A Road Trip Itinerary: Montana, Wyoming & Utah
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For nine straight days, as we wound our way from the lush mountains of Big Sky, Montana, down to the arid, Mars-like landscape of southern Utah, the question we were asked most frequently was ‘why are you here?’ Foreign visitors to much of the mid-west are a rarity, Brits even less likely – we didn’t hear English voices other than our own for the entirety of our trip (and we certainly weren’t complaining). While the locals seemed amused and a little confused that two Londoners would choose to spend their summer exploring what The Rest Is Politics US host Antony Scaramucci refers to as ‘Murica – the van-driving, barbeque-eating “real” America you don’t experience on the more touristy coasts – we got exactly what we wanted: a total escape, full of pure adventure and jaw-dropping scenery.
The First Leg
We began, incongruously, by flying into San Francisco – we could spend a few nights there and then take a two-hour flight to Bozeman, Montana, which isn’t accessible directly from London. We spent two nights in Napa and two nights downtown, a trip which could easily have its own dedicated feature, so in short: it’s well worth staying in Yountville for its proximity to some of the best restaurants – we chose The Estate Yountville and couldn’t fault it. We had just one dinner so returned to Charter Oak, an absolute favourite, but also made sure we squeezed in a burger at Gott’s Roadside and a frozé at Oxbow Public Market. Stag’s Leap Cellars was the best tasting experience across two trips, but we also loved Frank Family Vineyards for something more intimate and, purveyors of my favourite chardonnay, Bread & Butter. In San Francisco – don’t make the mistake we made by staying at the Proper. Incredible interiors, terrifying location. Next time, we’d stay at the newly opened 1Hotel in the cleaner, safer Embarcadero area. Do, however, eat at The Tailor’s Son and do give Waymo, the driverless taxi app, a go.
Yellowstone
The only major downside of this trip was the car rental fee. Cars are in short supply at Bozeman airport, so whichever company you rent through, unless you’re prepared to do a round trip, you’re going to be stung by a penalty. For our itinerary we didn’t really have an alternative, but if you want to save yourself an additional fee, it could be worth flying from Montana down to Salt Lake City where the cars are less of a hot commodity.
Feeling slightly bruised, we drove a few hours from Bozeman to our first stop, Under Canvas West Yellowstone. Part of the Small Luxury Hotels group, Under Canvas strikes the perfect balance between authentic camping – the shower is a pully system, the tents are heated only by fire and there’s certainly no air con – and something a bit more civilised, offering comfy king-sized beds and live music and ‘smores every evening. Just ten minutes by car from the town of West Yellowstone and, therefore, from one of the main entrances to the national park, it’s a convenient spot for the most significant sites, and we loved it for its sense of complete isolation and immersion.
Waking at 4.30am on our first morning we were stunned by the Baltic temperature – layers were essential. The early wake up was an (successful) attempt to beat the crowds at Old Faithful, the most famous of Yellowstone’s many geysers – underground volcanos that periodically eject enormous eruptions of water. It’s impossible to describe quite how enormous the park is – covering three states and over two million acres, even from the convenient West Yellowstone base, it’s around 90 minutes to the core sites. But having Old Faithful and its surrounding volcanic pools practically to ourselves at 6.30am was a spectacular start and made the early call time worthwhile. That first morning also included a trip to Grand Prismatic, the area’s largest hot spring, and a hike to Fairy Falls, a Never-Never-Land-esque waterfall dappled in sunlight, plunging into an ice-cold pool full of enthusiastic swimmers. Later that day, a white-water rafting trip down the Galletin River, courtesy of Raft Montana, proved to be an early highlight – the area can have snow for up to nine months of the year and the river is often frozen over, so even on a warm day it’s a bracing, and therefore totally thrilling, experience.
On day one we hit 25,000 steps before lunchtime, so day two’s pace was slightly slower, with a drive to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. In recent years I’ve been lucky enough to see Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Brazil’s Iguaçu Falls, and there’s no doubt that this waterfall is more spectacular than both. A deep, enormous canyon has evolved over the past 350 million years, leaving the most show-stopping patina along the sides of its craggy mountains – stretching further than the eye can see, we meandered along its various viewing platforms, including a couple of glute-challenging hikes down to the bottom for a sense of scale. After a stop off at the pretty Gibbon Falls, it was time for the drive one hour north of West Yellowstone to Big Sky, Montana’s iconic ski destination, for two days of horseback riding adventures.
Yellowstone need-to-knows
West Yellowstone isn’t exactly a culinary destination – catering to the many tourists camping or staying in nearby hostels, it’s hard to come by anything fresh or particularly nutritious. We embraced the local culture with dinner at Firehole, an authentic BBQ joint, and stocked up on cereal bars and trail mix at the campsite for days out and about – you can easily find yourself hours from any shops or convenience destinations once inside the park.
This, of course, means bathroom facilities aren’t easy to come by and they can be a mixed experience. Wet wipes, tissues, hand sanitiser and, on occasion, a bandana to protect our faces from the scent, were valuable commodities.
