Ep. 163 - Utah's Adventure Corridor & Ofland Escalante

[Music] Hi everyone, welcome to the Unscaled Travel Show. I'm Jeremy Long, your host here with my co-host and coach, Laura Amy. Hello. We are in beautiful. Oh, just always sunny. Las Vegas, Nevada. And the time we back to Lancer Vain Studios. And I think we have something fun and adventurous for you today. Like we always do, right? Because today on the show, we're going to explore what Amy and I are effectively calling Utah's Wild Corridor. That's the stretch of scenic by way 12 that connects Bryce Canyon National Park and goes through the little small towns of Lake Canonville, Tropic, Boulder, Escalante. And eventually, you reach the threshold of Capitol Reef National Park. We did all kinds of hikes. We even did a UTV ride with Roam Outdoor Adventure Company. And a little bit later in the show, we're going to chat with Noah Ellis, who is the CEO of Uvlan Escalante, to talk about why this rugged little corner of Utah keeps drawing people back again, again, and again. I mean, Amy, you and I, I mean, I think proximity wise, Vegas is only a few hours from Southern Utah and all the play. And I think Zion gets its lion share of attention. And of course, it should. It's a beautiful place that you can go, but a couple hours north of that on the other side, almost essentially of Zion, as Bryce Canyon. And we've chat about Bryce Canyon. We've had an entire show about it. You can go back and look it up, Apple Podcast, cheap plug. Even scenic by way 12, we talked about highway 89 that kind of connects all of these wonderful places together. But this little area of Utah, that is actually Garfield County. And it's all kind of encompassing in this area. It just, it draws visitors from around the world. And I think partly it's because of social media. Partly it's because of they do have some incredible views and vistas and adventures to be had out there. But for us personally, I mean, we've now gone back to Southern Utah many, many times. But there's other places we could go and keeps, you know, it keeps pulling us back to these areas. Yeah, I really think it's one of those places that doesn't feel like anywhere else on earth. With the beautiful red rock formations, you have slot canyons. But there's waterfalls, there's even Alpine forest. If you're driving this scenic by way 12 from Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef, you're hitting so many different things. It doesn't feel like it should all be within 100 miles of each other. And I think social media has done a lot to popularize this space. But even there, you only see bits and pieces of it. You only see those people standing on the beautiful red rock arch, you know, backlit when they're hiking boots, acting like they're all fancy. And you're like, you probably never hyped today before your life. But once you get out there, you realize it's so much more than that. And I had never been to this part of Southern Utah before. I think a lot of people, as you said, go to Zion. And then they kind of skirt around this and go maybe over to Arches National Park. This is that area in between. And I was very pleasantly surprised with how much there was to do there, especially with it being a lot of little bitty kind of farming towns, which I also found surprisingly. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, the towns are a little bit small. I know some of them kind of flow with the seasons and everything, which is appropriate. But it really is. I mean, you do have this idea. I mean, obviously this this corner of the world has been popular way before Facebook and things like that came along. But I think social media is now taking it to a different level. I think the like the tourism departments of like Utah have done a very good job of really marketing. Right. What it is and what it isn't, you know, being very careful to not let people pretend that it isn't anything but untamed out here almost. Because like you saw, and I saw driving around, there were so many paths and roads that just turned right to gravel and then go right into like dirt just off the road. And it wasn't private land. All of this like most of it, a good portion of it is public land between the national parks and then the grand staircase monument area and everything. What you could just, how many times do we roll by somewhere and there were just like three or four cars just parked off somewhere and you could tell there's a trail that goes off. But it's not on any kind of brochure or anything. Backcountry hike. We did see a lot of like formal trailheads just randomly off the main road or sign saying, you know, this way to this trailhead. And they're just, they're not part of a national park or a state park. It is just trails that people have kind of forged. But then there was a lot of times as you said, people would just be parked on the side of the road and you could tell they kind of just like grab their gear and I was like, I'm just going to get. I'm going to go back out in this direction and see what I see and I think that's the beauty of this area is there's. So much that you can go explore and there's. I don't want to say there's not rules, but they're very open to people getting out and exploring they encourage it. Yeah, they want you to get out on these trails. They want you to go see this country. I mean, there were signs everywhere for overlooks and scenic drives. And as we said, more trails. So it very much encourages people to get out and explore. Not catered to just one level of adventure or outdoors person, you know, it's not just for the hardcore backpackers or the people that love to go can you nearing and I'm going to scale this rock. It's not us. And I just would like it to be. I like to watch people do that. Like it's all over my TikTok. Well, I don't do it. But it's also for people who just want a little light adventure or you know, I want it to an easy trail down to a waterfall or some natural arches like you mentioned in the sandstone or you know these little areas or even if you don't want to do that, there's all kinds of companies out there that cater to people who like to rent UTVs or rent. Kai X, you know, and go down the river or all kinds of stuff that you see if you start going down that path and I keep mentioning social media not because