Skiing and Canyon Gorge: Why Winter Could Be the Perfect Time to Visit Utah

Red and gold light streams through the valley as the sun rises over the mountains. The incredible rocks below me change from dull gray to bright pink and finally bright orange. Despite the cold, freezing -16°C, the wait was more than worth it.

I’m standing on a rocky platform called Bryce Point, 9,000 feet above the Bryce Amphitheater in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. The park is known for its rock formations known as “hoodoos”, jagged limestone cliffs that Native Americans believe were shaped by the crafty coyotes to avoid depleting the land’s natural resources.

The view is one of the most magical I’ve ever seen. Utah, in the American Southwest, is bordered by Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. It consists of five beautiful national parks, each with a very different look and feel. If you close your eyes, you might miss a runaway hurtling through the stuffy valleys.

But I’m here in February and it’s a very different picture. Utah has some of the best skiing in the world and plenty of hilarious winter activities to get your hands on.

I start in the snowy mountain town of Park City, where Hollywood’s A-listers gather each year in late January to screen their latest blockbusters at the Sundance Film Festival. It is quiet, with a few chic boutiques, casual restaurants and lively bars.

I’m having a hard day of skiing – it’s the largest ski resort in the US with about 350 runs.

There are plenty of ski resorts to choose from in Utah, including Alta and neighboring Deer Valley, a luxury ski resort known for its impeccably groomed mountains and world-class dining. The attraction is the powder snow and there are buckets full of stuff.

After a few days of skiing, I drive four hours south to Bryce Canyon National Park. Here I meet my guides Marsha and Jon who provide me with snow grips to attach to my hiking boots before I descend the trail to the lower plateau.

They met in San Diego and moved to Utah to be in the middle of this beautiful national park. I can see why.

As we walk the narrow rocky path, each turn is more breathtaking than the last. It is late in the day and the rock has turned a deep red, the peaks are snowy, framed by the blue sky.

We enter a beautiful pool known as the Queens Garden, so named because one of the hoodoos resembles Queen Victoria. They say it’s too early in the season for most tourists who tend to stay on the ski slopes so we got the place to ourselves.

Then I drive to Springdale, a town of about 500 inhabitants in the middle of Zion National Park. This park is known for its petrified sand dunes that are over 200 million years old.

Pine trees fill the valleys, the air smells of their scent as long-horned mountain sheep trudge dangerously narrow paths and cling to the sides of massive frozen waterfalls. It feels very different from Bryce Canyon.

At 230 square miles, the best views are from above, so I’ll take a helicopter tour to see it all (from £85pp). We fly over huge mountain peaks, deep canyons and sprawling farms – it’s breathtaking. Zion is the country’s most popular national park, with about five million visitors a year, but January is quiet.

The next morning I get up early to hike The Narrows, a five-mile canyon that rises nearly 1,500 feet through mountains. It’s still and quiet, the air is refreshingly fresh, and I walk on, alternating between crystal clear water and shore, until I reach Wall Street. Here the 7 meter wide gorge splits in two and you can continue for miles in either direction.

The next day it’s time for one last adventure. I pull over on the side of the road to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail half a mile up the mountain overlooking Pine Creek Canyon. I don’t think I’ve ever been so relaxed and attuned to what I’m doing sitting 200 feet atop the cliff looking out into the canyon. Utah rocks.

A seven-night ski safari in Utah and the national parks, including round-trip flights from London, accommodation and SUV hire, starts from £2,179 per person

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