Mountain Biking in Park City, Utah

Pull out the pen and paper and add mountain biking in Park City, Utah to the bucket list. Actually write it with a Sharpie so it stands out front and center. When people think of mountain biking in Utah, Moab comes to mind but the state isn’t a one trick pony.

Park City offers over 450 miles of mountain bike trails for riders of all abilities and seeking different challenges. You name it, they have it. Downhill and lift-service riding, bike park, cross country or even just rolling along a paved trail or some double track gravel in the valley, it is all here.

Granted we love mountain biking and that is why we visited Park City, but the city (area in general) has so much more to offer than just mountain biking in the summer. The food scene is big with great restaurants on every corner, summer concerts, hiking, mountain adventures for families, fun bars and a ton of shopping. So bring the family and make it an adventure.

Now Let’s Talk about Mountain Biking in Park City, Utah

The mountain biking in Park City is simply off the hook awesome. We had the luxury of spending about 10 days on the trails and tried to cover as much as we could but still made time to enjoy some of the other activities the city has to offer.

It doesn’t matter if you want to be a “pro” or just give it a go, there are rides for all ability levels. From rides like the Jan’s 5 Hour Epic Mountain Bike Ride to their Intro 101 lessons and some resorts like Deer Valley also offer lessons and guides as well.

Check out this epic video from Eric Porter on his 2018 Summer Solstice ride in Park City.

The Round Valley Trails / Trailside Bike Park

The Round Valley trail system offers over 30 miles of trail that hovers right around 6500 feet above sea level and includes a bike park right next door.

A great section of trails that are accessible via bike right from downtown Park City. After approximately 4 or 5 miles of asphalt bike trail and double track you’re all warmed up for some sweet single track, good climbs and some ripping descents with a few semi-technical sections thrown in for good fun. All trails are marked very well with ability levels.

Don’t forget to hit the Rambler trail and head over to the bike park, which features some seriously awesome flow, dirt jumps, man made ramps. Best of all, the Trailside Bike Park is perfect for all ages and abilities. We literally saw striders and pros all riding the same trails.

Rolling into a trail system and seeing this view definitely get’s you a little giddy – we won’t lie!

Round Valley is very climbable and on the larger climbs you’ll appreciate the switchbacks and graded out climbs. The trail system is very well laid out.

While the above photo looks a little more tame, some sections of Round Valley can get pretty rocky but is 100% rideable for intermediate level riders.

Lots of flow and sweet berms fill the Trailside Bike Park. The Trailside Bike Park caters to almost any mountain biker. The park is designed with a progression of trail difficulty levels in mind. The pump tracks and a beginner flow trail are perfect for beginning bike park users.

Riders can then progress to jump lines that are designed for varying skill levels. At the top of the hill are the intermediate and advanced slopestyle and all-mountain trails that include jumps, bermed turns and wood features. Riders should be competent with their bike handling skills before experiencing these trails. Here we see Ben from Mountain Bike Radio railing a berm at the Trailside Bike Park.

Deer Valley Bike Park

Round Valley might not be cause for that rear 50 tooth cog but Deer Valley will. Big climbs and even bigger descents. Actually we never rode a climb, we opted for the chair lift service but that’s beside the point. Spread over six mountains and featuring up to 3,000 vertical feet of elevation change, Deer Valley Resort offers over 60 miles of mountain bike trails, including four flow trails designed by Gravity Logic. Deer Valley also links up to other trails and even the Mid Mountain Trail.

Call us lazy if you want, but nothing beats the Silver Lake Express chair lift. This high speed chair lift takes you half way up the mountain where you can swap lifts or stop for a bite of food and a drink. Single track also run below the lift.

These world class mountain bike trails are accessed via three high-speed chairlifts. Silver Lake Express chairlift at the base of the resort, Sterling Express located mid-mountain, and Homestake Express also located mid-mountain, provide access to the trails. Lifts open at 10am and run until 5pm with extended hours on certain days. Visit www.deervalley.com for all the details.

These world class mountain bike trails are accessed via three high-speed chairlifts. Why waste the day climbing when you can recover and take in the views. The chairlifts also offer ample time for talking SMACK with buddies.

Eric and Scoot ready to make another run down the Undertow Trail.

