Park City Mountain Resort (Shadow Lake)

Note: There are multiple rides the Park City area. This page covers the Shadow Lake ride. Please see other specific pages for:
Mid Mountain - long traverse, includes Spiro  trail
Town Loop - N Sweeney, John's, and Gravedigger trail
Solamere Loop - climb three mountains at Deer Valley
Glenwild Loop - easier trail across the freeway
Round Valley - lower altitude easy singletrack
Tour des Suds - climb near Deer Valley
Gamble Oak Loop - quick singletrack
Lost Prospector - easy singletrack, loop via Rail Trail
Deer Valley - Lift served singletrack biking
The Park City area has excellent high-altitude alpine biking. The snow clears about mid-June to early July. There are more trails than you can ride in a summer, varying from intermediate to extreme technical. The best trails are found on the east side of town. Park City resort area trails are free.

Picture: Dehn, one of the actors in Cardiac Arrest!, looks over the valley above Park City on Thaynes. (Bruce Argyle, Canon Rebel G, 35 mm lens, August 10, 1998)

View northeast down Thayne's Canyon

Oooh, gross. Helmet hair and sweaty tanktop! The multiple interconnecting trails can be a bit confusing. No problem -- just ride, and if you're totally lost, aim your bike downhill. Here, Doc Argyle gasps in the thin alpine air 6 miles into an aspen-dodging, root-jumping, mud-flipping hill climb on John's Trail on the way to Shadow Lake. This type of trail is very different from the slickrock sandstone runs of southern Utah.

Picture by Dehn, August 10, 1998 (Canon Rebel G, 80 mm)

UtahMountainBiking.com is your source for bike trail info, repair instructions, feature articles, first aid, fitness, and goodies.

Intermediate trails often follow old mining roads and ski resort access trails. Trails interconnect, allowing you to mix and match to build the perfect day's ride. Buy a guidebook, or see the folks at one of the Park City bike shops, or hook up with a local biker. We rode with three Park City ER docs.

Here Mike, an emergency physician living in Park City, cranks past the ruins of the Jupiter mine.

Picture by Bruce Argyle, August 10, 1998 (80 mm lens)

Mike cranks up towards Jupiter Lake

The Doc on the shores of Jupiter Lake You can ride the loop either way: it depends on whether you want to hit the John's audacious quakie ride uphill or down. Stop at Shadow Lake to let the dog fetch sticks, ride the loop around the lake, then head back down.  (Picture by Mike, 28 mm lens)
Getting there: Sweeney Switchbacks. On Park City's main drag, turn towards Park City Mountain Resort. Keep straight on Three Kings, then turn left between parking lots on Lowell Drive. Keep straight past the resort. When you reach the spot where the road turns around in a loop, the doubletrack straight ahead is the trail. N 40° 38.785' W 111° 30.076'

For a one-page (printable) riding guide to this trail, click here.

Getting there: Spiro Trail. Drive past the parking area of Park City Mountain Resort on Silver King Drive. Turn right onto Three Kings. The next left will be Crescent Drive. Park on Three Kings, then ride 0.1 mile up to the trailhead. The trail is the singletrack next to the gravel road where Crescent Drive turns left. N 40° 39.390' W 111° 30.895'

Park City has a huge and very detailed map showing almost all of the complex interconnecting trails in the area. It's free (year 2002) at Park City bike shops.

 Visit our bookstore, where you'll find Mountain Biking Utah and other excellent guidebooks for sale! 

For additional information, including nearby lodging, rentals, camping, and current conditions, may we suggest:
Park City area info and lodging:  http://www.parkcityinfo.com/ 
Deer Valley Resort:  http://www.deervalley.com/ 
Park City Mountain Resort:  http://www.parkcitymountain.com/
The Canyons Resort:  http://www.thecanyons.com/ 
Utah outdoor activities:  http://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/ 
Camping:  http://www.outdoorsinutah.com/camping.htm 
Utah website:  http://www.utah.com/ 
General info on visiting Salt Lake City:  http://www.slctravel.com/
FAQ, National Forest:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/wcnf/unit/slrd/questions.shtml 
Ranger District, Wasatch-Cache National Forest:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/wcnf/ 

[Go to UtahMountainBiking.com's Trails Options Page]
Copyright 2002 Mad Scientist Software Inc

Multimedia with live-action video!