If you’re hiking around Yellowstone, you need to have bear spray to hand in case of an encounter. We rented ours from the town, which saved us being lumbered with two cans of pepper spray for the rest of our trip. The rental system is super easy – a little like using a InPost locker.
Big Sky, Montana
Is it a spoiler to tell you now that our two nights at Lone Mountain Ranch, a working ranch with over 150 horses and a weekly rodeo, was our favourite leg of the trip? Recently taken over by two finance types with a passion for Big Sky, a ski resort-cum-billionaire playground in which 80% of the properties are inhabited for just two weeks a year, they’ve worked to preserve the heritage of the ranch and its 100-year history, eschewing tempting mod cons like spas or swimming pools to give guests an authentic experience. The hotel is made up of a series of log cabins with flower-adorned decks, roaring log fires and – happily, post-camping – free-standing baths. There’s a babbling brook running through the site, an inviting lounge where you can stock up on coffee and borrow cowboy boots for rides and, most importantly, a large barn, the hub of activity, where guests and local kids on summer camp congregate to collect their horses pre-ride.
A stay at Lone Mountain is a little like safari – your day is built around horse rides, with a few hours either side to eat and decompress. We were partnered with our horses, given a quick induction, then sent on our way, following a knowledgeable guide – thrillingly bedecked in a cowboy hat and plaid shirt every time – into the verdant landscape, climbing the height of the local ski-slopes for spectacular views. When a thunderstorm struck mid-ride, our descent was lit up by the electric sky and, the next day as we rode up into the hills again, the swathes of dark cloud hung lower than the paths we trod. You don’t have to be a particularly experienced equestrian to enjoy the ranch – the rangers are trained to handle all skill sets, and we saw every type of person ride a horse throughout our stay.
There’s one large restaurant at the lodge which is perfectly fine, but another menu offering wholesome American fare and little in the way of crunch made my heart sink a little. This disappointment paved the way for sheer delight on discovering the Auric Room, the private members’ club on site, which is open to locals and guests for dinner every night. Entering through its plush curtains (you need a password to get in and phones are confiscated) is like arriving in a Ralph Lauren-themed Narnia – incredibly dark and sexy, there’s enough plaid and leather to remind you of the designer’s all-American aesthetic, whilst a moody bar, barely-lit cigar room and wine cabinets filled with an impressive collection are reminiscent of New York’s coolest drinking holes. The menu is an elevated selection of local cuisine and international heroes – perversely, we had the most fantastic tuna tartar and crispy rice on site – and there’s a strict dress code. Personally, any destination where I can spend the day mucking around in jeans and a cowboy hat and the night in heels with an iced cold martini is an absolute win.
Big Sky need-to-knows
The weather is changeable – despite it being peak summer, we needed layers throughout. The hotel strongly encourages you to wear jeans to ride – of course, you could wear gym leggings, but it’s much more fun to commit to the theme. I went full rodeo and picked up a Stetson – you’re definitely going to want extra packing space for when you get the cowboy bug.
Blue Sky, Utah
It makes sense that our quest for adventure should lead us to two ski resorts. A six-hour drive south of Big Sky is, er, Blue Sky, a mountain region that sits just above Park City, half an hour east of Salt Lake City itself. Whilst many follow up a trip to Montana with a stop in Wyoming – Jackson Hole being one of its most popular spots – we felt it would only offer more of the same, and we were ready to escape cowboy country in favour of a different landscape.
The Lodge at Blue Sky, part of Auberge Resorts Collection, was absolutely that. A spaceship-like building, it seemingly emerges from the ground itself, with bunker-like bedrooms each with sweeping terraces and pretty gas fires (real outdoor fires have been banned for months due to dryness), enormous fluffy beds in the middle of the room, cavernous bathrooms and indulgent outdoor showers. Blue Sky is a particularly popular ski destination, and in summer months the surrounding hills act as an outdoor playground. A morning hike with a local guide, a passionate naturist, gave us a good sense of the area’s geography, geology and wildlife (as well as a great sense of accomplishment when we hit the slope’s summit), whilst an afternoon ATV-ing proved to be the most fun few hours of the trip. Clad in bandanas and goggles to combat the dust, we pounded the off-trail tracks in a group of seven, stopping only to be guided through large bodies of water or to take in 360° views from the mountain’s peaks. A more hair-raising experience than you might expect from typically safety-conscious Americans, there were a couple of near-Bonnie and Clyde moments, but we weren’t complaining – for two adventure junkies, it was the perfect way to experience the landscape.
