Around the bend of the Old Lincoln Highway, through the wooden gates, I see it, rising from the range: The Lodge at Blue Sky, 4,000 acres of untapped majesty. Situated in the town of Wanship (less than 40 miles from Salt Lake City), the hotel blends with the vast wilderness, appearing as a seamless extension of the land. Local materials—copper, wood, stone— abound. This Utah locale provides travelers with a hushed mountain reverence.

My first stop on the property is familiar, a nod to my Midwestern roots in Nebraska. The broadfork I’ve been handed sinks easily into the garden soil, the smell of curing garlic wafting through the fresh mountain air. Teddy-bear sunflowers, those fluffy gilded beauties, add welcoming pops of color against the muted gray and sage Wasatch Range backdrop.

“Move over forest bathing, this is farm bathing,” jokes Lynsey Gammon, the property’s director of farming. I’m touring—and digging into—the all-female-run Gracie’s Farm, a robust regenerative operation, and one of the most charming facets of The Lodge at Blue Sky. During growing season, hundreds of pounds of produce spring from this fertile land each week: hardy root vegetables and fruits, whimsical edible flowers, wildflowers. Guests can experience that bounty with farm dinners, or, as I have done, with some sessions in the Farm School.

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WRITTEN BY KATY SPRATTE JOYCE

This story appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of MILIEU.