Ride Open, Legal Trails
Poaching trails, building illegal singletrack, or adding unauthorized trail features are detrimental to our access. Poorly built features could also seriously injure other trail users. If you believe there aren’t enough trails or variety near you, it’s time to get involved. Your engagement will be welcomed because it takes a village to create, enhance, and protect great places to ride.
Ride in Control
Speed, inattentiveness, and rudeness are the primary sources of trail conflict among user groups. Slow down, ring a bell, or verbally announce yourself if you need to pass, and then wait until the other trail user is out of the path. Use extra caution around horses, which are unpredictable. Be extra aware when riding trails with poor sight lines and blind corners and make sure you can hear what’s going on around you.
Plan Ahead
Be prepared and self-sufficient. Every mountain biker should carry what they need for the ride they’re undertaking and know how to fix a flat tire and make minor repairs. Download a GPS trail app on your phone for navigation or carry a map in unfamiliar locations. Ride with a partner or share your riding plan with someone if you’re heading out solo.
Mind the Animals
When it comes to wildlife, live and let live. In some places, running cattle and disturbing wildlife are serious offenses. If you want to ride with your dog, first find out whether it’s allowed by looking up the leash laws. Be prepared to take care of your dog. Ensure your companion is obedient enough to not cause problems for you, other trail users, or wild animals.
ENJOY THE RIDE
The most important thing to remember while mountain biking in Park City is to have fun! The vast network of trails has rides for all skill levels, so there is an endless amount of options to curate your personal two-wheeled adventure. I honestly can’t imagine another mountain bike destination in the world that is more friendly, accessible, and entertaining (both on and off the trail) than Park City, Utah.
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
This guidebook features 47 routes, starting with Park City and radiating out to surrounding areas from Deer Valley, Canyons Village, and the Utah Olympic Park to Parleys Canyon/Glenwild, Round Valley, and Guardsman Pass. Beyond the Park City core, I include trail networks in neighboring towns like Heber City, Midway, Kamas, and Oakley.
Each route begins with basic information such as elevation gain, mileage, ride type, technical difficulty, and fitness intensity. I then offer a basic overview of the ride, driving directions to the trailhead, and a mileage log of the route marking every major intersection and point of interest. At the end of each route, a final section highlights options or ways you can tailor the featured route to match your preferences or, in some cases, skill level or available time. And, of course, there is a map highlighting the main route and intersecting trails, parking areas, and major roads. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll find in each route description.
RIDE TYPE
I’ve categorized the routes into five types: a loop, lariat loop, out-and-back, shuttle, or network.
Loop
Just as it sounds, a loop starts and ends at the same trailhead by going around in a circle. Loops use different ascent and descent trails to make the ride circle back to end where it started.
Trailside Bike Park (Route 32) is a great place to learn technical skills and practice bike handling on manmade features.
Lariat Loop
Also known as a lollipop loop, a lariat loop is a cross between an out-and-back and a loop.
Out-and-Back
An out-and-back route follows the same trail up and down, with a turnaround point at some sort of high point or cool destination.
Shuttle
Almost always downhill, shuttle rides are one-way routes for those who want all the gravity thrills without earning it by pedaling uphill. You leave a vehicle at the bottom, then drive to the top of the trail for a bike ride back down.
Network
In Park City, almost every trail is part of a network where I feature a particular loop or ride within the singletrack system. For this book, I use the network category for places like the Deer Valley Bike Park, where I don’t focus on a single route but feature every trail. You can choose your own adventure within a given network.
TRAIL TYPE
Trail type describes the type of trail or trails in a route, such as singletrack, doubletrack, etc. I give a percentage of each trail type in a given route.
DISTANCE
This category outlines the mileage of each route. I’ve rounded the mileage to the nearest tenth of a mile, so you may find your GPS mileage is a bit off from my route descriptions.
ELEVATION GAIN/LOSS
This category indicates the amount of uphill and downhill elevation loss or gain you can expect on a route, given in vertical feet and rounded to the nearest ten. The vast majority of routes in this book (loops) have the same elevation gain and loss. Shuttle rides and lift-served mountain biking have a significant difference, with elevation loss outpacing the gain.
HIGH POINT
High point indicates the highest point above sea level of every ride. This figure sometimes (but not always) indicates the turnaround point for out-and-back rides.
RIDE TIME
Ride time is subjective, as every mountain biker goes at their own pace. I consider myself a mountain biker of average fitness, so for this book I used a range between my own “moving time” and the total ride time that includes time spent stopped for photos, snacks, and simply enjoying the view.
DIFFICULTY RATINGS