I'm trying to plug social media. But because I think it's brought it to a new generation of people, new generation of outdoors folks looking for that travel adventure without necessarily. And then you're going to go somewhere extreme or whatever. Like this is, you know, for like people that are on the west coast, this is like almost right in your backyard, no matter where you are. But I think people from all over the world are now are really now coming to this area. I mean, you and I saw it. A lot of people in the. America RVs in the area and we frequently when we travel in the US, running to people from other countries, but it seems like this area, I would say upper Arizona, southern Utah, we always run into more Europeans there than anything else. And I think it is because they don't have anything like this scenically in the country. And the red rock stone and things like that that is pretty common in this part of the country is certainly unique, you know, and the cliffs and everything. It's like a different point in it all the time. So like we started our adventure off. Just picking different road. What was the name of that road? Hold on the wall. Hold on the rock road. We just kind of found a little piece of it. We're like, you know what? We don't have a four by four machine, you know, but we are going to go. Check out this road and just start, you know, I mean, there's all kinds of. Like you said, trailheads that just pop off of this road. Yeah, that you can make an easy day hike out of that you can just. And we we turned on that road because we said it was a scenic drive, which it's a very long road and we maybe only got about halfway and we're like, you know what? I think we don't want to spend the entire day on the scenic road, but we did try to stop at one of the we didn't know what it was. It said zebra canyon and we were like, let's stop, but they were actually doing construction right there at the parking lot. So we couldn't really turn it the parking lot, but we ended up talking to somebody later who said he had just hiked it and that was his favorite hike. He did, but it's actually a slot canyon and I know someone else who was there the week before us who did it and said the slot canyon gets so small, you have to turn sideways and inch your way through. Oh, see, come on. Yeah. If you're claustrophobic, it might not be for you. Or if you had a meatball sub for lunch like I did, you ain't fitting through the. No, I'm glad I didn't do that then. That would have been my own fault. Let's see when those helicopters come and stick me. I think that would ruin this. There's a little stick of butter and just push me through. Keep it right here. Let's go travel. So we'll be right back. Unscaled Travel Show is brought to you by Diamondback Lancer Ving. For all your Lancer Ving needs, contact Diamondback Lancer Ving at 702-823-DBLS. [Music] Hi everyone, welcome back to the show Jeremy Long here with my co-explore aim. Hello. Check us out online on scale travelshow.com for all of our past episodes and interviews, including our past episodes about Breitz Canyon National Park, Capital Reef National Park. Yeah, we're on like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, we're kind of a big deal. In some regions. That was fun. It's like, what do you give me when do you bust? In some circles we're a big deal. There you go. My family doesn't acknowledge me anymore. I stopped making the family Christmas card. Oh, it's a Christmas letter. But you know who loves us? We are two time award winners. Yes. We have repeated as the best talk radio show at the IMMERA Awards for 2025. 2025 and now 2026. What's up? That's two time award winners. Wow. Yeah. Anyway. Somebody likes us. Someone likes us somewhere. So did a few of me patting myself on the back. We were talking to them. I was like, what are we talking about? We were talking about that. Oh, so we're talking about this little chunk of Southern Utah. Right? That you and I just started calling the Wildcord or because it's part of it's really scenic by way 12, which is beautiful. And in its own right, just a reason to go out to this part of Southern Utah. But it connects so many outdoor adventures altogether that really putting it all together over the course of several days is what you need to get the most out of this area. And it's one of these places that just keeps calling to outdoor. What are you doing? You're doing things that you drop in papers. It keeps calling to outdoor adventures again and again and again. And so, you know, people are tires of me seeing how beautiful this place is. So they want to know probably what we did when we were out there. No, we've talked just about leaving paved roads and just hitting trailheads and missing out on slot canyons because we didn't know what we were looking at at the moment. And all of that. But we did start our adventure at well, what the UTV right? I mentioned the UTV rides a couple of times because we started with Rome Outdoor Adventure Company. And that was courtesy of our friends over at Bryce Canyon Country. Bryce Canyon Country is kind of the nickname for Garfield County Utah, which is that entire area, I think I've mentioned. But there it's also kind of like a tourism or for them. So they're very active in getting people to come to the area and check it out. And they're doing a really great job. So thank you so much to Bryce Canyon Country for having us out on this adventure. But we did the grand to Bryce overlook UTV tour with Rome Outdoor Adventures. And number one, amazing. Yeah. I had so much fun. Now, we've done a UTV tour before in like a Ruba. Great time. Yes. Yes. Yes. Totally different feel. Yes. Absolutely. And I say this with no shame in my voice. I recommend this 1000% because it was so much fun. It was a lot of fun. And if listeners want to see some of the footage from our trip, we did put some of the video up on our Instagram. And it's mainly when I'm driving in Jeremy is the passenger. So just know that he's he's complaining about my driving. I was being a very good passenger. He was yelling that we were leaning, but we were driving on a sideways road. Like we were at a tilt. Sideways road. What did you want me to do? Go off the road onto the into the wilderness. Down the cliff into the wilderness. So this doesn't take you. I