Park City Mountain Bike Trail Guide

Park City is home to some of Utah’s best mountain bike trails, and one of the most impressive trail networks in the US. The mountain town not only has access to some amazing cross country singletrack trails, but also two chairlift accessed bike parks. Park City’s great bounty of mountain bike trails means there are options for riders of all abilities, and that the town is a great place to plan a mountain biking vacation. Most trails are rated intermediate with smooth flowing singletrack, but there are definitely some challenging rides, and lots of jump lines in the bike parks. More advanced riders will have a ton of fun turning the easier trails into their playgrounds, searching for speed and air, while the trails remain approachable for beginners and families.

The access to Park City’s trails is unparalleled with shuttling possible via public transit, and hundreds of miles of riding accessible from town. Riders looking to shred the Utah’s best bike parks have great options at Deer Valley, and both of Park City Mountain’s base areas. Meanwhile, cross country riders will love exploring epic trails like the Wasatch Crest, one of Utah and Park City’s best mountain bike trails. In total, there are over 300 miles of mountain bike trail in Park City. This huge volume of trails can get confusing, but trails are generally well signed, and the local saying goes, “If you get lost, point your bike downhill and go until you hit pavement.” Exploring and getting lost in this awesome trail network is part of what makes mountain biking in Park City so much fun.  
   

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Wasatch Crest Trail
Intermediate/Advanced | 12.5 + Miles | 1,035' Climb | 2,595' Descent

The Wasatch Crest is a classic Park City mountain bike trail, with great high alpine riding and fun singletrack riding. There are many ways to include the Wasatch Crest in longer rides, with access from several different points. The trail itself is 12.5 miles descending 2,595’ over its length. From the nearly 10,000’ top, the Crest trail runs down the ridge separating Park City and Big Cottonwood Canyon. The trail has a great mix of fun flow, and a couple more techy sections. One rocky, skinny ridge line is hike-a-bike for most, but it’s short. While many mountain bikers shuttle the Wasatch Crest, there is definitely still climbing, including the infamous “Puke Hill,” although it’s totally worth it. The Shuttle route starts at Guardsman Pass, heads on Scott's Bypass, up Puke Hill, then onto the Crest trail itself. The Wasatch Crest is definitely a must ride trail for advanced riders in the Park City area. For visiting riders, or simply those looking for easier logistics, Big Rack Shuttles runs a Wasatch Crest Shuttle.

Wasatch Crest Trail Route Options:

• Wasatch Crest to Mill Creek Canyon: This route descends the Wasatch Crest, then on 3 miles of the paved Mill Creek Canyon Road, and ending with more 7.3 miles of singletrack on the Mill Creek Pipeline trail on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. The Pipeline trail is intermediate rated.
• Wasatch Crest to Park City: Riders have the option to turn off of the Wasatch Crest trail onto Crest Connector and head back towards Park City. There are many options here including riding the downhill trails to the Park City Mountain Canyon’s base area, or traversing back to Park City Mountain on the Mid Mountain trail.
• Climbing to the Wasatch Crest: For mountain bikers who like to earn their descent, there are several ways to climb to the crest trail, from both sides of the ridge.

Trailhead Directions:
Guardsman Pass - Wasatch Crest Trailhead
 

Pinecone Trail
Intermediate | 4 Miles |  1,581' Descent

The Pinecone trail offers some great riding and a pretty transition from alpine meadows, aspen forests, and pine forests. Mountain bikers commonly rise this trail both ways, as a fun descent or climbing trail to access the Wasatch Crest Trail. Climbing via Powerline trail to Comstock then Puke Hill may be a less crowded and downhill trafficked route to reach the top, however.
Pinecone Trail

Flying Dog
Intermediate | 6.4 Miles | 1,000' Climbing & Descending

Flying Dog is a great intermediate cross country trail in the Jeremy Ranch/Glenwild area north of I-80 and the town of Park City. There are a handful of other trails in this area that are fun as well, but this descent is the gem of the area. The trail itself is mostly smooth natural singletrack that winds through aspen forests. The trail can be ridden in either direction, or other trails in the area can be used to make a loop. Glenwild to Cobblestone to Flying Dog, and returning on 24-7 makes a nice 17 mile loop.  
   
Trailhead Directions:
Glenwild Trailhead
   
 

Deer Valley
Beginner-Expert | ​17 Trails | 13 Miles 

The Deer Valley mountain bike park offers access to over 70 miles of trails accessed by three chairlifts. A lot of the trails are flowy and smooth, but their are some more technical challenges like NCS and Fire Swamp. The bike park is a ton of fun, though more advanced riders will only want to spend one or two days here on a longer trip.

