Deer Valley Resort, Utah, United States

5divefan 5:00 PM Sep 15, 2022

There is a fairly easy hike called Sultan with no bikes
I'm a healthy senior, and I walk a fair amount at home, but I'm not really a hiker. There are no mountain bikes allowed on the Sultan loop, although horses are allowed, so there is fair amount of horse poop. Our party took the scenic chairlift ride to the Sultan trailhead, which is actually not marked very well, but there were a lot of Deer Valley staff on hand the point it out. Be sure to pick up a trail map when you buy the lift tickets. Although this trail is marked as green (for easy), the trail starts with a downhill walk down a wide dirt road, which means you have an uphill walk at the end, so save a little reserve energy for the return. At the bottom of the hill are two chairlifts, and you can choose to go further downhill on the loop, or take the easier path which has a fairly short uphill switchback, and then a lovely level trail through the woods. We walked as far as the beautiful view of the lake and vista, and then turned around so that we would have enough juice left to make it back uphill to the chairlift, One of our party used trekking sticks, and she was glad to have them. The concierge who recommended this hike pointed out that you can have a lovely (but expensive) lunch on the patio of the Stein Erikson Lodge, near the trailhead, or the St. Regis, reached by the free funicular near the Snowpark lodge. We weren't up for anything fancy, so we just took the bus back to town and ate pizza.

4TripHelp12 5:00 PM Mar 24, 2021

Beautiful but definitely not a hometown feeling and be prepared to bring a box of masks
Be prepared to spend some money and to be irritated by employees regarding mask wearing even when they standing more than 10’ away from you in their lift station and there is a freezing snow blizzard. Kind of aggravating to have to pull off gloves in freezing snow just to pull a soaking wet mask an extra 1/2” higher up on your face when you’re already wearing goggles and a gaiter/scarf. Control. Stuff a handful of masks in your jacket for when one flies off your face on the mountain. SMH. Also this is not the kind of lodge where you can walk in, take your coat off , get a cocoa and warm your hands at the fireplace with your kids. This is the kind of place that you must have a reservation to even get into the lodge and then if by chance they can get you in you will be paying $21 for a cheeseburger that’s smaller than McDonald’s. There are no bunny slopes no snowboarders, no real wood fires to dry your gloves, an elite albeit beautiful place. The runs are beautiful the mountains are gorgeous however next year will be going back to North Carolina for a more family feel at 1/10 the cost.