think you meet in Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon city. We met in traffic. We met in traffic. That's right. You meet in traffic and then usually it's what like six or seven. It's not a very big group of people. But they don't take you into Bryce Canyon National Park. You kind of take some back roads to the outside like further into it. You get to see around Bryce Canyon. Up to a scenic overlook down into Bryce Canyon. To a scenic overlook that a lot of people never get to see. Yeah. Which is really cool because you have one set of vistas to your west and another set to your right, which is to the east, which essentially would be Bryce Canyon, like the outer parts of Bryce Canyon. It was so just awesome to do. I really was. Our guide was fun. Young guy, you know, and he was a lot. He gave us a lot of history and everything. But this wasn't like a like a slow little drive. We were a hollown bud. We were and you and I were in the middle of the pack and the guide and the people in front of us. They took off. They took off and we had two UTVs behind us, which was a family split up in between two UTVs. And they were even farther behind us. So we were kind of in the middle. And at one point we were like, did we were we supposed to turn? Because we didn't see anybody in either direction. But thankfully there were no turns. So we were just staying on the dirt path we were on. But I think that's when it first started getting a little bit tilted. And you were not a fan. You were not a fan of being at a 90 degree angle. When you don't have to reach out the window to touch the ground. That's when I was like, okay, you know, I'm looking at dirt. I'm like counting ants. And it was fine. No, it was so much fun. At least things got like 65 miles an hour. And the family behind us had, they had like some like preteen kids, probably 11, 12 years old or whatever. I mean, they were screaming and they were having a great time. They were having fun. It was just a total blast out there. So I mean, that's one, that's how we kicked everything off. So when you start an adventure that way, not only with the drive in, because it's so, you know, beautiful. But then you started off like that. Hi, Octane. So like you would think like, okay, well now everything's downhill from here because like you said, it's such an adrenaline rush. And then like, what else can you do? Like, no, we found all kinds of adventures, including lower calf creek falls. Yes. Which I think was our very next thing to do. Yeah, we had heard about this hike to Southern Utah's highest waterfall. I think it's about 125 feet high. And I mistakenly had heard that it was only three miles round trip. And no incorrect. Three miles one way. But I was like, yeah, let's go do it. It sounds fun. They said it's not a strenuous hike. What they didn't say is it's a moderate strenuous hike, which we didn't know until we were well on our way into it. But saying that I would not say it's, it's a hike that is only limited to skilled hikers. I think anybody could do it. You just need to be prepared. It did. Like we. Yeah, we were not prepared because we thought it was going to be a short little like easy walk. And it was more than that. But I would say at one point I know you were kind of like hating me for making a mask. He hated a strong word, but I was throwing like leaves and saying. But when we got to the waterfall, we got to the waterfall and your whole demeanor changed. Yeah. And you were like totally worth it. And we had chief with us, which is great. Our adventure dog chief. It's a public trail. And you know, I mean, I think you paid to park or something like that. It's like five bucks. But he got to go with us, which was fantastic. And he was looking back at us like, what is wrong with you guys? Why have you taken me out here? But he loved the waterfall. It's just so gorgeous. Too beautiful to put in words. So again, you can check out our Instagram and everything that we did. That's amazing, right? We'll have more. We'll have more. I promise you. Keep it right here. Hi everyone. Welcome back to the show. Jeremy Long here with my co-adventurer Amy. Hello. We're in Cincinnati, Las Vegas. And the Diamondback Lancer Ving studios. You know, we're talking about these day trips off the wild corridor. I like that. I hope it catches on. It's just what I call it. But, you know, maybe they will. Maybe we'll see it pop up in a few minutes. You start putting it all over social media and then somebody else to take credit for it. That's fine, I know in my heart what I did. (laughs) But the day trips from there we were talking about lower calf creek and and some people might not understand about Why it's this I mean it's a pretty I mean there's only slight elevation gains I think maybe a couple hundred feet elevation gains for lower calf creek falls But that's not really the part that makes it Strenuous so much is so it's like a big portion of it of the path is sand. Yes It's that soft safe very soft saying that you sink into oh Man that's when as soon as we hit that I was like oh this is gonna be And there's chunks of it that are not shaded and then there's other parts that are fully shaded so you kind of get It feels like multiple trails yeah on in one trail because we were walking through parts That's right next to the creek and then other parts were kind of up in the rocks It was a really great hike. You just have to be prepared. Yeah for the time commitment and the heat and the lack of shade and areas. I think that's the part we weren't Because it was kind of late in the day too. We were like go let's go do this and it wasn't even necessarily a hot day Mm-hmm, and this is where you know, I think we started off talking about how it's adventure for different levels This is something that I think the weather day timing all of that could affect whether this goes from a Medium style walk To an absolute slog for some people. Yeah, if you're not Prepared for it because there were shade trees Spread out throughout the trail that you could tell I mean people have kind of made Made an area that I think people would probably get under there and have a sandwich or something like that Which is good, but you're walking along this creek and it's almost like Walking through the desert like it's almost like a barrage