Holy Roller
Beginner | 4 Miles | 485' Climb | 1,668' Descent

Holy Roller is an awesome beginner flow trail that snakes its way from the top of Deer Valley all the way back to the base area. This is a great trail for beginners, or mountain bikers riding chairlifts for the first time. Even more advanced riders will love to hit Holy Roller as a warmup, with it plentiful smooth berms and buffed out rollers. There are no gaps or intimidating features, just flowy fun.

Tidal Wave
Intermediate | 2.5 Miles| 1,266 Descent

Tidal Wave is 2.5 miles of awesome machine built flow trail. The trail was built by Gravity Logic, the builders of many of Whistler’s famous trails. The berm and tabletop filled style carries over to this great Deer Valley mountain bike trail. Tidal Wave is one of the best flow trails in the area. The tabletops make it approachable and fun for riders of various abilities, with the 58 different jumps making the trail an awesome trail to practice jumping skills on.

Tsunami
Expert | 2 Miles | 900' Descent

Tsunami is a freerider’s dream, trails like this are what chairlift accessed bike parks are all about. One of the newer trails at Deer Valley, Tsunami steps up the size of the flowy features with huge berms, big tabletops, and different kinds of jumps. The biggest jump is around 25 feet.   
 
Tsunami Jump/Flow Trail at Deer Valley Resort from Deer Valley Resort on Vimeo
 

 

NCS
Expert | 1 Mile | 1,008' Descent

While most of the mountain biking in the Park City area is smooth and flowy, NCS is quite the opposite. An oldschool downhill race trail, NCS is one of the most technically difficult trails in the area, with great rock gardens, drops, and other features. NCS can be shuttled via the bus, too.

Mid Mountain
Intermediate | 22 Miles | 1,800' Climb/Descent

Mid Mountain is one of the trails that ties the entire Park City mountain bike trail system together. It runs up and down from Deer Valley’s Silver Lake Village base area in the east through both Deer Valley and Park City Mountain to the Canyons base area on the west end. There are nearly endless options for rides and loops off of Mid Mountain, including dropping into both of Park City’s bike parks. Some favorite trails accessed by Mid Mountain are T&G Empire Link, and Mojave, all flowy, fast and fun. Armstrong trail, Deer Valley, and Holly’s are all common access points for riders climbing to the trail. If you don't know where to start, climbing Armstrong to Mid Mountain, then descending Spiro is a nice intermediate loops that is 9 miles climbing and descending 1,800'. Mountain bikers can also take the route 9 Empire Pass bus from downtown Park city to shuttle the trail, a pretty nice perk.   
 

Park City Mountain & Canyons Bike Park

Park City Mountain has two main base areas, each of which offer chairlift accessed riding in addition to the miles of singletrack that intertwine them. The Canyons base areas has more trail options, with both handbuilt technical trails, and machine built flow. For smooth berms and flowing jumps the intermediate Wild Mouse trail is the go to, or Rally Cat and Double Down for more advanced riders. Riders that prefer technical riding to flowy riding will want to check out the advanced Red Coat and Insurgent trails while the Canyons Downhill is expert rated and very technical.

At the Park City base, riders have three chairlifts at their disposal that bring them to trails like John’s Jenni’s, and Mid Mountain. John’s is technical, while Jenni’s is buff and flowy.  

Park City Mountain Bike Trail Map

 

Park City is just a 35 minute drive from Salt lake City, making this trail epicenter easily accessible visiting mountain bikers and locals alike. Trailheads for the various mountain bike trails in Park City are spread all over the valley and the surrounding hills. Many of these trails can be pedaled to right from town, an awesome perk. Mountain bikers can also shuttle via the free Empire Pass Route 9 bus that heads up towards Deer Valley.

Typical Weather & Riding Conditions

While the mountain biking in Park City is becoming an ever-growing draw to the Utah mountain town, the area is still more well known for it’s skiing and snowboarding. This means mountain bikers have to wait for the snow to melt off of the trails before the season gets going. The season here usually runs from June through September. Due to the high altitude of the Wasatch Crest, it may not be snow free until mid July. The summer months can be hot and dry, making for dusty trails. Riding in the spring or the fall will have the best dirt conditions.  
 

Ebikes are a great way to get out and cover a ton of trail, and are a ton of fun. However, before setting out on a ride, it's important to check the local rules and regulations regarding where to ride ebikes. Mountain bike trails are built on land under many different land managers. Each of these land managers likely has its own e-bike policy. It's important to know and follow these rules to help ensure continued trail access to mountain bikers and other trail users. Learn more about where to ride ebikes, and if you're curious about ebikes, read our guide to ebike classes, features & more.