Who needs an engine or an airstrip when you have mountains, a lifting force, and empty fields? That’s what paragliding and hang gliding are all about. And you can fit the paragliding gear in (or outside, as in the picture below) the recreational vehicle of your choice! What a deal! Jared and I were on the last leg of our summer “workcation.” We needed an overnight somewhere between Salt Lake City and Torrey, UT. Richfield looked like a good place, but we never thought it would be as awesome as it turned out to be. After parking the motorhome at a local campground, we took the Jeep to explore the area. We found Red Hill Hot Springs on the side of a mountain for some good sunset views and relaxation. To our surprise, a few paragliding pilots in their camper vans had the same thought. We all ended up talking camping and flying while enjoying the warmth of the natural hot springs. We had a very enjoyable evening. Turned out, the mountains around Monroe and Richfield have a lot of flying potential. The pilots were there for the Red Rocks Fall Fly-in, an annual paragliding meet-up at the Monroe Rodeo Ground Landing Zone (LZ). They offered us a ride in the morning and, of course, I could not pass it up. So, the next morning, several of us drove up to Cove Launch, about 12 miles southeast of Richfield, at the top of the Thompson Basin road. The launch spot is a favorite for both seasoned pilots and students. It offers a vertical drop of over 3,000 feet to the LZ. A ridge finger extends miles out above Sevier Valley, creating soarable takeoff conditions in three different directions. I was told some pilots manage to fly for hours and up to 10,000 feet from Cove. It was great fun! The wind conditions were not ideal to gain or sustain altitude, but we still enjoyed a few minutes of free flight. The LZ is shown by a pink box in the picture below. One of these days, when we stay still in an area, we need to invest in a paraglider (ideally a tandem and maybe a powered one to offer us more options) and take some lessons. This stop served as confirmation that it would be great to have a flying vehicle in the motorhome so that we don’t always have to rely on rental aircraft while we travel.
A couple of our other blogs also mention paragliding in different parts of the world: Point of the Mountain between SLC and Provo and Miraflores in Lima, Perú. (Note that Richfield is also known for having access to the Paiute ATV/Jeep Trail, a loop with no beginning and no end, passing through several towns and with side trails leading to others) Fly safe and fly often… no matter how you get up there!
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