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Desert Oasis: Utah spas serves up scenery, hiking and relaxing treatments
It’s the red that really gets you, as in the red rock mountains and canyons and formations of the Mojave Desert landscape.
The setting of the Red Mountain Spa in St. George, Utah, about a two-hour drive through the desert from Las Vegas, is simply spectacular.
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New arrivals at the spa may find themselves standing with their jaws open as they take in the red mountains reaching into blue sky.
Some of the surrounding terrain may look familiar. Many a Western movie was filmed in these parts - the spa is adjacent to Snow Canyon State Park, where they shot the final scenes of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
Given the scenery, it is not surprising that Red Mountain, as a destination spa, is known foremost for its comprehensive hiking program, which includes daily hikes at three experience levels - from beginner to advanced - to explore the red limestone rocks and spires, lava flows, caves and desert flora of Snow Canyon.
There are also excursions to hike or mountain bike to see the amazing towering cliffs of Zion National Park and the stunning sandstone pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park - both parks are located within an hour’s drive of the spa.
In fact, Red Mountain began in 1983 as a few rustic huts designed for hikers who wanted to tackle the desert landscape. It expanded in 1999 into a destination spa and more recently in 2006 into a fancier destination spa combining outdoor adventure and luxury pampering - with the addition of a gorgeous facility, Sagestone, located in a striking three-story geodesic dome.
The property adopted the slogan, “Find yourself between a Rock and a Soft Place,” which is just about right. You can hike and bike and do other outdoor adventure activities such as horseback riding in Snow Canyon, kayaking and rock climbing. Or you can choose to spend your time relaxing your mind, body and spirit at the 55-acre resort.
The Native American Card Reading ($150) caught my eye on the extensive menu of daily activities. And so I found myself in a small room outfitted with feathers and other American Indian tokens.
The blonde and brassy reader started our session by lighting pungent Cedarwood and performing a short ceremony where she brushed me with an eagle feather to rid me of bad spirits. She drummed and chanted - she said she learned all this from American Indians.
Once the cards came out she urged me to hush so she could “intuit.” Her reading included my love life, and even if she seemed to offer more talk about my inner spirit than practical advise, the session was at least entertaining.
But I preferred my second American Indian-inspired choice: The Four Directions Body Treatment, delivered again by a tall blonde woman, this time at the Sagestone spa.
The treatment (75 minutes for $160) embraces the four directions of the Medicine Wheel, and began with a “smudging,” again with a feather, to get rid of my negative energy. Then I was rubbed with cornmeal and tobacco for exfoliating, rinsed in a shower, had a full body massage using Cedarwood oil and a sweetgrass herbal wrap “to bring peace and good spirits to the healing.”
I reflected on little of this as I relaxed post treatment, pleasingly empty minded on a chaise lounge, staring at the breathtaking red scenery through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the spa’s relaxation room.
The Sagestone spa’s menu of more than 50 beauty and relaxation treatments also has offerings inspired by Asia and India. Separate men’s and women’s locker facilities are outfitted with steam rooms.
Fitness seekers at Red Mountain Spa will find a menu of more than 50 complimentary classes weekly, including such fun offerings as Blast from the Past, a retro aerobics class modeled on the Jane Fonda era. There are aqua classes including Off the Deep End, an invigorating deep-water workout. And there are strength classes, a variety of yoga classes and Power Pilates.
In Kundalini Yoga, I tried “to find the primordial energy at the base of the spine.” And I learned to breathe and chant “Raa Maa Daa Saa,” which means “Sun, Moon, Earth, Infinity.” It was relaxing if not involving much effort.
The spa also offers a selection of healthy living sessions - for $70, for instance, you can visit with a Motivation Coach to get you started on a fitness path.
In addition to the adventure-oriented outdoor program there are cerebral offerings such as geology and archeology walks, stargazing and Tai Chi on the Rocks, staged at sunset at Snow Canyon and accompanied by American Indian music.
“Successful Meditation” is among the enrichment lectures offered after dinner. For me, Texas Hold’em poker one night (for gifts, not money) was more exciting.
Desert-style Luxury (optional sidebar)
Red Mountain Spa accommodates up to 210 guests in 82 guestrooms and 24 new luxury villas, all done up in earthtones and contemporary furnishings with big bathrooms.
The resort boasts indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center where the classes and health consultations are held, a training center with Cybex strength equipment, cardio machines and free weights, and the Canyon Breeze Restaurant and Canyon Cafe for meals and culinary classes.
All this is located in a series of small terra cotta-colored buildings connected by paths and lava bed gardens with indigenous plants. You may see a rabbit cross your path. Newbies will need a map to get around.
Food at Red Mountain Spa is simply fantastic. Chef Chad Luethje, who was raised by vegetarian parents and has cooked twice at the James Beard House in New York, has developed Adventure Cuisine menus that include herbs from the resort’s organic gardens and wild game. It is healthy food with a Southwest slant, though you would never know it. The dishes range from hearty offerings like beef tenderloin with sweet potato pancake to Green Cuisine like roasted Japanese eggplant filled with squash and garbanzo beans. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style and include hot and cold selections. Dinner is sit-down with a full menu and accompanying salad bar.
Single travelers can sit at a communal table in the dining room. Couples, of which there are many at this spa, will have no problem finding a table for two.
No roughing it at this spa.
IF YOU GO
The daily rate at Red Mountain Spa is $259 to $709 per person, per night and includes all meals, bike rental, in-room Internet, morning hikes, a full menu of fitness classes and healthy living lectures. Treatments at the spa are all a la carte, as are adventure activities, though some are included in package specials. For reservations, call 877-246-HIKE and mention Spavelous
Tags: Adventure Spa, Destination Spa, Spa Experience, Spa Getaways, Spa Treatments, Spas, Utah Spa by Spavelous
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