Adventure With a Conscience

In this Field Note

• Why immersion in nature has been part of Blue Sky since the very beginning
• How adventures here are designed to create a deeper relationship with the land
• The purpose behind experiences at Gracie’s Farm, Saving Gracie and across the 4,000-acre property
• What it means to have extraordinary outdoor experiences become part of everyday life

There is a difference between having access to the outdoors and building a life around it.

At Blue Sky, that distinction goes back to the very beginning when owners Mike and Barb Phillips first purchased the land.

Long before there was a world-class resort here, and well before the idea of a residential community took shape, Blue Sky was a place where people came to ride horses, hike trails, explore the mountains and spend meaningful time outside. Adventure was never conceived as a resort amenity. It grew naturally from owners Mike and Barb Phillips’ belief that connection to the land – to green things, living things and wild things – has the power to restore us.

That philosophy still shapes the way people experience Blue Sky today.

Across 4,000 acres of mountains, meadows, streams and farmland, adventure is less about checking something off a list and more about being at one with the landscape. Sometimes that means heading out on an early morning horseback ride. Sometimes it is walking a trail you have come to know by heart, learning to cast a fly on a nearby river, or spending a morning harvesting vegetables at the farm.

And sometimes, in special places like Blue Sky, adventures are designed in a special way that allows you to give back and contribute beyond yourself. 

A Different Kind of Horsemanship

Horses have always been central to life at Blue Sky, but the relationship goes far beyond riding.

The Saving Gracie Equine Healing Foundation, founded by Blue Sky owner Barb Phillips, rescues horses and gives them the opportunity to heal in the landscape here. Through natural horsemanship, rehabilitation experiences and kids programming, guests can learn what it means to build a relationship with a horse based on trust, patience and energetic, non-verbal communication.

Rather than simply arriving for a trail ride, you begin to understand the animal itself: its history, its personality and the subtle ways horses communicate with the people around them.

For families, that can be particularly powerful. Children have the opportunity not only to spend time with horses, but also to learn about responsibility, empathy and what it means to care for another living being.

Getting Your Hands in the Soil

The same philosophy exists at Gracie’s Farm.

Led by a female farming team and grounded in regenerative agricultural practices, the farm is both a working landscape and an invitation to participate. Farm School experiences bring guests into the fields, while farm-to-table lunches and the Gracie’s Farm Harvest Dinner Series make the connection between soil and plate beautifully tangible.

For younger guests, it can be something even simpler: discovering where a carrot actually comes from.

There is something wonderfully grounding about watching children pull food from the earth, taste something growing in the field and begin to understand that dinner does not start at the grocery store.

For homeowners, the farm becomes more than somewhere to visit during a stay. It is part of the rhythm of living here: Changing with the seasons, producing the ingredients that appear on the table and offering a constant connection to the land.

Adventure With a Conscience

Even Blue Sky’s sporting pursuits reflect a broader respect for place.

The sporting clays course unfolds across the landscape with 18 stands, making the experience more interactive as you move through the property rather than remaining at a single shooting station. The equipment is equally considered, including beautifully crafted sporting guns from James Purdey & Sons, artisan pieces in their own right  But the details that are less immediately visible are just as important. Ammunition is recycled. The cartridges that we use have biodegradable fiber wads so that the land is not littered by the more commonly used plastic wad cartridges. Biodegradable clay targets are used so that fragments left behind after a successful shot do not remain in the landscape.

In winter, a heated five-stand offers another way to experience the sport when snow covers the course.

It is a small example of a larger idea at Blue Sky: enjoying the land and taking responsibility for it are not opposing concepts

Blue Sky’s sporting clays instructors are trained in the Percy Stanbury Method, a traditional English approach to shotgun shooting that sets the program apart from a typical sporting club. Great importance is placed on training instructors in the English style and honoring the heritage of the sport. Blue Sky is as much a shooting school as it is a place to enjoy an exceptional sporting clays experience, with a focus on proper technique, thoughtful instruction and a deeper understanding of the traditions behind the sport.

Twenty Miles, and No Particular Place to Be

Of course, some of the best adventures require almost nothing at all.

More than 20 miles of trails weave throughout Blue Sky, opening the property to hiking, mountain biking and the simple pleasure of setting out on foot.

There does not always need to be a destination. The luxury is having enough space to wander, to go at your own pace, to hear your own thoughts. Beyond Blue Sky, the Wasatch Mountains extend the possibilities further. The Weber and Provo Rivers offer renowned fly fishing nearby, with the Provo designated as a Blue Ribbon fishery. Park City’s mountains provide another vast playground through the seasons, from skiing in winter to hiking and biking once the snow disappears.

Blue Sky provides something increasingly difficult to find: access to a wild landscape without having to leave home behind to experience it.

When Adventure Becomes Everyday Life

Perhaps that is the greatest distinction for homeowners at Blue Sky. World-class outdoor experiences are not reserved for a vacation itinerary. They become part of everyday life. 

An afternoon might be spent on horseback. Visiting families can learn to fly fish. Children can disappear to the Little Vaquero’s Kids Club for the morning. A hike can happen because the weather is beautiful and there are two free hours before dinner, not because it was booked months in advance.

Blue Sky’s adventure team can tailor experiences to different ages, abilities and interests, a multigenerational family does not necessarily have to experience the landscape in the same way to experience it together.

Some may want to ride. Others may want to hike, fish, shoot or simply walk to the pool at the Crescent Lodge. 

This is what happens when this kind of access becomes part of your life. You spend more time outside. You learn the names of the horses. You know what is growing at the farm. You begin to recognize the trails and the seasons and the changing character of the mountains around you.

At Blue Sky, adventures in nature were never a “program” or an “add-on”; it was the impetus behind creating the very blueprint of Blue Sky in the first place.