It's a Winter Wonderland

It’s a Winter Wonderland

It might be cold outside but there is still plenty to discover and do in Utah. From Southern Utah to Park City and from Sugar House to Ogden read about Utah in winter this month.

Connie Lewis

February 6, 2024

It is easy to complain about winter. The frigid temperatures. The dirty slush and snow piled in the gutters. Red air days. Shoveling driveways and sidewalks. If we were bears we’d pull the covers over our heads and hibernate until February was over.

But we’d be missing out. In this February issue of Utah Stories, we explore the beauty of winter in Southern Utah. Taylor Hartman writes about our red rock country as a “desert wonderland” just waiting for you to discover it. Winter is the perfect time to enjoy the temperate Southern Utah weather, and best of all, you can almost have it all to yourself.

Winter is also a good time for hiking excursions in Moab. Our Moab writer, Rachel Fixsen, put together a list of “romantic hikes” around features such as Bride Canyon and Hand Hold Arch.

Discover Ogden’s sizable hiking network with 28 different trails throughout the Ogden area. Find out where they are in Cathy McKitrick’s article on page 26.

In Utah, we’ve long boasted that we have The Greatest Snow on Earth. The world flocks here to experience this epic snow while skiing on world-class runs. But there is a lot going on behind the scenes at the ski resorts that helps everything run smoothly and keeps everyone safe. We take a look at one of them; Avalanche Dogs. Bianca Dumas delves into the history of these heroic dogs and the extensive training involved in producing a working dog that just might save your life.

And let’s not forget Valentine’s Day (even though some people would like to). It’s not everyone’s favorite holiday, after all. As Jimmy Fallon said about Valentine’s Day, “Oh, here’s an idea: let’s make pictures of our internal organs and give them to other people we love on Valentine’s Day. That’s not weird at all.”

We try to discover the reason we’re so in love with love as our writers talk to generations of couples about how they stay in love and how they celebrate it.

And we have more, including a personal Park City art gallery stroll, and a story about the controversial high-rise that might be coming to Sugar House.

There is lots to enjoy and do in February, but if you still don’t want to venture out, you can get a cup of hot chocolate, put your slippered feet up, and read Utah Stories.

Oh, and when summer finally does arrive and people start complaining about the heat, remind them that at least they don’t have to scrape sunshine off their windshield.

Feature Image: Bryce Canyon in winter photo by Philip Graves on Unsplash

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Connie Lewis

Connie has been with Utah Stories since 2013, and has enjoyed learning everything involved in producing a monthly magazine. In addition to writing, Connie performs administrative tasks, coordinates writers, photographers and editors, and oversees a million little details. Her least favorite word is ‘deadline.’ A journalism class at the University of Utah sparked Connie’s love of writing. Finding it hard to narrow her interests to just one major, journalism allowed her to explore a wide variety of topics and disciplines. When she is not writing, Connie loves spending time with her family and traveling with her dogs. “It has been a pleasure learning new things about the state I was born in and meeting the people who make Utah great,” she says. Connie plans to continue her love of learning and improving as the magazine moves onward and upward.