The Utah Olympic Park in Park City has a network of trails popular with mountain bikers. One such ride is the Iron Bill and Legacy Loop, located between the beginner-friendly RTS network below, and the UOP Bobsled loop above.
Iron Bill Ascent
Iron Bill connects directly with the south side (the top) of the RTS Loop. While RTS is very easy, Iron Bill most definitely is not. As the singletrack climbs away from RTS, it crosses Olympic Parkway below the new Olympic athlete housing, then steeply switchbacks up the mountainside.
The climb is rocky with a sustained pitch and punchy sections that will get your heart rate going. To add to the difficulty, the switchbacks are a bit tight and often covered in embedded rocks. This makes Iron Bill (in my opinion) an advanced-level ascent. I’m not ashamed to say I tend to dismount on some of the more difficult corners just to catch my breath.
Legacy Loop and Legacy Ridge
At Iron Bill’s highest point, the UOP trail splits off on the right. This connects to the Legacy Loop, a short bit of singletrack that circumnavigates around the top of the mountain. The loop is split down the middle by another trail called Legacy Ridge, which traverses over the summit and connects the east and west sides of the loop.
Both trails are a bit overgrown as not many mountain bikers go here. You’ll more likely encounter hikers who are en route to the starting tower of the zip-line tour at Utah Olympic Park. Still, it’s an easy loop with nice views and serves as something to ride before descending back down Iron Bill.
Iron Bill Descent
On the down, Iron Bill is more intermediate in difficulty. Those rocks and steep grade make for a fun and fast descent with just enough technical features to make you pay attention. It’s a bit of old-school tech that can be tough to find in Park City these days.
To get back to the car, you can retrace your ascent route, or hit the new downhill-only trails in the RTS network such as OMH and BYOB.
Options
Iron Bill continues beyond the Legacy Loop and connects with Rob’s Trail via Bear Hollow Drive. Go this way to access Mid Mountain Trail or any of the rides on the Canyons side of Park City Mountain. You can also connect to Moose Puddle on the UOP Bobsled loop as well.
You can also save yourself the pain of climbing Iron Bill by ascending Colin’s or Dubois to Rob’s Trail, then descending Iron Bill. You’ll just need to shuttle between the two trail heads or take the bus.
Getting There
From Kimball Junction, take Olympic Parkway up beyond the outlet malls to the RTS trailhead, right across the road from the Run-A-Muk off leash dog park. After parking, ride left (uphill) on RTS to the Iron Bill trailhead.