A couple of minutes into this two-hour hike, I’m thinking I could be in trouble. As someone who likes to consider herself a hard-core hiker, I’m not used to pulling up the tail end of a group. But there I was, notebook in hand, camera slung over my shoulders, slipping and sliding in the thick desert sand in an effort to just to keep up.

It didn’t help that the lead guide on this trek — Red Mountain Spa’s most challenging day hike — had recently run a 49-kilometre marathon in just 4:19 hours. 

Located in the southwestern Utah’s Mohavi desert near the town of St. George and about a two-hour drive from the Las Vegas airport, the village-like enclave of Red Mountain Spa is set against a backdrop of dramatic, Navajo sandstone mountain peaks and canyons.

There’s a palpable quiet here, as if the craggy, red rock cliffs provided a natural buffer from everyday hustle and bustle. It’s an idyllic setting for what’s known in the spa world as a “destination spa.”  

But funnily enough, it’s not the spa itself that’s the big attraction. It’s the hiking. And the food.   

When it comes to hiking, you can choose from a menu of about 30 different guided outings at various levels from novice hiker through the advanced Trekker 3, designed for those of us who prefer a little torture out on the trails.

Trekker 3 is the option that has me scrambling to keep up; today’s session is more gruelling aerobic workout than an opportunity to gawk at the view,  but thankfully, our guide allows us to take a few moments here and there to stop, catch our breath, have a sip of water and take in the dramatic scenery.

I was even more grateful  to finally find my mountain legs, and I managed to complete the trek without feeling like the caboose.   

Back at the resort, a healthy après-hike buffet awaited our return. And while healthy buffet may read like an oxymoron, at this all-inclusive resort the food is indeed both tasty and nutritious. 

It’s a good thing that the Red Mountain approach doesn’t include starving yourself,  because the resort’s extensive array of fitness classes — everything from yoga and Pilates workshops to dance and water workouts — tend to give guests quite an appetite. 

When not hiking, taking a fitness class or eating, guests can lounge by one of three swimming pools, take a meditative walk around the labyrinth or attend an educational class such as Chinese Medicine, Meditative Rituals and Food & Emotions.

There’s a full schedule of optional activities led by instructors, and you can participate as much or as little as you want.

 It’s no surprise that Red Mountain Spa has won so many awards — it has pretty much everything one needs in a wellness retreat.

For proof of that, you just need to look at the number of return guests. Annette Anderson of Vail, Colo., for instance, has been here 10 times — “I come to re-energize myself and to get in shape with hiking,” she says.

Indeed, the hiking options never seem to end.  In addition to the Red Mountain hikes there are day trips, for an added cost, to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, which boast incredible vistas.

Getting there

• For more information on Red Mountain Spa, visit www.redmountainspa.com

• WestJet offers daily non-stop flights to Las Vegas from Toronto and eight other cities across Canada; www.westjet.com

– Anne Dimon is a spa and wellness travel writer and editor of www.traveltowellness.com.