Veer off the Utah route a little to visit the new National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho, about 20 minutes from Bear Lake on Hwy. 89. The Center houses a rail museum and an extensive Western art collection, but the walk-through, live reenactment of a pioneer's journey west is this place's masterpiece.
Each tour group starts its journey as the pioneers would have. They choose supplies from the general store, load the wagon with enough food to last for months, then embark on a moving covered wagon directly into the resilient – and often cruel – world of westward expansion.
The Center's staff knows their stuff, fielding questions about the antiques. The hidden high-tech computer system brings sunrises and thunderstorms, while boiling pots of food and water-sprayed earth make this place even smell real. The coolest part of the experience is finding out you are actually walking on the Oregon Trail – the Center sits directly on the trail's route, and earth removed during the center's construction was used to mark the tour's path.
Head back down south to Park City and the ski resorts clustered in the canyons nearby. Park City is regularly packed with hipsters and ski bums, but the nearby Utah Olympic Park (where the 2002 jumping, luge, and bobsled events were held) is the draw for a new breed of tourists. Restored storefronts and ritzy shops line Main Street, which is the center of activity for those not staying at one of the fancy ski resorts surrounding the city.
A drive through the Little Cottonwood Canyon takes you to one of those fancy ski resorts: Snowbird, a summer and winter resort that boasts an 11,000-foot summit. To seasoned powderhounds with refined tastes, Snowbird is the place to be. Ski or indulge in pampering at the spa. For novices, the wonderfully prepared sushi at the Aerie Restaurant might be more inviting than the slopes, but Utah's license plates say "Greatest Snow on Earth" for a reason. No wonder they're hosting the Olympics.
Here are some other points of interest you'll want to check out:
George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park
Prairie Schooner Restaurant
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