Deer Valley Summer Season Opened Today

By Jim Barth
Jun 14, 2013

Summer photo at Deer ValleyWe just enjoyed a wonderful hike at Deer Valley Resort, which officially opened today for the summer season. As in past seasons, Deer Valley is operating three chairlifts, serving hikers and bikers at Snow Park, Silver Lake and Empire Pass.

According to communications manager, Emily Summers, Deer Valley has “60 miles of maintained trails.”  Some of these trails are designated as “hiking only,” but most have dual uses. Deer Valley operates a full-service bike school throughout the summer.

Additionally, Deer Valley offers other ways to get acquainted with the mountain.  The historical society conducts free guided hikes the second Sunday of every month through October, and one can also hire a mountain guide any day of the week.

In the evenings at Deer Valley, the music begins.  The resort will be offering free Wednesday night concerts featuring local bands.  Weekends will be showcasing musical acts from all across the country.  Please click here for more information.

Also, if residents or visitors need a place to drop off their children for a day, a week, a month or even the whole summer, Deer Valley offers a day camp throughout the summer.  According to Summers, “it’s a day camp, and you can do a per-day rate, so it’s good for people who are visiting.”

Deer Valley’s summer operations will run until Labor Day, September 2.

Park City trails get gold

By Jim Barth
May 12, 2012

There may be silver in the hills, but Park City's trails are gold. The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) recently named Park City a Gold Level Ride Center, the first town in the world to receive the honor.

Charlie Sturgis submitted the town's application on behalf of the Mountain Trails Association and said receiving the award is an important milestone. “This really shows that we have the whole deal dialed in, dirt bike parks, terrain parks, downhill and family-friendly trails,” Sturgis said. “We also have hotels, restaurants and information that can be easily accessed by mountain bikers.” Sturgis estimates that there are 350 miles of mountain bike trails just in the West Side of Summit County.

IMBA Communication Director Mark Eller said Park City fits all of the criteria for the award. On a scale of 100, Park City received a 96. According to a press release, no other town has ever received higher than a 90. “We have known about Park City for a long time, but when we held a biking summit out there recently, we really saw how great all of the trails were,” Eller said. “We invited multiple towns to apply for the award and then went through a detailed matrix of attributes.”

Eller describes Park City as a model town and said it offers “everything” when it comes to biking. “There are all kinds of high quality biking in one place,” he said.  Eller said the award may also benefit the community by attracting additional summer tourists. “Mountain bike tourism is really coming into its own,” he said. “Places like Park City, Whistler B.C., and Winter Park, Colorado are marketing summer recreation as professionally as they are winter sports.”

For more information, please click here.