By Bianca Dumas
Originally published in Mountain park city
Imagine traveling through the wilderness by foot, bike or ski. At the end of each day’s trail you find a cozy yurt or a sleek modern cabin. You might even enjoy a fire pit or a wood-barrel sauna for relaxing your tired muscles. You’ll continue the adventure from this spot and end at another shelter down the trail. Backcountry hut-to-hut adventure travel has long been a staple in Europe, but is only recently taking shape in Utah in a significant way.
One such network comes from the inspiration of Shaun Deutschlander, founder and owner of Inspired Summit Adventures in Park City. Deutschlander is developing the Western Uinta Hut System, which currently offers three interconnected huts and will ultimately comprise five huts that unlock recreational access to 100,000 acres of backcountry terrain. The system provides year-round access for hiking, mountain biking, fishing, rock climbing, skiing and splitboarding.
“We’re building them in conjunction with pre-existing trails, so it’s not like we’re rebuilding a whole area of the forest,” Deutschlander says. “These areas are underutilized. We hope by putting yurts there we can take the pressure off some of the Uintas and move people into a new, beautiful part of the range.”
Inspired Summit is a seasoned outfitter. They’ve been offering fully guided, fully supported adventures from the Castle Peak Yurt since 2021 (that’s the hut with the barrel sauna). Guides prepare all the drinks and food like wood-fired pizzas, enchiladas, steak and fresh-baked cookies. Once the sun sets, guides retire to their own campsites so guests can enjoy the yurt.
Self-guided trips are also available, and a la carte days of guided activities like rock climbing, fly-fishing and stand-up paddleboard yoga can be added on.
The yurts operate on U.S. Forest Service land and have received government approval. To write her proposal, Deutschlander used information available on huttripper.com, one of the West’s best resources for finding and planning self-guided backcountry hut trips. Hut Tripper founders Sean Quinn and Loren Baker actively add new information to the site, including a hut’s distance from an access road, elevation, snowfall, capacity and whether dogs and snowmobiles are allowed. So far, the site has been focused on huts that support skiing, but mountain bike hut touring will be the next addition.
This exciting development will certainly bring attention to the Aquarius Trail Hut System, a series of five huts — each about 20 miles apart — dedicated to mountain bike adventures. Founders Jared Fisher and Jen Becker used repurposed high-top shipping containers to build their huts. These stylish, insulated buildings feature showers, bedrooms and completely stocked kitchens.
But don’t think you’ll miss out on a rugged outdoor adventure if you stay. The huts are off-grid in secluded locations. The experience skews a bit more toward camping than glamping. The kitchen sink, handwashing station and shower utilize manual foot pumps and outside-temperature water, which can be heated on the stove if a hot shower is a must. A provisioned kitchen features a propane cooking stove and solar-powered fridge. Electricity is limited, but phone and e-bike charging stations are available.
Most guests leave their cars in Escalante and are shuttled to Brian Head. From there, they follow the Aquarius Trail on downloaded digital maps. Navigation is easy. The route follows singletrack, wild singletrack, Jeep routes and dirt roads and shadows Highway 12, also known as Scenic Byway 12, a designated All-American Road. Those who choose a guided tour don’t even have to navigate or prepare dinner at night.
“You go from aspens and pines to the red rock desert,” notes Fisher. “It really is the ultimate conglomeration of the best stuff that Utah has to offer.”
For winter outings, look to Powder Ridge Ski Touring, owned by Alex Anderson and his wife, Sara Goeking. This company offers three yurts for backcountry ski travel, accessed through Logan Canyon. The Green Canyon, Bunch Grass and Steam Mill yurts are fully provisioned, and all adventures are self-guided. Guests must have strong navigation skills for getting themselves to the yurts, which are tucked well into the backcountry in nonmotorized areas. Starting this year, Green Canyon Yurt is available for summer and fall reservations as it is accessible via road from June 1 to November 15.
“They’re quite popular,” says Anderson. “Powder Ridge has been around since the early eighties, and we’re always working hard to keep the yurts maintained.”
Tips for Hut Use
• To support hut maintenance, Hut Tripper has created a digital guest book for each hut. Here, guests can upload photos and note their date of stay, hut conditions and weather. Mentioning a missing or broken item is a big help to operators, who are informed by Hut Tripper.
• Co-founder Sean Quinn, who just came back from a hut-to-hut ski tour in Japan, offers several points of etiquette. “First is being a considerate guest,” he says. Leave the hut cleaner than you found it. He suggests taking pictures before gear is spread out, then you’ll have a visual reference for putting everything back in place.
• Take everything with you. Quinn says the biggest mistake people make is leaving behind extra items for the next group. “If every group were to leave things behind, it would be a mess in there,” he says. Pack out everything, even if you’d like to share that extra bar of chocolate.
• Although you might plan to log into Hut Tripper when you get home, remember to sign the hut’s physical guest book. “I think our hut culture in the U.S. relies on that sort of thing,” Quinn says. “It’s a great way to demonstrate that these huts are being used, and reading it is a fun way to pass the time.”