you can hear water and it's beautiful and there's all kinds of like They had the numbering system that had different points of interest that the pamphlet at the beginning of the trailhead Shows you like hey, Ventures came out here explorers came out here years ago and found this or these kind of trees do this you know, it's that kind of stuff But when you're out there, you're like It's again kind of warm During different stretches you know, you get a little warm You know, I hopefully I brought enough water and then like you said you reach the waterfall And you're just like wow this was worth it. I love life again You know, I'm gonna stop throwing these twigs at Amy's hair, you know And it's considerably cooler at the waterfall because it's kind of down almost in a little bit not a cave But it is surrounded Yeah, yeah, it's almost in its own little surrounded thing So it's like I want to say at least 20 degrees lighter and you got the spray of the water from I guess calf creek yes and You know the dog loved it so much. He ran he ran straight to the and he's not a water dog Even though he's a Labrador retriever mix. He is not a water dog He does not like water and he ran over to the water and like popped himself down in the mud But all over the side of half of his face. He was so happy to be there. He was it was it truly was like Okay, this was worth it. I was hesitant to turn around and go back But actually going back didn't feel as bad because we had cold off you're like okay It's time we go and I was like no 10 more minutes But then they're like we said there's all kinds of areas the more popular ones we mentioned Zebra slot there in the Zebra slot Canyon which is an extremely popular walk Like because I mean they have like a little kind of makeshift Parking lot. There were a number of vehicles there so people were out doing it, but then Peekaboo peekaboo Gulch. Yeah, yeah is another one or some people call it like peekaboo was a peekaboo Canyon I think so yeah, I believe so there were so many different things like that there I mean I feel like every website we look at or every pamphlet we got let's just list a new ones and you're like yeah How do you even Pick what you want to do. Yeah, and it's all within It's all within like a little short drive depending on where you're at So whether you're staying in Tropic or if you're staying in Escalante are around these towns or whatever Everything's gonna be just a little bit of a drive and that's how it should be you know But they have I mean even the other state parks that are around there the I think there's a petrified forest state park That's right near right outside of Escalante right near of let Escalante That we didn't even get to this time that we had on our list like okay We're gonna get it get out here and go see this one and we just ran out of time right and the same with driving the Hell's backbone scenic road that takes you over a single lane bridge We wanted to do it. We just didn't have time that is one, but we did it We drove scenic byway 12 which at one point it does get a little bit I don't know a little bit Concerning because you are pretty high up. It is just a little too wet too lane highway There are no guard rails and it is like a straight shot down Mm-hmm and you were driving and I was in the passenger seat going and I had made the mistake of looking over the side And I was like oh, I can't do that because I was gonna film it and I was like I can't even look down there and then coming back I was driving and you were in the passenger seat and you're like Amy looking I'm like I can't I have to stay focused on what's in front of me because it it can be a little bit unnerving. Yeah, and it'll disorient you fast Because also out there. I mean, which is also great is like we saw all kinds of wildlife. Yeah So even though it's like erred to begin with and you have this this beautiful Aztec red sandstone and and all of that like Then it turns yeah, it gets green and it's foresty and like we saw deer everywhere One was staring me down. It started snowing here. We were the deer Oh the weather the weather yes, I did I forgot about that. Yes, the weather did start But did you I remember the deer I remember the deer I Have I have nightmares about this because he was like staring at me off the road and I have And I'm true you're driving the deer's on my side of the highway just watching us and you're like did you see that He was looking into my soul man like a bro. You slow down on these curtains. I feel like there were scenic Overlooks like every couple of miles because it's just so beautiful They encourage you to pull over and take a picture and we kept stopping you multiple times It took us forever to get to Capitol Reef because we kept pulling over and stopping that these overlooks because it's just so gorgeous It was keep it right here. See on scale travel show right back Unscaled travel show is brought to you by Diamondback Land Serving for all your land surveying needs contact Diamondback Land Serving at 702 823 dbls Hi everyone welcome back to the unskept travel show sharing me long here with my coax for Amy hello Shout out to Diamondback Land Serving for Keeping this two-time award winning show on the road to adventure We love those guys. He's trellis and keen and Awesome people. I don't know They actually used to have a cabin out near duck Creek which isn't too far away from the wild corridor. Yeah as I call it So they know the area well and when I told him where we were headed turned was like oh man That's one of my favorite places. Yeah, so Really happy and really Honestly, you know, we're we're chatting about the deer that just the haunts my waking moments. Okay Too much into that because it's it kind of freaks me out But it is it was just a deer That's that's what scares me because I don't think it was But the you you go along this this seemingly it's not that far like the entirety of scenic byway 12 is not that far Although it does take a couple hours to complete mainly because it's with winds with the land It's how it's supposed to be like the old Route 66 or highway 89 that we have a have a whole episode about You know just kind of weaves with the land like it's supposed to and have the arches Yeah, but you can drive through that's from your favorite movie. Yeah Cars And all