The Lodge’s location means easy access to Salt Lake City, which I was keen to visit simply because I like ticking off cities. Downtown looked and felt a little like LA’s Century City district, but much quieter and calmer – the streets were clean and pretty, and people were few and far between. We had an unexpectedly delicious lunch at White Horse Spirits & Kitchen (if you’re in the area, I can’t recommend the cobb salad enough) before taking the 100-mile drive west to the Bonneville Salt Flats. I’m a little embarrassed to say I only discovered these on TikTok, but the benefit of the app means you get a pretty good idea of how spectacular something will be before you commit to it. The long drive is eerie, almost Mad Max-like. Enormous, dusty roads stretch out to meet the sky with absolutely nothing on the horizon, until the terrain becomes, well, salty, and you pull into a layby along with around 20 other cars and step out onto the glistening white flats, so bright they hurt your eyes and so incomprehensibly vast that other visitors are just tiny dots in the distance. There’s nothing to ‘do’ there, but it takes a while to get over the sheer scale – unless you’ve been to Bolivia, there’s really nothing comparable, so just spending some time there soaking it in is awesome, in the non-American sense of the word.
The best part of The Lodge at Blue Sky is its Wild Kitchen; an unlikely project from Guy Ritchie, there are just two in the world, the other at Beaverbrook in Surrey. A short drive from the hotel up a dirt track there’s a safari-like open-sided tent and makeshift open fire stove, where rotating guest chefs are flown in to create family-style suppers. Tasmanian Sarah Mower took the reigns over the week we were staying and crafted the most delicious, hearty fare using local produce. Starter was flame-grilled bread served in wrought iron caskets with pears, honey and bubbling brie, alongside seared scallops and shaved turnips with fresh garlic butter. As the sun set, a cast of visitors from across the US – I told you we were the only foreigners – chattered to the backdrop of tinkering glasses and roaring flames, and by the time everyone piled into cars to return to the hotel, a little merrier than before, Instagram handles had been exchanged and I’m quite sure we heard a business deal brokered. We left the hotel the next day with a full cup from not only the breadth of escapist experiences, but from the childlike fun of making holiday friends.
Lake Powell & Arizona
A mere seven hours down the road – Utah is a big state – sits Amangiri. You’ve seen the hotel on social media even if the name isn’t familiar – nine years of building and development, resulting in an architectural feat emerging from the side of a 350-million-year-old rock, the property is now almost as famous as some of the guests who have put it on the map, including the Biebers and the Kardashians. But Hollywood it ain’t – arriving in front of a wooden gate, almost falling off its hinges, with absolutely nothing else in sight, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re a long way from the notoriously pricey destination. Right on the border between Utah and Arizona and not far from Nevada, the surrounding area feels familiar to Brits who have done the Vegas rite-of-passage visit to the Grand Canyon – driving up the road to the hotel’s entrance is completely otherworldly, with a landscape surely only comparable to that of Mars or the moon. And it’s hard to describe just how showstopping the property itself really is, leaning into the vastness of its surroundings to offer plenty of high stone structures, blossoming olive trees, verdant living walls and trickling water features. There’s something fortress-like about the space, with its total silence and stone surroundings reminiscent of Game of Thrones’ Kings Landing. The hotel is all-inclusive, and the food is great, with a main restaurant and Camp Sarika – an elevated version of the Lodge’s Wild Kitchen – both offering everything from all-American burgers to Mexican-inspired tacos and Spanish octopus dishes. And when we ventured out for a day of activities, not only was our car fully air conditioned before we departed (a welcome touch in 110°C heat), but a cooler bag was packed with club sandwiches, brownies and homemade lemonade to keep us going.
As ubiquitous as the pictures of Amangiri are on social media are those of Antelope Canyon, Arizona’s rock formations which visitors can walk through, admiring their curved walls and deep red patina. There are two options – upper and lower – and we began with a tour of the former with a company called Navajo Nation, which is the only business we used that I wouldn’t recommend. We loved the experience of the canyon itself, but a lazy, unenthusiastic tour guide can quite quickly spoil what should be a cool experience. When we later rented kayaks from Kayak Lake Powell, we discovered they also offered tours of both canyons, and a great experience with them means they’d be our recommendation in future.
Our grand plans to kayak in a two-man boat along Lake Powell to the lower canyon were quickly scuppered when we realised quite how challenging kayaking is. Who knew? It’s easy to underestimate just how much water you need when you’re out in that heat, and we got as far as the mouth of the gorge leading to the lower site before we gave up and turned around. I’d certainly recommend the experience to those with good upper body strength, but as we watched other tourists sail past on speed boats and jet skis, we realised the adventure portion of our holiday had come to a natural close.
Road trip need-to-knows
Long podcasts and audiobooks kept us sane on long drives. A particular highlight was the Starbucks episode of Acquired, a three-hour deep dive into the makings of a global empire, with the brand’s founder Howard Schultz.
You can never have enough comfy clothes on a road trip. Even when the temperatures soar, if you’re driving for long periods, changing climates and taking flights, you’re always grateful for sweatshirts, hoodies and tracksuit bottoms – one grey sweatshirt and a lightweight shacket were my saving graces of the trip.
We didn’t have any specific hiking our outdoor gear per se, but I wore Salomon sneakers throughout which served me well for all our activities. A lululemon bum bag was the best pre-holiday purchase – we used it every day for essentials – and my Teva water shoes proved to be a useful addition on a few occasions too.
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