At Amangiri, I got my mojo back. After months traveling to jaw-dropping, beachfront, Robison Crusoe-evoking honeymoon spots, I can’t bear to set up another lounge chair in the sand or sip an umbrella-bedecked drink. Don’t get me wrong: Amangiri, a stunning resort in Utah’s otherworldly, desert terrain has a lot of sand, but it also has saffron and ginger-colored hoodoos, boulders, promontories, mesas, caves and canyons.

Just 20 minutes from Lake Powell and four hours from Las Vegas, it feels remote and removed. Jackrabbits, unseen slithering reptiles and hawks turn stillness into nearly imperceptible movement. It’s so quiet you can feel the silence warm your gut. This ponderous and prodigious tranquility is a gift, the opposite of urban frenzy or beach party fun. Here, you have the chance to roam 600 acres of ancient terrain, visit the Navajo Nation nearby and squeeze through lace-like, sculptural slot canyons, or join bona fide paleontologists on a dig, where you’re likely to find arrowheads, pottery shards and even dinosaur bones.

A short drive from Bryce Canyon, Zion and Grand Canyon national parks, Amangiri was designed to honor its setting. Fusing with the terrain from a distance, it has a fantastical oasis ambience. Like most properties by London-based Aman, its metaphorical heart is a great room. Equipped with books, warmed by fireplaces, dotted with intimate sitting areas, edged by a swimming pool and presenting an open kitchen, it’s the place guests gather when not lounging in their sleek, commodious rooms. Offering the most via ferratas in the nation, the resort invites guests to undertake adrenaline-producing climbs up the various rock formations — ascents that incorporate ladder rungs, ropes, fixed cables and a guide. “It’s completely safe,” assures our guide. “You’ll be terrified, but glad you did it.”

If heights aren’t your thing, you can conquer the landscape on horseback, trek, join a dig or simply pass the day in the top-notch spa. In keeping with sense of place, Amangiri’s menu offers innovative, healthy twists on Southwestern flavors and cuisine, with recipes hailing from local traditions using regional, in-season ingredients. Carnivores shouldn’t miss the wood-grilled bison steak — perfect sustenance for conquering the via ferratas.

To get there, fly into the tiny Page Municipal Airport, then transfer 25 minutes to the resort. Rates start at $1,400.

Amangiri

1 Kayenta Road
Canyon Point, UT 84741
tel 435 675 3999