In my opinion, random adventuring to less-frequented spots can often exceed vacations to the obvious. That opinion is how a trip to Huntsville materialized in the fall of 2023. Where or what is Huntsville? Huntsville is a tiny town near Ogden, Utah and Snowbasin Resort with a population of around 600. How did I hear of this little place? I happened upon an article about the Shooting Star Saloon, the oldest continually operating bar west of the Mississippi, which is located in Huntsville. That ignited my curiosity about this local legend I’d never heard of, and the rest is two-year-old history. Here are the details on this random trip and its not-so haphazard outcomes.
As just mentioned, after I came across a newspaper article on the Shooting Star Saloon, I decided to build a trip centered in the Huntsville area as a gift to Jason. Following a little research, I had an active but mellow weekend getaway devised.
We stayed at the Valley House Inn, a B&B that was built in 1872 and has served as a hotel, B&B, and restaurant for a large share of its 150+ years. It was romantic, quirky, and unique, a fitting lodging for an unusual town.
As Huntsville is close to Ogden, we chose to start our weekend by sampling some of that city’s varied cuisine. Tona Sushi Bar and Grill, voted one of Utah’s best sushi restaurants, was a welcome treat our first night. It is not overrated. Their Caterpillar Roll, a standard at sushi establishments, was the best I’ve eaten.
After checking out the Farmers Market Ogden the next morning, we headed up to Causey Reservoir and the Skull Crack. The Skull Crack Trail, which winds through Skull Crack Canyon above the shores of the reservoir, heads uphill and then descends to the Right Fork South Fork of the Ogden River on a route that is 4.7 miles RT.
The first part of this hike isn’t very scenic and noise from the reservoir, which is popular with paddleboarders, distracts. However, the farther you go, the more scrub oak gives way to aspens and conifers. Its end, at the Right Fork South Fork of the Ogden River, is the best part, despite it being a mouthful.
As soon as we reached the river, we noticed an abundant number of bright scarlet fish with silvery sage heads in the water. What were these fish, and why were they here? The piscine scene was wholly unexpected. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Causey Reservoir’s kokanee salmon, freshwater relatives of sockeye that were introduced in 1992, were in the height of their salmon run. This run happens every fall, peaking in mid-September. Although we stumbled upon this occurrence not because of careful planning but just dumb luck, we relished it all the same.
That evening, we ate hamburgers at the Shooting Star Saloon. As I already mentioned, it is the oldest continuously operating bar west of the Mississippi and maybe Utah’s oldest business. It survived 14 years of Prohibition by closing rapidly whenever officials were nearby. Plus, its owners tolerated occasional jail time. The Shooting Star’s ceiling is covered with about $14,000 of cash, mostly dollar bills. Buck, who held the record for being the largest St. Bernard in the Guinness Book of World Records for seven years at 298 pounds, guards that cash. He died in 1957, and his head has been watching over the saloon ever since from its mount on the wall.
We spent the next afternoon at Snowbasin Resort. The resort’s SnowWiesn Oktoberfest, a Bavarian-themed fall festival, was going on, so we sampled pretzels and streusel and bought a few crafty items before heading up to the top of the mountain on the Needles Gondola.
Since the Ridge Trail (1.0 mile) and Cirque Loop (0.4 miles) are so close to the gondola, we started our explorations with them, but that’s not where we ended them. The Ridge Trail goes, not surprisingly, to the ridge of Mount Ogden but not quite to its 9,579-foot apex. This path’s views are satisfying even without the summit, but our desire to hike wasn’t entirely satisfied.
The Needles Gondola stops operating at 4:00, but the sun doesn’t. Hence, we decided to stay on the mountain past 4:00 and trek the 4.1 miles to the bottom. It was cool to see some of our favorite runs sans snow. We did 5.9 miles total and reached the base about 7:30, half an hour before dark. We had considered doing an extra 4+ miles on the John Paul Trail but had wisely decided we wouldn’t have enough time.
A dozen paragraphs were needed to describe all the happenings in a place where some would say nothing happens, so don’t dis the random. Random explorations can lead to catching accidental salmon runs, naked ski runs, and shooting stars. Even in a small town, random can be rad.