails, 15 lifts, nine bowls, and seven peaks, as well as one of the biggest “superpipes” in North America. The 389-acre Utah Olympic Park keeps the excitement alive. Sports fans can take on the Olympic bobsled track and any of six Nordic jumps, stopping to watch Olympic hopefuls train.
Deer Valley is unquestionably Utah’s plushest resort. Its four summits—the highest is 9,570 feet—were home to many Olympic events, and its 99 runs, served by 22 lifts, never seem crowded. The chic but unpretentious Norwegian-themed Stein Eriksen Lodge is a ski-in, ski-out Alpine treasure; of its host of pampering amenities, the award-winning spa and Glitretind restaurant hold the spotlight.
Climbing 5,500 feet in 11 dramatic glacier-cut miles, Little Cottonwood Canyon is home to the Alta and Snowbird resorts. Snowbird provides a newer, high-tech contrast to Alta’s old-school atmosphere. Alta is Utah’s oldest resort and prides itself on being a “skier’s mountain” (read: no snowboards allowed). The funky, family-owned Alta Lodge has been open since 1939 and is practically a museum of ski memorabilia.
For a different vibe, drive to Sundance Resort, the creation of Robert Redford, who purchased these 6,000 acres of wilderness back in 1969. The modest 500 skiable acres echo Redford’s “smaller is better” vision, which places emphasis on the environment and the arts. Sundance is most often associated with the indie film festival founded in 1981 and held here and in Park City every January, the leading event of its kind.
WHERE: Park City is 36 miles east of Salt Lake City. VISITOR INFO: www.parkcity.com. THE CANYONS RESORT: Tel 888-226-9667 or 435-649-5400; www.thecanyons.com. Cost: lift tickets $81. PARK CITY MOUNTAIN RESORT: Tel 800-222-7275 or 435-649-8111; www.parkcitymountain.com. Cost: lift tickets from $86. OLYMPIC PARK: Tel 435-658-4200; www.olyparks.com/uop. DEER VALLEY: Tel 800-558-3337 or 435-649-1000; www.deervalley.com. Cost: lift tickets $86. STEIN ERIKSEN LODGE: Tel 800-453-1302 or 435-649-3700; www.steinlodge.com. Cost: from $195 (off-peak), from $830 (peak); dinner at Glitretind $50. SNOWBIRD: Tel 800-232-9542 or 801-933-2222; www.snowbird.com. Cost: Cliff Lodge from $150 (off-peak), from $410 (peak); lift tickets from $65. ALTA: Tel 888-782-9258 or 801-359-1078; www.alta.com. Cost: lift tickets from $65. ALTA LODGE: Tel 800-707-2582 or 801-742-3500; www.altalodge.com. Cost: from $110 (off-peak), from $145 (peak). SUNDANCE RESORT: Tel 800-892-1600 or 866-259-7468; www.sundanceresort.com. Cost: from $270; lift tickets $50. BEST TIMES: Jan–early Mar for ideal skiing; late Jan for the Sundance Film Festival.
Mormon Mecca and America’s Choir
TEMPLE SQUARE
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
“This is the place,” declared Brigham Young, leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), when he first gazed across the bleak Salt Lake Valley in July of 1847. The valley is now the epicenter of one of the world’s fastest-growing religions (more than 70 percent of Utahns are Mormon, and of the creed’s 13.5 million believers, over half live outside the U.S.).
The heart of this community and of Salt Lake City is Temple Square, as revered by Mormons as the Vatican is by Catholics. Enter on the south, west, or north side, where young guides offer free tours in 40 languages.
Young himself laid the cornerstone of the granite, six-spired Salt Lake Temple in 1853; a 12-foot statue of the
angel Moroni tops the tallest spire. The interior of the temple is open only to LDS church members.
The famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir has its home in a distinctive domed building whose enormous 11,623-pipe organ is considered one of the finest in the world. The Grammy-winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir performs Sunday mornings and rehearses on Thursday evenings; both events are open to the public. Try to make it for the annual Christmas concert, which can cheer even the stubbornest Scrooge and is televised around the world.
INFO: Tel 801-240-4872; www.visittemplesquare.com. BEST TIME: late Nov–Dec for Christmas festivities and lights.
The Quintessential Road Trip
ZION AND BRYCE NATIONAL PARKS
Utah, U.S.A.