of that but it takes you through the the beautiful Aztec red sandstone to these high You know mountains and all the way through so you get all these different like seasonal things all in the same day like we were sweating doing lower The lower calf creek right and then when we got on the road and we're headed toward capital reef and we get to the mountains It was snowing yeah, and we had to like put our jackets back on it It was forest and it started snowing and there were Other animals that we saw just you know, it's the wilderness there were animals out there and there were multiple scenic overlooks that whole area and they have different Kind of signage one was talking about the animals that live in the forest and there was talking about a lake or a reservoir that was out in front of us They just really encourage you to get out of the car and take in the beauty of the location and then There's just trailheads everywhere still trailheads everywhere up in the mountains down in the desert. There's sluck all over the place. I mean, we mentioned one, but there's multiple slot canyons along that road and just different scenic drives that you can go on. So whatever you're into outdoorsy or even just a scenic drive, there's many things that you can do in this area. Yeah, and I think that that kind of goes back to like, you know, you you will have to plan your own adventure because, you know, you and I were chatting about this episode as as one does before one gets in front of a microphone. And we're like, well, should we give them like our version of our itinerary? Should we do this? Should we do that? And it's a really like, no, because what works for us might not necessarily work for you. But I think it's worth sitting down, you know, whether you Google or whether you, even if you go to Uvlin's web page, you can go to oven. OFlnd.com. And they have things to do like a list of things, you know, and it's just like trails or drives or you want waterfalls. We got waterfalls. You want this. You weigh at this, you know, all kinds of stuff to do, even just plan to that out or Bryce, Bryce Canyon Country. There's, I mean, they have tons and tons of like things to do and plan out the adventure for you and your group and you and your family because it really, I think to get the most out of it, you really do have to put at least a little bit of thought, a little bit of planning into it because otherwise, it will take you forever if you're coming from Bryce Canyon to go to Capitol reef because like us, we stopped it. Like we're going to every overlook. We're going to all we're considering every trail. And so like, you know, after a while that little five minutes here, 15 minutes there that adds up. It does. I mean, I would, I would say we didn't do a good job of planning the trip, but that's kind of, that's kind of our thing. We plan a couple of things and then the rest is like, let's just see what happens. But because of that, we do sometimes miss things that we want to do, which encourages us to go back and visit again. But I was very pleasantly surprised. And I know I keep saying that, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how many things there were to do in this area. I honestly thought we're going to this place. It sits between two national parks. That's kind of the whole deal, right? No, the national parks are just kind of parks. There's so many other things to do. Like you could avoid those and still have a very full adventurous vacation. Including one of your favorite things that we just kind of stumbled upon that once you're out there, it becomes that place. Like you start seeing it pop up on Instagram, a TikTok and everything else. But it's a wonderful place to just stop and get a chai latte or, you know, be very presumptuous in your North face vest. Patagonia. Patagonia, everything. But that's the Kiva coffee house. Yeah. Yeah. And it instantly becomes one of your favorite like stops. Yes. I had never heard of it, but you had seen pictures of it on social media before. But we were driving on the highway and all of a sudden there's these big letters that kind of blend into the rocks behind it. Because I would say the beauty of Kiva is that they are not trying to stand out. They are trying to blend in and give you an incredible view with your cup of coffee. Yeah. So we actually missed it the first time we drove by. We saw the letters and we were like, oh, that was the drive, but there was really nowhere to turn around. Or safe. So we made a point to go back the next day and have coffee and breakfast there. And if you've never seen this or heard of it, it is a coffee house that's kind of built into the side of this cliff, I guess, and the overlook is the canyon below you. And they have a wall of windows. And then they also have an outside patio, which we chose to sit out. We got the prime seat picture. Everyone was leaning over our table trying to take pictures and they're like, okay, and we're like five bucks, five bucks a picture as you lean over my avocado toast. But I mean, we like to so much that we went back the last day and from Escalante, from Evelyn Escalante, where we were staying, it's about 35 minutes. I've never driven 35 minutes for coffee. I would leave right now from Vegas and drive five hours and go get some coffee and keep it a coffee house. Yeah. And they even have a cottage, I believe, that you could rent that's like below the coffee house. You absolutely can. This one or two bedroom cottage. And it's reasonably priced. So if anyone wants to look that up, check it out. When we come back, I'm going to chat with Noah Ellis, the CEO of of La Escalante, get real personal or not. Well, we'll keep it to travel. Okay, keep it right here on Scale Travel Show. We'll be right back. