Park City Wine and Whiskey Trail: A Girls' Trip Guide to High West and Beyond

If you told me ten years ago that Park City would have one of the best whiskey scenes in the West, I would have laughed. Now there are two distilleries within walking distance of Main Street, a third 25 minutes up the canyon at the Wanship rendezvous spot, and a tight little wine bar circuit that punches above its altitude.

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Full girls' trip guide to the Park City wine and whiskey trail, with the order of operations that actually works.

The Stops

High West Distillery and Saloon (Park City)

The flagship. The Old Town location at 703 Park Avenue is in a converted livery stable - original brick, leather booths, fireplaces in winter, the most photographed saloon bar in Utah. Food is restaurant-good. Whiskey-glazed short rib, charcuterie board, decent wine list for non-whiskey friends. This is your sit-down lunch or pre-dinner stop.

For the deeper experience: drive 25 minutes up I-80 to the High West Distillery at Blue Sky in Wanship, where they actually make the whiskey. Tours run Wednesday through Sunday, 10 AM to 3 PM, on the hour. Reservations required - book ahead.

• Standard Tour and Tasting - about 75 minutes, walk through the still house, finish in the tasting room with a flight of their core lineup. About $35 a person.
• High West Whiskey Library Tour - longer, exclusive tasting room with the most extensive collection of rare and vintage High West in the world. The splurge. Around $85 to $100 per person.

For a girls' trip with whiskey-curious friends, the Whiskey Library is the move. It is the trip story.

Alpine Distilling (Park City)

The hometown craft option on Main Street. Award-winning gin, bourbon, and spiced whiskey since 2016. Guided tasting flights Wednesday through Sunday, $25 to $35 a head. Smaller, more intimate than High West - you usually meet the distiller. The Persimmon-Pecan Cordial is the unique-to-here pour.

Park City Wine Tours (Mines and Wines)

The Fox School of Wine runs a 2-hour walking tour called Mines and Wines - guided history walk through the silver mining district paired with five wines tasted at three Main Street bars. About $90 a person. Educational, get-to-know-the-town option for a Saturday afternoon.

Old Town Cellars Wine Bar

Wine bar at 408 Main with their own label and a deep curated by-the-glass list. The bar staff actually knows the wine. Where you go for a quiet glass before dinner or the after-dinner second-glass conversation.

Fox School of Wine - Class

Fox runs Friday night wine classes on Main Street where you taste five wines often overlooked at the liquor store. About $65. Book ahead.

Wasatch Brew Pub

The non-wine break stop. Local craft beer, casual pub food, perfect for the friend who does not drink wine or whiskey. On Main Street.

The Cabin Bar at Stein Eriksen Lodge

The polished cocktail spot in Deer Valley. Live piano. Cognac and after-dinner spirits list deeper than most. Jen the Deer Valley ski instructor takes her after-shift crew here in winter - it is the locals' end-of-day stop.

The Two-Day Itinerary

Friday: Arrival, Walking Tour, Saloon

3 PM: Land in SLC. Drive up. Check in. Quick freshen up. Park at the Old Town transit lot if your rental does not have parking - residential streets in Old Town are tow-truck country and you do not need that on day one.

5 PM: Cocktail at Old Town Cellars. A glass of Old Town's own red while you settle in.

6 PM: Stroll over to the High West Saloon for dinner. Order the charcuterie board, share a few small plates, let everyone get one cocktail of choice. The Dead Man's Boots cocktail is the Instagram order. The Old Fashioned with their Rendezvous Rye is the drink-this-actual order.

9 PM: Walk back to the rental. Open one of the bottles you bought from Old Town Cellars to-go. Decant into real wine glasses - the rental glasses are a war crime.

Saturday: The Distillery Day

9 AM: Slow brunch at Five5eeds. Eat protein. You will need it. Sea-level visitor reminder - altitude sickness is real. Drink water. Twice as much as you think you need before you start drinking actual drinks.

10:30 AM: Drive 25 minutes up Echo Canyon to the High West Distillery in Wanship. Take the Whiskey Library Tour at 11 AM (book six weeks ahead in summer). The 105 minutes go by fast. You will leave with one bottle of something you have never tasted before.

