Outdoor Activities
Photography: Dan Campbell
Locals may tell you to take a hike, but they mean it literally. With more than 300 miles of trails in Summit County—and growing—there is plenty of opportunity for every level of hiking, mountain biking or just walking and taking in the scenery. The even level of the Rail Trail can bring you to the county seat, Coalville, on the eastern side of the county. At a higher altitude, the Mid Mountain Trail intersects Deer Valley, The Canyons and Park City Mountain Resort. Park Meadows has bike lanes set aside for leisurely road biking as well.
The miles of trails in and around Park City offer some of the best scenery to view from atop a horse. Horseback riding outfitters offer trail rides that can last an hour or pack trips that continue overnight. Experienced guides will help you capture the beauty of the mountains.
The only handicap when golfing in Park City is running out of time before being able to try out all the courses. The area’s golf community is growing by leaps and bounds every year, with different levels and courses for every level of player. Although many of the courses are private, there are several, including the Park City Municipal Golf Course and the Wasatch State Park in Midway, that are open to the public. Soldier Hollow, an Olympic venue site for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and The Homestead Resort, both in Midway, also offer opportunities for tee times.
A handful of local hot-air ballooning companies give the birds-eye view of Park City, Heber City and the surrounding areas while the day is still fresh and new. You can complete the flight with a continental breakfast, champagne, an explanation of how hot air balloons work and a certificate of completion.
Utah may be land-locked, but there are plenty of opportunities for water sports at the local reservoirs and rivers. If you’re visiting, or just want to try out a watercraft for the day, watercrafts, canoes, drift and fishing boats are available at the reservoirs and local shops. Wakeboard, waterski, zip around or just laze in the sun.
The miles between Park City and the coast don’t mean there’s a lack of opportunity for a little scuba diving. Classes are available in town for pool diving, but The Crater in Midway offers a chance to put some of that learning to good use.
On the other hand, go where the wind blows and check out the sailing scene. Local sailors cite Deer Creek Reservoir as the place with the best, most consistent winds in the immediate area, but other reservoirs are the homeport to wind-lovers as well.
One of the favorite water sports in the area is fishing. The Provo River below Deer Creek Dam is one of the finest brown-trout fisheries this side of Montana and the Weber River is just as fun. The reservoirs also offer fishing by wading or by boat.
Swimmers can get their fix doing laps at the indoor and outdoor pools at the athletic clubs and public facilities around town and in Kamas. Or swim with the fishes at the area reservoirs, which have designated areas for swimming as well.
Gather some of your closest friends or meet news ones on a horse-drawn hay or wagon ride pulled by majestic Clydesdales. Add a Dutch oven cookout, talk with a real mountain man or listen to the humor of a cowboy poet for a rounded-out experience of the Old West.
All three of our ski resorts offer scenic chairlift or gondola rides as well as a full array of summertime activity, from hiking to mountain biking to kiddie parks and rides, to dining al fresco to outdoor concerts and summer camps.
The skateboard park on the south end of City Park has been rated one of the best in the state and is the largest outdoor cement facility in Utah. Skateboarders and in-line skaters travel to use the halfpipes, cornices and rails.
Soar the skies by riding the thermal winds in a sailplane over scenic Heber Valley. The local airport offers glider rides, charter flights and aerobatic rides for one or two passengers.
City Park is one of the many places around town to find love, in the form of an unreturnable serve in a friendly tennis match. The Park City Racquet Club and area fitness centers also offer indoor and outdoor courts; tennis whites optional.
Tackle rugged terrain with an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), available for rent. Try it out on a test track or head to the hills.
The activity continues just outside of Park City, with an amusement park complete with waterslide and rollercoasters. Lagoon, about an hour away in Farmington, will get your heart racing with rides that flip you over, get you wet, spin you around or drop you really fast. For the more leisurely-minded, Lagoon A Beach offers a splash pool and room to worship the sun.
Utah is seeing a golden age of team sports, with new teams and returning favorites. Fans cheer for the Salt Lake Stingers, the AAA baseball
affiliate of the Anaheim Angels, at Franklin Covey Field all summer long. Pioneer Champions the Orem Owlz start their first season under their new name at the Parkway Crossing Stadium. Utah has a second minor league team north of Park City as well—the Ogden Raptors.
Brand new to Utah is the Major League Soccer Team Real Salt Lake. Only the 12th city in the U.S. to be awarded a team, Salt Lake City is the professional home of Jason Kreis, the all-time leading scorer in the league’s nine-year history. The league found that Utah had the highest per-capita participation in organized soccer, and now those fans can watch the pros at the Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah.
Park City will play host to several com-petitive events throughout the summer.
Girls from all over the Western United States will dominate the town during the Triple Crown Girls Fastpitch Softball tournament. The phrase, “You throw like a girl” is high praise when these athletes come to town.
The Park City Marathon takes place in early June. NORBA’s National Mountain Bike Race series returns to Park City in mid-June and the Wasatch Back Relay—170 intense miles from Logan to Park City—challenges racers in mid-June. A 12-hour endurance bike race takes place in July and benefits the National Ability Center. A little later in the summer, two more endurance bike races will ride circles around Park City, for 50 or 100 miles, truly making it ‘mind over mountains.’
The Jupiter Peak Steeplechase may only be 16 miles long, but the elevation gain is more than 3,000 feet, making it a popular venue for the trail warrior. On the lighter, but barely less difficult side, is the annual Tour des Suds, where you might see a gorilla or bearded ballerina on a bike as he/she climbs the mountain to Guardsman Pass.
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