Amazing berms cover the mountain at Deer Valley. Photo shot on a GoPro Hero 7 while leaning into a corner.

Not all the trails feature big berms and flow, there is still plenty single track at Deer Valley as well. If you run out of trails (which we doubt) you can always link up to the other 400 some miles of trails
in the area.

Undertow Trail First Ride - Deer Valley opening day 2019 — Professional Mountain Biker (and local) Eric Porter takes a run down the Undertow trail at Deer Valley Resort. Eric is a super talented rider and videographer. Be sure to check out his Summer Solstice ride from last year.

Ready for lunch, be sure to check out the Royal when you get off of the Silver Lake Express chairlift. They have great food, serve up some killer Mojitos and ice cream sandwiches.

The folks in Utah love to eat and eat good food. We did not have an issue going with the flow or taking on an ice cream sandwich challenge. Shown above is the ice cream sandwich platter from Royal Street Cafe at the top of the Silver Lake Express lift at Deer Valley.

High Star Ranch, Kamas Utah

Just outside of Park City lies High Star Ranch which is semi new on the radar. Designed to be a lifestyle destination spot for outdoor enthusiasts, High Star Ranch is a housing community that opted for mountain bike trails instead of golf courses.

High Star Ranch offers some serious climbing that is rewarded with some world class downhills and single track.

With nearly 20 miles of interconnected, professionally built biking trails, the High Star Ranch trail system is guaranteed to get the adrenaline flowing. From total-beginner single track to meandering XC trails to DH-only routes with rock gardens and seemingly endless flowy berms, the trail system offers a huge variety of terrain.

DD from SRAM putting the hammer down on one of the many switchbacks at High Star Ranch.

Be prepared !! One minute in the mountains it could be clear and a few minutes later it can be snowing. Yep, we ran in to flurries in late June.

Screaming descents are mixed in with technical rock gardens and beautiful berms that offer a super fun mix of everything.

And this was the last time we saw Scott, our guide, until the bottom of the descent.

Mid Mountain Trail and Miles of Connectors

When the cats away, the mice will play. When guided rides were over, I had a chance to sneak out for a 4 hour ride that would lead to some serious climbing, more amazing single track and more amazing views, plus you are off the beaten path so the crowds are pretty much non-existent.

The Mid Mountain Trail, a 22 mile point-to-point trail, features great singletrack with lots of climbing, descending and ridge-top riding through aspen and pine forests. Be sure to give yourself a bit of time to acclimate before this ride, as the trail sits around 8,000 feet above sea level.

You can access the Mid Mountain trail from a few different locations. If you want to opt for the lift route to get to the top, you can access it through Deer Valley and use a few connectors or at Park City Mountain lift right in town.

After an hour and half or riding which included 30 minutes of climbing it was time to hydrate and have a snack.

If you feel like climbing, we suggest heading into Round Valley and hitting up Rob’s Trail in the Canyons. Rob’s trail features some solid climbing and some switchbacks that will require a little effort.

Once on top of Mid Mountain Trail, there is beautiful singletrack through a combination of deep forest, open ridge lines, and views that are unreal.

Either way, you will come away with an epic ride and your Strava account will be over flowing with “Kudos”.

The awesome thing about Park City is that the trails are marked incredibly well. Here we are 8,287′ elevation (maybe a little brag) and are even provided GPS coordinates.

Sometimes you just have to stop for a quick photo with snow in the background.

In late June, the more remote trails definitely are not crowded, but there were enough runners, hikers and mountain bikers to ask for a quick photo.

And more singletrack … this is the stuff you dream of at night.

There are some technical sections on the Mid Mountain trail but nothing over the top. Even though this picture looks a little hairy, it was not all that bad.

The type of single trail track you can ride for miles and never get bored!

Most of the Mid Mountain trail is semi shaded with birch trees or pine groves.

High above Park City and in a few miles we’ll connect up with trails close to the Park City Mountain and begin the decent portion to our condo and a cold beer.

Olympic Park Trails

Closer to the Canyons (just outside of Park City) the trails around the 2002 Winter Olympic Park also host some very ridable trails for riders of all levels. Single track, double track, downhill only sections and climbs that that will get your heart pumping.