By Jay Burke
Summer is here and by the time this edition is printed, we should be close to riding most of the trails in the area (with the exception of Pinecone and Wasatch Crest Trail). Make sure to recognize all the local organizations and trail teams, without them Park City would be hard-pressed to maintain the IMBA designated Gold-Level Ride Center status. These committed organizations include Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (Basin Rec.), Park City Municipal Corp., Local Resorts, and many private landowners, and because of them, the area continues to develop into one of the best riding destinations in the country.
With the trails in primo early season condition, you should consider trying a new trail you’ve never ridden. Many of the primary trails, like Mid-Mountain Trail from Silver Lake at Deer Valley over to Park City Mountain Resort, or the Armstrong trail heading up to the center section of Mid-Mountain Trail, get very busy on the weekends. Mountain Trails Foundation challenges trail users this summer to ride a trail you’ve never been on before, shouldn’t be hard with 400 miles of trails in the area! Use our interactive map to plan a route, or discover a new riding zone, http://mountaintrails.org/map
Here is a brief look at what is on tap for the trail system this summer.
• Stoneridge Parcel (Near Trailside Park, lands behind park and church): Watch for a multi-use path and a few miles of trail in this area developing over the summer. This is a Park City Municipal managed project and Mountain Trails will be doing the building.
• Down in Wasatch County (Heber), watch and listen for more developments on the W.O.W. trail, which is scheduled to break ground soon. When complete, this trail may connect into the Park City trail system (Deer Valley).
• Dawn’s Trail, which will be another loop connection off of the very popular Armstrong trail. This will give another great loop option, couple miles shorter than the H.A.M. cutoff. This should be awesome for those looking for a short hike or trail run. Mountain Trails will be building this trail in the next few weeks.
If you are coming up to Park City for a road ride MTF is now producing a Road Bike Map, with a magnified view of the greater Summit County riding area (Heber, Mirror Lake, Coalville, etc), as well as details of Park City roadways and paths. The map is setup to serve advanced cyclists, casual recreational riders, and visitors to Park City. Utilizing this map, cyclists should be able to easily find safe routes out of Park City proper leading to areas of the county where nice loop rides can be made.
Lastly, while visiting the trails of Park City we encourage you to ride with a smile on your face, say hello to fellow trail users and make sure that you yield to users on foot! Ride with a bell. If you don’t have one, hit one of the major bike shops and ask them for a “bells-on-trails” bell, provided by one of our great partners (Free of charge), backcountry.com. Once you have a bell, slow down on blind corners (while going up or down), and make sure to announce your presence. In general, be safe out there and have fun.
Lastly, if you are not a member, or haven’t renewed in a while (www.mountaintrails.org), now is the time. Here are five great reasons why you should.
1. Continued creation of maps, educational resources and timely information to local users
2. Promoting a unified Park City trail system and helping it grow and improve
3. Membership funds assure financial sustainability for the trail systems MTF manages
4. Promotion of local events supporting positive lifestyle choices and health living
You become a voice of support for human powered trail pursuits in the greater Park City area.
