Pulp Friction is a new downhill-only mountain bike trail in Park City’s Round Valley, and boy is it awesome. Round Valley has generally been considered a low-level mountain hike destination. Littered with doubletrack and singletrack that is pretty easy on the legs, this area can sometimes be passed over in favor of bigger terrain in the mountains. But in recent years, Mountain Trails Foundation has been cutting new trails to excite mountain bikers. Built in 2018, Pulp Friction is the latest and greatest.
The descent is typical of what mountain bikers expect from a downhill-only trail. You’ve got banked turns, berms, and jumps. The grade is steep enough to maintain speed, but not so steep that you have to white-knuckle the brakes. Pulp Friction is 1.5 miles long and begins at the intersection of Rambler, Rademan Ridge and Tin Man on Round Valley’s west side. Total vertical drop is around 450 feet to the Old Ranch Road trailhead.
Round Valley’s west side has generally been neglected with riders who usually begin their rides at the sports complex trailheads. Pulp Friction now makes the west side a destination where you can begin and/or end a loop at Old Ranch Road or the Happy Gilmor trailhead on Silver Creek parkway near Trailside Bike Park. From either trailhead, take Happy Gilmor to Tin Man, then continue up Tin Man to the Pulp Friction entrance.
You start down on Pulp Friction on flat, rolling terrain. But it soon descends through a series of banked corners that are super fun. One in particular is made entirely of rock – a testament to the trail builder’s hard work. The jumps are small, just enough to get a bit of air. Nothing to overly technical on Pulp Friction. It’s just a loose and flowing good time that give mountain bikers another reason to make Round Valley the ideal spring of fall riding destination.