Deer Valley & Jackson Hole
We had such a great time on our trip out West that I thought I’d recap it for anyone interested or planning to travel to these spots! We started planning late 2019 for summer 2020 but Covid delayed it two years. I’m so glad we finally made it happen. Obviously this info really pertains to summer travel, it’s a whole different beast in the winter! Also this is by NO means an exhaustive list, just places we went and things we did! I left off some that I wouldn’t recommend. ;)
In Utah we flew to Salt Lake City and rented a car to drive to Deer Valley (an area within Park City) which was around 45min - 1 hour away. I’m glad we had the car because we ended up using it a lot to explore and get around. We stayed at the Montage in DV. It’s a super active and family-friendly area. The town of Park City is really cute and the Olympic Park and Park City Mountain are close by.
Activities:
Olympic Park - we loved this spot! We watched ski jumpers land in a pool and then started with the ropes course/mini zipline, went tubing and the alpine slide. There is lots to do here and we could have spent longer than half a day.
Park City Mountain - mountain coaster and alpine slide. There are tons of biking and hiking trails too.
Horseback trail riding - very tame but my kids loved it
City lift - takes you from the center of Park City up the mountain. It’s slow and long but pretty views.
In addition our hotel had a great pool, daily archery and smore’s, and a bowling alley!
Restaurants: definitely recommend making reservations in advance
Cafe Terigo - Italian with outdoor seating
Bourbon and Burgers - in the Montage
Harvest - yummy breakfast and lunch
Deer Valley grocery - great lunch
Java Cow for ice cream and crepes
Five Seeds - unfortunately we didn’t make it here but heard it’s very good
Shopping:
Cake
Chamomile
Panache
The Collective
and lots more - the shopping here is pretty awesome!
We then flew the less than 1 hour flight to Jackson Hole (which happens to have the coolest airport). We chose to stay in town and I’m glad we did - we walked everywhere with the exception of the trips we took but those were with guides who provided transportation. We stayed at the Cloudveil which is owned by Marriott. It was well designed and had everything we needed plus a great location.
Activities:
Teton Village - aerial tram (must do!), bridger gondola, and the bungee trampoline for the kids. I bought a family pass online before we went which gave us access to the tram and gondolas all day.
Grand Teton National Park - we used a tour company called Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris and our guide was Grant. He was awesome and shared a lot of history about the area which was an added bonus.
Yellowstone National Park - we added this trip last minute on a day that we didn’t have anything planned and I’m so glad we did! It would have been sad if we had gone so close and didn’t see the park. We used the same tour company and our guide was Pete. Pete had a ton of experience in Yellowstone
White water rafting - we used Teton Whitewater and they were awesome. We saw some boats with other guides or people going it alone and one of them smashed against rocks. Definitely recommend going with a well known company.
Shootout at the town square - loud but quick!
Jackson rodeo - we were SO bummed that the rodeo wasn’t happening the week we visited but it’s on our list for another time hopefully!
Restaurants: definitely recommend making reservations in advance
Bistro at Clouveil
Jackson Drug - amazing milkshakes and good for lunch
The Local - steak
Hatch - yummy mexican
Figs - greek
Osteria - delicious pizza!
Moo’s - ice cream with a perpetual line but worth it!
Persephone - bakery and sandwiches
Shopping:
Mountain Dandy - beautifully curated decor, apothecary, and furniture
Made - better than your average gift shop
Beauty Mark (inside Gather) - all natural skincare and makeup
If galleries are your thing, there are a plethora to explore!
My last tip would be to drink a lot of water/electrolytes and maybe even bring some electrolyte tabs with you. It’s easy to get dehydrated at these higher elevations. Oh and bring shoes for walking (closed toe like sneakers) and shoes that can get wet. Glad we had both!