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the unskilled Travel Show. Jeremy Long here. And you know, we've been chatting all episode about me and Amy's adventures in Southern Utah. And the amazing time that we had at Evelyn Escalante, and we enjoyed it so much that I felt compelled. I felt something in the ether. I needed to reach out to the CEO of Evelyn hotels at Escalante. Noah Ellis, Noah started in hospitality at just 13 years old, washing dishes, like we all do in Buffalo, New York, then spent the next two decades working through restaurants and hospitality operations in Las Vegas and LA before moving into boutique hotels. And since then, he's overseen the growth and rebrand of Evelyn Escalante in Southern Utah. Hospitality is a beautiful industry. Noah, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Thanks for having me. And you know, for people hearing about Evelyn Escalante for the first time, what exactly is this property? What exactly is this place? So we like to think about ourselves just as a boutique hotel that happens to be kind of outdoor oriented. I mean, I think there's a lot of talk about, you know, clamping and landscape hotels and all this stuff. There's nothing wrong with it. It's not our place to correct the verbiage or dictate the verbiage that our guests use. But we really sort of see a lot of parallels to boutique hotels from 25, 30 years ago where it's very much a sense of place and it's kind of in-in-chewy to mild. You're not offering everything to everyone, especially not at a mediocre level. This we're going to focus on a handful of things that we think are really critical to the experience. And we're really going to do those as deeply and as softly and intentionally as we possibly can to execute, you know, a great, a great guest experience. This hotel has iterated since we opened in March of 2021 and sort of started as a more upscale RV park that had this clamping component. And you know, over time, we, our thesis has changed as the sort of hotel glamping component really punched above its weight and the RV component didn't. We realized people really love this kind of hotel experience where they don't have to bring an RV. They don't have to camp. They get air conditioning in showers and, you know, all of the amenities you'd expect and safety you'd expect from a hotel. But they get access to and they're in the outdoors and, you know, Southern Utah, all Utah is just absolutely gorgeous. But Southern Utah is really, I think really, really something special. I mean, just the drive from, you know, Las Vegas and you see, depending on which route you take, you see sort of like four totally different planets almost. And there's something really special about that journey and then arriving there. You know, it's such a great base camp for Bryce Canyon National Park, you know, the Capitol Reef National Park, all the state parks and then we're in the monument, which is, you know, over a million acres and full of hiking trails and great, you know, great things to do. So when you have friends visit the area for the first time, where do you usually tell them to go first? What's the, what's the things at the top of the list like, hey, you can't miss this, this and this? I have friends. I make it the biggest assumption there, wow. Okay, hypothetically, I really think the, some of the greatest hits, you know, I love, especially in summer, I love lower calf creek falls. I think the heights a little kind of arduous in that it's kind of a sandy grind, but it's sort of the perfect kind of, perfect kind of picnic. You know, you, you hit the three miles, you get into water that's way to cold, you feel refreshed, you eat a little something, you hike back. I think honestly, doing the drive there is really terrific. You know, there's like this moment on that drive where all of the sudden the landscape totally changes yet again, and it's kind of like being on the moon. And that's really, really neat. Keep a coffee if you're not feeling the hike is just absolute. I mean, that's got to be like one of the most beautiful coffee shops. Absolutely. Right, like I, I talked to my friends at hospitality who've been there, and you know, our thing is just like, you know, if you were trying to do like a three-amish one-star coffee shop or whatever, like there were you know better location to pick it to drop it then then literally what they've got there and they do an amazing job. You know I think in town you got to eat pizza at outfitters I think that's really important there's great high-scacota chrome. You know really I mean it to me it really depends on are you thinking more about driving or you thinking more about hiking what do you want to see or like kind of what's your adventure threshold and then how many days do you have is really the question because then the really cool thing about that our location is I mean I want to say if you spent a week with us you could do something very different one or two hikes a day for an entire week and really I don't think feel you know you'd be tired but I don't think you'd be bored at any at any point. What do you think travelers are looking for now that maybe traditional hotels and and camping experiences alone weren't really giving them where you guys kind of filled in the gaps. Yeah you know I don't want to disparage anything that anyone is doing I think you know there are a million ways to skin the cat right I think you know for us the real testament is or you know I guess barometer right to some degree it's been a testament so far and we're still working on it is do people want to come back and stay with us again because you know one the United States is just stunning I mean there's so much beautiful nature in the US you know starting with the national parks and ending with just random beautiful places that are scattered throughout the you know the entire country yeah I think not just the continental US and and so there's no if you are in out if you are sort of an adventure traveler a bucket list traveler whatever you want to call it you know there's really very little incentive to go back to the same place again when you know you can just go see something new and I think you know then you layer on this like hotel or hospitality component and if you go to a really cool place and the hot and the hotel is fine or really interesting but you know there's a big difference between like interesting and comfortable or interest there's you know things that are make you think and things that make you happy right and you know we tend to we try to be at the latter side of that you know you might say like this was a really great experience I'm so glad I did it I don't know if I'm gonna go back or I'm gonna move on to the next thing and for us the goal is you know can hospitality experience be good enough where you want to actually come back you