Brighton, Utah

 Brighton is free to park but Ikon holders must have reservations.  You can park and tailgate in the lot and it’s fine, if you get there fairly early you’ll definitely get a spot but the parking lot can fill up quickly on weekends and powder days.  You can go to the main base area or go to the Milly Express which is Northwest a few hundred feet.

Overnight Parking – I park in the Walmart parking lot in Sandy, near the bus lines and Midvale stations.  You’ll see other bums in their vehicles at this Walmart and there are several coffee places around.  It’s also handy because it’s a Walmart and you can buy lots of stuff there if you need it.  I will say, there are tons of signs about not allowing overnight parking at the resorts and in the canyons.  You can try, but it seems like it may result in a cop tapping on your window.  You may be able to park in the Brighton lot, but the other lots are basically off limits.

Bathing – There are tons of community rec centers, some have changed their operations due to covid but many charge just $1 or $2 for a shower and between $4-$5.50 for a day use pass.  Cottonwood Rec Center near the entrance to the canyons was $1 for a shower and $5.50 for a day use.  Copperview was $4 for using it and $2 for a shower but they had closed the locker rooms due to Covid.

Happy Hours – Let me tell you something about Utah:  it’s a medieval, barbaric desert hell when it comes to crushing crispy boys. There are no happy hours allowed in Utah.  However, restaurants can basically devote whole days to reduced prices.  Our go-to was Chilis, you can get cheap beer on Sundays and they have cheap appetizers as well. Don’t forget to sign up for their rewards program because you get a free basket of chips if you do. Buffalo Wild Wings does a BOGO free wing thing on Tuesdays and Thursdays with $3 beers.    There is a small chain of bars called “Bout Time” and one is at the base of the canyons.  These places are cool, they have $3 pints of their house beer (Golden ale or IPA) or $4 steins.  The steins are big and the beer is really pretty good.  The food wasn’t bad either, however I don’t recall the food being discounted at a certain time.

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