Ogden Valley roads (Alta: rentals, condos, house)

[KLBFL50]

My husband and I are planning to drive to Ogden area in late March-early April and thinking about renting in Ogden Valley (found good price on condo). We are from Florida and not used to snow but we love the West and have traveled in snow one April to Colorado and Montana/Colorado/Wyoming a few times in Sept/Oct. We just didn't go up steep mountains. Actually, we are trying to move west and love Colorado & Montana and want to take a look at Ogden area now. We were in Southern Utah mid '90's in June with kids and played in 5ft snow drifts at Cedar Breaks. If you think of anything else we should know please post. We are early 50's and hubby is retired. Just to be safe-

Q: Are the roads paved to the resorts such as Moose Hollow?

Q: Will a car or small truck without 4WD be able to navigate safely back and forth to Ogden in March/April?

Any info would be helpful.
Thank you

[altajoe]

Just a quick response from someone who has been out there each of the last 5 ski season.

The roads will be in remarkable shape. They do a fantastic job of clearing the roads. That being said, if you are out and about during the storm you would be much happier to have an AWD vehicle.

I also strongly recommend having a set of tires that have good gripping ability. (Check out reviews from a site such as tirerack.com) The road from the valley into Ogden can be difficult to say the least. The sun doesn't get to it, so the road can be dicey even on a nice day.

[KLBFL50]

Understandably that info was not provided by the condo owner. We would be traveling into Ogden almost every day and safety is big priority. I will check out the tire info. Never had problems with rentals out west but our own tires are for all weather.

Thanks again.

[GlasirGirl]

Altajoe said it perfectly. My family owns a place at one of the higher elevations in Eden and we never see the asphalt on our street from December - February. I've never actually been in town at the time of year you're planning, but from based on being in town every ski season I'd echo that if it does get stormy (which, granted, it might not..) you really do need AWD (and good tire traction), especially with your not being very accustomed to snow and mountains.

[skibarbie]

For my 2 cents worth-you do not need 4 wheel drive. What I have seen in 16 years of driving around this beautiful state, it is usually the SUV's that are off in the ditch! For the small amount of time that you are going to be here, it seems a waste of resources to buy/rent a vehicle that you won't need. I am also guessing that if you are going to drive here you will have a reliable car with good tires. As one of the above posters said-UDOT does a fantastic job of keeping the roads clear. For the record, I have been driving a front wheel drive wagon with snow tires every winter and have rarely felt a twinge of worry.
March is historically the snowiest month-but the temps are on the upswing and the the sun pops out pretty quick. Early in the Am and later evening time, you may encounter some ice. If we do get a big storm, stay put for a little bit and enjoy the beauty. Common sense and slowing down will help you through anything that a Utah spring can throw at you way more than a specific type of vehicle!

[flyinlow]

Just a minor correction here, I live in Ogden Valley UDOT doesn't maintain the roads in Ogden Valley, it is the responsability of Weber County, and they do a pretty good job on rt 63 up Ogden canyon and rt 167 over Trappers Loop because they are priority roads due to ski area traffic.
If we have a very active winter I would't want to travel the roads early morning without at least an AWD vehicle.

Moose Hollow a resort?? hardly, it is a complex of condo's, hope your not buying there they are poorly constructed.

[KLBFL50]

All the info is very helpful. We just plan to visit for about a week. We'll probably take hubbies small truck. I think I would rather visit in April and let the snow melt first but we do want to see snow. It will give us a chance to see if we want to live in it anyway.

Looks like a beautiful state from all the pictures. I am a born and raised Floridian and only visited the west a few times and am in love with it.

Can't wait. Thanks again.

[GlasirGirl]

Originally Posted by flyinlow

Moose Hollow a resort?? hardly, it is a complex of condo's, hope you're not buying there they are poorly constructed.

I'm intrigued - how are they poorly constructed? I've seen the exteriors driving by, but from that cursory view problems weren't noticeable.

(Personally I'd prefer for the valley not to have any condos, but that's another can of worms.)

[altajoe]

Spend one night and you will know. Any flush of a toilet will wake everyone. The 1st person up will wake everyone. The developer apparently thought that air is a sufficient soundproofer.

The first night I slept in one of those units I was awakened by the sound of a kitchen drawer being closed, not slammed, closed!

[flyinlow]

one thing I can recall off-hand is the door stops were just threaded into the drywall, no backing or reinforcement, if you were overzealous in opening a door the stop was knocked through the wall along with the doorknob.

The same contractor built my house as constructed the moosehollow condos and there isn't enough room on this page to list the problems i've had with the house.