know it's okay sure I could go to Zion next time I could go to the Grand Canyon or I could go to Flagstaff or Sedona I mean if you're coming from say the Vegas market right or Dottie with trade have all these options but there was and in almost all those options there's more to do than you can accomplish in one trip but you know it's we've got all these options in southern Utah and also the hotel was really great and you know in a lot of these properties there aren't a lot of these locations there's not necessarily great hospitality options right I mean there's I you know I mean the world it's hard to do business there so there's you know maybe one or two you know some have more that are a little bit more commercial but you know I think the real key for us is like you just have to make people happy like every guest should leave happier than when they arrived and you know it's kind of one of those simple but not easy things but we're just we're just focused on that you know we we have an awesome team out there and you know my sort of continuous directive or somebody saying nagging you know message it is just make people happy just like do the right thing to make people happy when do you think that area of southern Utah is at its best is there a time of the year is there a certain like day or itinerary where you're looking from morning to night this is like the perfect way to experience southern Utah and this kind of area that we're in sconstant yeah I think um I mean I'm gonna it depends on where you're coming from you know that actually does make a big difference right if you're coming from Salt Lake in the north or a cooler climate then you know summers like the middle of summers definitely less ideal right because you're sort of you're running into the deep you're coming from Las Vegas or Phoenix you know the heat's not as bad I think May is really really beautiful I think the weather's kind of perfect right because you're at altitude so like like the sun hits you pretty hard so I love May I really love September though like I think late September is just absolutely stunning where you start moving to fall you still the days are still nice and warm the nights are cool um kind of every hike in the world is available to you it follows you know what's kind of monsoon season which is in August um so everything kind of you know you're transitioning into fall but also everything is lush and green and you know there's all this like life to that part of the world um so that to me like late late September I think mid to late September is about as good as it gets there for me coming from Las Vegas unskilled travel show is brought to you by Diamondback Land Serving for all your land-serving needs contact Diamondback Land Serving at 702-823-DBLS [Music] Hi everyone welcome back to the unskilled travel show check us out online at oatskilledtravelshow.com thanks to our sponsor Diamondback Land Serving here with Amy hello there you go uh you know thank you so much again to know LSEO of of Linesca Lante and thank you so much to Evelyn for hosting us having us out reaching out to us and hey uh you guys you kind of see my goobers but we would love to have you you and your silly little show and uh you know we took up up with that offer and you know we're so glad that we did and and you know while I'm saying it thanks again to Bryce Canyon Country, Roam Outdoor Adventure Company for uh everyone kind of came together to help us experience this amazing stretch of Southern Utah first hand. And what are you calling this area? Utah's Wildcord or Wildcord? I want that on a button. Yes okay okay I'll make you a button. Well you know here's the thing I mean you have I mean obviously the scenic byway is one part of it you have all these incredible national parks and just a little bit further away you've never seen and things like this so it's this incredible base to go see all of this other stuff you know but after you know my chat with Noah and obviously we chatted for longer than the 10 minutes that we just had so uh go on on scale travel show you get the full interview we cover a lot in a very short amount of time Noah really knows the stuff but one thing is really perfectly clear nobody is trying to turn this part of Utah into like Las Vegas with hiking boots they have no intention of like you know making it a five star mario property out there and like let's get rid of all this pesky nature and put it in something else now I mean Evelyn lets the main attraction be the main attraction right yeah and that's I think my favorite part about my stay there is that while it was very comfortable and they have a lot of really cool amenities like a drive-in movie theater and stuff like that they were never like oh we want you here all day right yeah they were like no no no dear I mean this is the adventure is out there we just want to make sure that when you come back after a long day of hiking and UTV and and and can you nearing and all sort of stuff that you have an incredible place to rest your head right yeah so that you can get up the next morning and get the heck out of here grab some food at the drive at the Yafoo truck that they have which is incredible I think you can get the heck out of here and go create memories I mean it was a really great base and a lot of people we saw did you know when they were done with their day came back and they had the community fire pits where people were hanging out and then every every cabin and and the air streams all had their own fire pits and you and I took advantage of ours yeah and they even have small kits that you can get and do smores at your at your own fire pit so it was just it was it almost like brings out the kid and you again like your camping but your camping like a grown up yeah I mean they had like I mean even if you don't want to say go to the storm bring food there do whatever what you totally can they have these do it yourself bill kits that they bring all the stuff to you your girl stay she you know get some chicken you or you know whatever you want to have vegetarian stuff too for those for those people but like all of that fun in that area and then I mean when you and I were sitting out there and we were grilling our food and just waiting for everything to to be ready did you notice how many stars were out I noticed