It’s hard to pick favorites among Utah’s five stellar national parks. West-to-east park-hopping should begin with Zion National Park, the oldest and perhaps most beautiful—and that’s saying a lot. It was first called Zion, the Hebrew word for “sanctuary,” by early Mormons. The Virgin River, which carved these 2,000-foot walls of delicately hued sandstone, seems to have been named for the unspoiled landscape it wends through. The 10-mile Zion–Mount Carmel Highway (Highway 9) runs east–west across the 232-square-mile park. If the Grand Canyon (see p. 706) is all about standing at the rim and looking down, here inspiration comes from looking (or hiking) up. Only the adventurous tackle the trail up to Angel’s Landing, which climbs 1,488 feet in 2.5 miles, but few miss the less arduous Narrows hike through the Virgin River. The only lodging in the park itself is the rustic, 1920s Zion Lodge. Across the road is the start of the popular Emerald Pools Trail, which leads through cool forests to three basins fed by small waterfalls and kept a deep, rich green by algae.
Eighty-six miles east of Zion is 56-square-mile Bryce Canyon National Park, known for its thousands of multihued hoodoos—tall, thin spires of rock that come in every possible shade of white, pink, red, and purple; just wait a minute as the light shifts, and the colors all change before your eyes. The views from the rim at 8,000 feet are astonishing, especially at sunrise. You can take the 18-mile scenic drive following the park’s rim, or hike down among the formations on 60 miles of trails. The venerable Bryce Canyon Lodge, built of ponderosa timbers and native sandstone in the 1920s, has 114 guest rooms and a lively dining room filled with park lovers from all over the world.
In the morning, head east on Highway 12, a designated “All American Road” that offers 124 of the prettiest driving miles in the country. After peaking at almost 10,000 feet, it crosses the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a series of gigantic, colorful plateaus of sedimentary rock that stretch to the Grand Canyon. Continue past Escalante on the Million Dollar Road (that’s how much it cost to build the highway’s “missing link” in 1935) to Boulder and look for the turnoff to the stylish, eco-friendly Boulder Mountain Lodge. Food fans travel for hours to dine at Hell’s Backbone Grill, a culinary outpost attached to the hotel.
A forest of eroded hoodoos makes up Bryce Canyon.
WHERE: Zion is 307 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Tel 435-772-3254; www.nps.gov/zion. Bryce is 267 miles south of Salt Lake City. Tel 435-834-5322; www.nps.gov/brca. ZION LODGE: Tel 888-297-2757 or 303-297-2757; www.zionlodge.com. Cost: from $170. BRYCE CANYON LODGE: Tel 877-386-4383 or 435-834-8700; www.brycecanyonforever.com. Cost: from $160. When: Apr–Oct. GRAND STAIRCASE–ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT: Tel 435-644-4680; www.ut.blm.gov/monument. BOULDER MOUNTAIN LODGE: Tel 800-556-3446 or 435-335-7460; www.boulder-utah.com. Cost: from $85. HELL’S BACKBONE GRILL: Tel 435-335-7464; www.hellsbackbonegrill.com. Cost: dinner $25. When: mid-Mar–late Nov. BEST TIMES: Apr–mid-May and Sep–mid-Nov for nice weather.
A Cheesemaking Village Stuck in Time
GRAFTON
Vermont, U.S.A.
A pitch-perfect Vermont village credited with restarting the state’s handcrafted cheese industry, Grafton is an architectural showcase of historical buildings. It is not a living museum staffed by people in period costumes, but a real-life community with a population of 600, many of whom work in the well-stocked general store, the shops along the tree-lined main street, or at the renowned cheese company. Grafton’s cheesemaking roots go back to 1892, and today the Grafton Village Cheese Company makes one of the world’s finest cheddars, which you can sample as you watch it being made.
Founded in 1763, Grafton thrived in the early 1800s and it peaked in 1830 with a population of 1,482 people (and 10,000 sheep). After the wool industry collapsed, Grafton survived as a stagecoach stopover between Boston and Montreal, but the advent of the automobile left it a shell of its former self.
In 1963, the Windham Foundation was created to resuscitate the town. The foundation owns 25 buildings in the central village, including the Old Tavern, a classic white-clapboard, black-shuttered inn built in 1801. Today the three-story structure has 45 discreetly modernized rooms (11 in the main building and 34 in nearby cottages), with a guest registry that includes Rudyard Kipling, who honeymooned here in 1892. The dining room is a perennial draw, with an inviting selection of hard-to-find wines and cuisine featuring fresh ingredients gathered from the inn’s organic gardens and local farms.
Drive to nearby Bellows Falls to catch the Green Mountain Flyer, a vintage sightseeing train that makes a 90-minute round-trip run to Chester, past covered bridges, small towns, and, in autumn, an explosion of colorful foliage. Half the point of visiting Grafton, though, is kicking back and enjoying the lazy pace of yesteryear.
