Mountain biking can be intimidating for first-timers and beginners. But it doesn’t have to be! Park City has over 400 miles of singletrack trails. That alone can be intimidating. But there are several loops easy enough for newbies to learn and gain experience. Combined with cooler mountain air, sweeping views, and a concentration of restaurants and brew pubs to enjoy after the ride, there’s no better place to learn than in Park City. The easy rides listed below prove that you don’t have to have legs of iron to put tread to dirt.
RTS Loop
My favorite place to take first-time mountain bikers is the RTS Loop near the Utah Olympic Park in Kimball Junction. The RTS Loop is a short ride located on the north side of the Utah Olympic Park trail complex. RTS features family-friendly singetrack that is non-technical and easy to follow. The dirt is smooth, the corners are wide, and the trail is never steep. Still, this short loop has plenty of twists and turns through aspen forests and sagebrush meadows to keep the ride interesting. You can pedal the loop in both directions (either way is fun). If you’re a first-time mountain biker, out of shape, or a Park City newbie, the RTS Loop is a great place to get some singletrack experience.
More advanced riders can find a fast and technically challenging descent on the Lower UOP DH. This is a downhill-only option that splits off from the west side of the main loop and reconnects at the loop’s north end.
Round Valley
Loop options at Round Valley are numerous, so much so that it can be intimidating for beginners. But much of the trails are ideal for beginner riders. You can easily link together trails that are equal parts doubletrack and singletrack for laid-back pedaling and to maximize mileage. Be sure to check out the fairly new PorcUclimb ascent and Down Dog descent. Both are excellent introductions to singletrack riding. You will enjoy smooth, machine-cut trails, wide berms, and low-angle grades. There is nothing technical here, and these trails are an good baseline for mountain biking in Park City.
Mid Mountain Trail
The Mid Mountain Trail in Park City is a classic, alpine mountain bike trail that gives riders everything they would expect: buff singletrack, trails stretching through tunnels of pine and aspen trees, some technical sections, some fast and easy sections, and a whole lot of scenery and views. Stretching from Deer Valley to The Canyons Resort, the Mid Mountain Trail (also known as the 8,000 Foot Trail,) is huge, epic, and a sweet ride from end to end.
Either way you choose to ride the Mid Mountain Trail, it will not disappoint. Over the years, the single track has been buffed down to perfection. The scenery is spectacular with views overlooking The Canyons and Park City. Old-growth forests offer shelter from the sun, and wildflowers covering ski runs and meadows turn the ride into a slide show of Utah’s northern landscape. For all these reasons and more, the Mid Mountain Trail is one of those rides that becomes a yearly pilgrimage for every Utah mountain biker.
Road to WOS
Summit Park, a neighborhood located atop Parley’s Summit near Park City, is home to a little-known, but very fun mountain bike trail network. This collection of maintained singletrack, including the crown jewel “Road to WOS,” features smooth tacky dirt, berms, and rolling jumps all under the shade of old-growth evergreen trees. The area is also rife with wildlife, as moose are a common sight. While you can link together several trail variations, perhaps the best for mountain bikers is the Road to WOS Loop. You ride the loop in either direction, but I prefer to ride it clockwise.
Overall, the Road to WOS Loop is a fun, well maintained trail that’s perfect for beginners or intermediates looking for a short loop to test their skill on. It’s also a sweet ride for advanced mountain bikers short on time who just want to escape the summer heat on a high-elevation, evergreen-covered mountain.
Bob’s Basin
The downhill trails at Bob’s Basin are short, quick-hitters that pack in a lot of fun. Conveniently located just off I-80 in Jeremy Ranch at the Bad Apple trailhead, this small network can be ridden as a series of loops, or connected to the rest of the Glenwild trails for bigger rides.
A short, one-mile ascent on Fink Again gets you to the 24/7 trail, where four unique, downhill-only trails line up. Each has various levels of technical difficulty and are well maintained with wood features, smooth berms, drops and rock faces. But what’s good for beginners is that there is space to ride around the technical features. This is especially true for Crazy 8s, Ant Farm, and The Dropout (I do not recommend beginners attempt Team Cutthroat.)
This network is only suitable for upper-level beginners looking to gain experience on semi-technical downhills that don’t require too much commitment. But be aware of expert riders on the trails. Pull over and make way for them if they come up behind you.
You can find all of these trails on trailforks.com
Also check out our Utah Mountain Biking Guide.