some we happen to be there when there was a full moon so it was super bright but I can imagine when it's not a full moon you really get to see the sky right we I woke up at one point it was like three in the morning I thought somebody left a sign on something I was like I didn't notice a sign when we drove in and you were like, what are you walking around the room for? And I looked out the window and it was the move. - Right. (laughing) It was so bright. - And so I really, I had to ask Noah about, you know, this dark sky designation around this area because it seems like everyone, all the towns, the National Parks, everyone is in on this and they don't want to spoil a good thing. I think one of the big things that you don't hear too much about that we kind of rediscovered while we were there were the dark skies. How at night it just turns into like a totally different world because you can see the entire universe and the moon is so bright. It's amazing how clear the skies are in that part of the country. - It is and when there's no moon, it's absolutely insane. I mean, you know, with the naked eye, like what you're seeing, you know, it's like when I was a kid going to the planetarium and it's like, with the naked eye, you're seeing everything. Like it is so, so, so stunning, you know, there and in it. I mean, there's a handful of spots in the US that are like that, but that is certainly one. I mean, at that elevation with the clear sky and with like no light pollution, it's insane. What you can see with your naked eye. - So that's another part of it, you know, is, I didn't even consider that when I was getting sunburned, staring at the moon, as I went, it's no moon out here. This place must like wild. - Yeah, so dark, so dark because there wasn't any, any like street lights or things like that and the few lights that they did have out there were all turned down towards the ground to not cause, as he was saying, light pollution. So you do get that true like, see the stars, experience that you don't get when you live in the city. And even though it's only a few hours from us, we don't get that here because Vegas, you know. - The stars are manufactured here. (laughing) They're manufactured here, you know, they don't want you looking at this, the sky they want you betting at the tables and whatever, everything has its place. But like, you know, even walking around, and you know, you and I would cheat for whatever. And we just noticed all the families out there, it wasn't just one type of outdoor person or whatever, it wasn't just the Subaru drivers. It was all kinds of people and they were just, you didn't see a whole lot of phones and things. You saw people sitting around campfires. You saw people, they even have a pool. Like, even if they were at the pool or at the hot tub, people were just enjoying like reconnecting with, not only nature, I think, and I'm getting a little, little, you know, waxing poetically here, but like, I think they were like reconnecting with other people. - Yeah, I mean, we saw, we saw older couples, we saw people with little, little children, we saw older children, like families with older children. And there were just some, like, groups of adults out there, a few cabins down from us. It was a couple of guys and they had brought their own UTVs. So they were obviously having. - Oh, I forgot about those good years. - Yeah, yeah. There was another couple, they were, I would call them hardcore hikers 'cause we saw them in the evening and they were talking about all the hikes that they had done that day. But it's kind of a little bit of everybody and an extremely dog friendly place. Like they welcomed the dogs anywhere. They said we could bring our dog into the little store. Like, they had dogs, so we were able, 'cause he's our little travel buddy. (laughing) So, you know, it was nice to go somewhere where they welcomed your pet and you don't feel like you have to keep them. - Not only welcome, they just encouraged it. - Yeah. - They were like, what do you mean? I was like kind of going back and forth. I don't know if we're gonna bring home or whatever, 'cause natural parks aren't the most friendly dog places, with good reason and all that. But they were almost like, if you don't bring your dog, you can't come. So, we had so much fun and chief had a great time. And even in their little communal areas, right? By the food truck, they had fire pits that people were sitting around at night. And these aren't groups of people that were all together. These were just strangers just talking and just hanging out around the fire. And I never thought, honestly, growing up, I never thought I'd be one of those people. In fact, I actively shied away from-- - Can you still kind of actively shied? - I kind of still do. But there's something about like a dark sky and a fire pit and all of a sudden you're just telling strangers, you know, like, "Oh, I never knew my father." You know, stuff like that and like, everyone's crying and weeping or, or the opposite of that and everyone's got like-- - And everyone has a drink in their hands. - And everybody's got to either drink or smore or something like that. And we're all having a good time. And you know, that's-- at the end of the day, that's how I kind of explained my trip to people, you know. - It was so much fun. And you and I, even when we were down just on our cabin, the very last night, you know, I was looking out the window 'cause the front of our cabin was all windows and we were like, what is that? And it was a family of deer had walked down from the hill across the street and walked over right in front of our cabin and we're just hanging out there. And we walked out on the porch and we were filming them and taking pictures. And it's just, it's such a really, the whole area, it's just such a really neat place because you have all these different types of ecosystems as you were saying and then all the different wildlife. And you can kind of get multiple adventures in one. - Yeah. - And I think that's probably the best part of Utah's wild corridor. - So many small moments that I really add out to an incredible adventure that we had in Southern Utah. So thank you once again, of Linus Galante, Bryce Canyon Country and Rome Outdoor Company. (laughs) We had such a great time. We'll see you guys.