WHERE: 59 miles northeast of Bennington. VISITOR INFO: www.graftonvermont.org. GRAFTON VILLAGE CHEESE COMPANY: Tel 800-472-3866 or 802-843-2222; www.graftonvillagecheese.com. THE OLD TAVERN: Tel 800-843-1801 or 802-843-2231; www.oldtavern.com. Cost: from $190 (off-peak), from $225 (peak). GREEN MOUNTAIN FLYER: Tel 800-707-3530 or 802-280-2295; www.rails-vt.com. When: Fri mid-May–mid-Oct. BEST TIMES: Jan–Mar for winter sports; Sep–Oct for foliage.
The King of East Coast Skiing and Top-Drawer Inns
KILLINGTON AND WOODSTOCK
Vermont, U.S.A.
The Aspen of the East Coast, Killington isn’t the most classic or romantic Vermont ski destination (for that, head to Stowe; see p. 889), but it has plenty to brag about. It’s the first to open (early November) and the last to close (May), has a vertical drop that falls just shy of Aspen’s, and uses the largest snow-making system in the world. What’s more, its extensive system of 22 lifts serve more terrain than any other resort in the East.
One hundred forty-one Alpine ski runs sprawl across six mountains, including Outer Limits, one of the steepest and most challenging mogul trails in the country, as well as such ominously named double black–diamond runs as Anarchy and Downdraft, which prove irresistible to thrill-seekers. Killington’s very lively après-ski scene is equally alluring. For cozy accommodations that President Eisenhower enjoyed in 1955, try the Mountain Top Inn & Resort, which offers cross-country skiing (and horseback riding when warm weather arrives) on 350 acres surrounded by the Green Mountain National Forest.
If Killington’s big-and-brash aesthetic wears thin, escape to nearby Christmas-card-darling Woodstock, a cosmopolitan village that claims the title of oldest ski resort in the country and site of the first ski tow. It owes its distinction as the “prettiest small town in America” to Laurance Rockefeller (grandson of John D. Rockefeller Sr.) and his wife, Mary Billings, who spent 60 years preserving its 19th-century feel. In 1969, they built the town’s centerpiece, the genteel Woodstock Inn and Resort. The Colonial Revival retreat offers top-drawer amenities and easy access to the Woodstock Ski Touring Center, an 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Sr. course, and 37 miles of trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Ten miles north is one of America’s most luxurious and enchanting resort inns, Twin Farms, secluded on over 300 stunning acres. The former Colonial-era farmhouse—a wedding gift from Nobel prize–winning novelist Sinclair Lewis to his bride, Dorothy Thompson—is just part of a complex that boasts a small but excellent art col
lection, 20 individually designed rooms and suites, and endlessly inventive meals.
WHERE: Killington is 84 miles south of Burlington. VISITOR INFO: www.killington.com. Cost: lift tickets from $77. When: ski season Nov–May. MOUNTAIN TOP INN & RESORT: Tel 800-445-2100 or 802-483-2311; www.mountaintopinn.com. Cost: from $170 (off-peak), from $275 (peak). WOODSTOCK INN & RESORT: Tel 800-448-7900 or 802-457-1100; www.woodstockinn.com. Cost: from $200 (off-peak), from $329 (peak). TWIN FARMS: Tel 800-894-6327 or 802-234-9999; www.twinfarms.com. Cost: from $1,300, all-inclusive. BEST TIMES: Jan–Mar for skiing; Mar for the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge; May–Oct for cycling, hiking; late Sep–early Oct for foliage; mid-Dec for Woodstock’s Wassail Weekend.
An Archetypal New England Town
MANCHESTER
Vermont, U.S.A.
Ringed by Vermont’s Green Mountains, this archetypal New England town, with its maple-shaded streets, has lured visitors since before Abraham Lincoln’s family summered here. Manchester’s impressive white mansions and marble sidewalks retain a peaceful historic feel, while the raft of high-end factory outlets on the edge of town lends a modern allure.
The village’s star attraction, the 1,300-acre Equinox Resort & Spa, is a lavishly restored 195-room Federal-style property that has been a favorite of U.S. presidents from Taft to Roosevelt. Its championship 18-hole golf course was designed by Walter Travis in 1927 and updated in 1992 by Rees Jones. Upper-crust British pastimes prevail, with lessons in archery, falconry, and off-road driving all available. Stop by the state-of-the-art spa for a white-clay body mask, or sunbathe on the outdoor patio within sight of Mount Equinox, at 3,848 feet the highest peak in the Taconic mountain range.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 139