1:30 PM: Lunch at the High West Refectory at the distillery. Their kitchen has elevated American comfort food and a strong cocktail program. Or pack a picnic and eat at the property.

3 PM: Drive back to Park City. If your dates land on a Wednesday, swing by the Park City Farmers Market for peaches and bread for the rental.

4 PM: Recovery hour. Hot tub. Hydrate. Stanley Quencher of water on rotation.

6 PM: Dinner at Riverhorse on Main, Handle, or Firewood. Pace yourselves on the wine. Tomorrow is the cocktail-class day.

9:30 PM: One whiskey nightcap at Alpine Distilling. Their tasting room stays open later than most. Two flights split among four of you. Last drink of the night.

Sunday: Wine Class and Brunch

10 AM: Long brunch at Hearth and Hill. Coffee and food. The mimosas are good but go light. (And if anyone is a coffee snob, the espresso at Vinto on Main is the only acceptable coffee in this town. My opinion. I will defend it.)

Noon: The Mines and Wines walking tour with Fox School of Wine. Two hours of walking, history, and five glasses of wine spread across three Main Street stops. By the end you have a story to tell about the silver mining era and an actual education in wines you have never tried.

3 PM: Final stop at the Wasatch Brew Pub for one beer or a soda water and a snack. Recover.

4 PM: Drive to the airport.

For the Whiskey Newcomer in Your Group

If a friend is not a whiskey drinker, the High West Refectory has a real wine list and decent beer. Alpine Distilling makes gin too. Old Town Cellars is wine-only. There is no need to drag anyone into a flight they will hate.

For the friend who wants to learn whiskey from scratch, start her with the Rendezvous Rye on the rocks - smooth, sweet, approachable. The Bourye is the intermediate move. Save the Midwinter Night's Dram for the end of the night when she is bought in.

What to Wear

Mountain-casual. Dark jeans, a nice top, a jacket for evening. An easy long sundress works for the daytime distillery and dinner alike. A small crossbody bag for hands-free walking.

Walking shoes you can stand in for two hours. The Mines and Wines tour and the High West tour both involve real walking on stone floors and gravel.

What to Bring Home

Most distilleries will ship to your home state if you cannot fly with bottles. Or take advantage of the visitor allowance and check a bag with bottle protectors:

What I actually pack for a wine-trail weekend, after about ten of these: Riedel Performance Cabernet glasses wrapped in two pairs of socks each (the rental glasses everywhere are stemless and offensive), the Vinglacé wine bottle insulator so the bottle you opened at 3 PM is still drinkable at 9, and an OXO Steel wine opener because you will absolutely encounter at least one cork that defeats the rental kitchen drawer corkscrew. If you really want to go full Holly: bring a Coravin Pivot. Yes, on a girls' trip. Decanting six wines and pouring tastes from each is the move when one friend wants Cab and one wants Pinot.

• One signature High West bottle (Campfire is the iconic one if you have not had it)
• One Alpine Distilling something - the Persimmon Pecan Cordial is unique
• One Utah-only wine from Old Town Cellars

For at-home tastings later, the right glassware matters. Glencairn whiskey nosing glasses are the proper crystal for whiskey. Riedel wine glasses for the wine.

The Hangover-Avoidance Plan

This is a wine and whiskey trip at 7,000 feet. Hangovers hit harder. Three rules:

1. One bottle of water per drink, no exceptions. A large insulated tumbler on the table at every meal.
2. Eat protein with every drinking session.
3. Electrolytes (Liquid IV or LMNT) before bed.

Skip these and Sunday morning is a wreck. The dryness up here destroys you on its own. Add four cocktails and you will not move on Sunday.

Budget Per Person, Two Days

• Lodging (split 4 ways): $200-300
• High West Whiskey Library Tour: $85-100
• Mines and Wines walking tour: $90
• Alpine Distilling tasting flight: $25-35
• 3 dinners with drinks: $300-400
• Take-home bottles: $80-150

Total: roughly $800 to $1,100 a head. The Whiskey Library Tour alone is worth the trip.

The Honest Take

Park City has built a real spirits and wine destination, and the Whiskey Library Tour at High West is one of those stops you talk about for years. Pace yourselves, hydrate, eat well, and you will come home with a bottle of something you actually love and a tradition with your friends.