Stein Erickson Lodge Utah

[berly1657]

Has anyone used their points to stay here and what is in the area in the summer.

We are looking at a trip out west next summer and would like to stay here if we can justify it as a place to tour from... National parks etc...

 

[Orlanr]

I have not been to the lodge yet, we are planning a trip for Sept. 07. I attempted to make the reservation today with MS and was told they are not taking reservations for Sept. yet. I sent an email to the lodge and they told me they were taking DVC reservations for the summer. As far as Park City being close to National Parks, it is not. I lived in the Salt Lake area for a few years. Bryce Canyon and the other parks in in the southern end of the state, but the Park City area is one of the nicest places on earth.

 

[4Pluto]

Stein is a beautiful resort. In the summer, Park City offers mountain biking (using ski lifts to get to the summit), hiking, horseback riding, the winter sports park (luge), great restaurants and nightlife (and hot air balloons). 15 minutes east is Mirror Lake Highway, which is a scenic drive through the Uintah mountains (mountain lakes, snow topped mountains etc.) with great hikes and picnics. The upper Provo River offers great fishing (or nature walks at the base of Jordanelle Dam). Jordanelle (the reservoir just east of Park City) has water skiing and boating. There are a dozen golf courses in the area. It's really hard to think of an outdoors activity you can't do in Park City.

However, it's not near the national parks. It is centrally located. It is 4 hours to Moab (Arches NP, Canyonlands NP) in the southeast (and Monument Valley/Four Corners is another 90 minutes or so south), five to six hours to Cedar City/St. George in the southwest (Zion NP, Bryce NP and Grand Canyon NP), and six hours north to Jackson Hole (Grand Tetons/Yellowstone). Capital Reef NP is about 4 hours south. Dinosaur National Monument is 2 1/2 hours east (there is also a Dinosaur Monument in Wyoming about 1 1/2 hours away).

Its a good place to start or end a trip if you fly into SLC.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[JimMIA]

If you are going out west, one thing you will have to factor in is the driving distances. They are huge! A buddy of mine wanted to "swing by" Mt. Rushmore on a business trip to Helena, MT a couple of years ago until I informed him it was at least a 12-hour drive...one way!

I think your decisions will revolve around what you want to do for the vacation. As you see above, none of the National Parks are really day trips from the SLC area.

If you want to tour parks specifically, I can give you some suggestions, but none of them will involve SLC.

1. Fly to Jackson, WY for Jackson itself, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone. Jackson is one of those really cool western towns, and if you immerse yourself in Teton and Yellowstone for 3-5 days each, you'll come away with an incredible experience. At Yellowstone, get Old Faithful out of the way early in the morning and spend the rest of the time in the backcountry. If you walk 1/4 mile down virtually any trail, you'll be alone.

2. Fly to Vegas for Death Valley, Zion, Cedar Breaks, Bryce and the Grand Canyon. If you go to Grand Canyon in the summer, go to the North Rim, not the South Rim. I'd overnight in Vegas, Zion, Bryce, and a rim-view cabin at North Rim. I've done that as a quick 4-5 day trip, or it can be done as a 7-10 day relaxing trip.

3. Fly to Phoenix -- north to Montezuma's Castle, Sedona, the South Rim, east to Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, north to Canyon de Chelley, Mesa Verde, and then SW to Monument Valley (whew!). We did that trip in a week, but it was a blur.

If I wanted quality rather than just touching bases, I'd probably fly into somewhere in CO (Montrose, maybe?) and just hit Mesa Verde -- it's one of the most beautiful and interesting parks in the entire almost-400-unit park system.

As we all know, there's nothing like staying onsite. In national parks, that's even more true than WDW because of the remoteness of most parks...and the quality of the theming. Unfortunately, we don't have an NPS-VC, and there's no NPS dining plan.

That said, most parks have a variety of lodging ranging from backpacking to very luxurious. Some of the best accommodations are rather simple -- but they're clean and comfortable, and there are many budget options. Some of the best meals I've ever had have been in lodge restaurants after a long day on the trails. And champagne is really deadly at altitude...

If I can help you with anything in the parks, please let me know. The website is www.nps.gov and you'll find a park-finder thingee on the home page. Key links to look at in each park are "Planning your visit," "In Depth" and "For Kids."

If you have kids, don't forget to check out the Jr. Ranger program in each park.