Mountain Trails Foundation

We build, maintain and protect Park City, Utah's trails

Trail Report

Saving the World, One Trail at a Time – July Trail Report

by

Photo Courtesy Dirt Coast Photography

I have a short quote at the bottom of my Mountain Trails email signature that reads:  “Saving the World, One Trail at a Time.” It was originally a scrapped t-shirt idea from several years back.  I envisioned Superman-looking logo on the chest with “MTF” replacing the “S”.  It was done completely tongue in cheek, and while I had no preconceived notions that trails could literally save the world, I found humor in its pretentiousness.         

Many moons ago, in the early days of the Round Valley Nordic program, I had an experience that left a lasting impression.  While grooming in the cat early one winter morning, a long-time local flagged me down, and said with a smile on his face; “I just want you to know that you are creating joy for many of us”.  I looked at him somewhat astonished, and kind of brushed it off at the time, but that comment has always stuck with me.    

During the Covid years, we realized just how important trails were for our mental and physical health.  They provided a means of escape and a little slice of normalcy during a time that was anything but normal.  Thousands of Covid expats moved to mountain towns across the west, including our own, many discovering the joy of trails for the first time. 

Trail development and the trail industry has exploded in the past few years.  There are now hundreds of trail contractors, trail non-profits like our own, along with local, state and federal agencies with a trail centric focus, and new trails systems are being developed nation-wide.  I guess you could say that a trail renaissance is under way.  

So, in revisiting my “saving the world” quote, while trails may not necessarily be saving our planet, they are most definitely making it a better place to coexist, despite our differences, and hopefully bringing a little joy to us all during these challenging times.

Have a great one out there! 

HELP US SAVE THE WORLD, ONE TRAIL AT A TIME

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

June Trail Report

by

Get up!  Get on up

– James Brown

Each spring, for nearly 30 years running, the MTF trail crew has initiated the ritual of chasing the swiftly receding snowpack up the mountainside.  During this glacial retreat, there are hundreds of trees to clear, thick vegetation to cut back and dozens of signs to install.  We’ll also take advantage of precious moisture to perform some hand-work on blown-out bermed turns and washboard from last season’s adventures, as well as adding drainage features where needed.    

In addition to our general maintenance program, we have yet another ambitious dirt agenda this season, one that includes the completion of two major projects from last season, as well as four, brand-spanking-new projects.  Each of these dirt endeavors is unique in that they are all “purpose-built”, meaning that there is an underlying objective (or objectives) for each of these new trails.            

Out in the rolling high desert terrain of the City-owned Clark Ranch parcel, just east of highway 40, we’ve begun work on what will be a 4-5 mile long, multi-use, directional loop. While this trail will be open to all trails users, it is being designed with electric mountain bikes (eMTBs) in mind. There will be flow on the up as well as the down, with larger radius turns, open lines of sight and all bikes will be rolling safely in one direction. The project is being done collaboratively with Park City Municipal, which was awarded the Utah Outdoor Recreation Grant (UORG). 

Just a mile east of Clark Ranch as the crow flies, along the north end of the Jordanelle Reservoir, the Skyridge Development will be funding a new addition to their quickly growing trail system. We have contracted Singletrack Trails to build the Big Dipper: a 2-plus-mile, mountain bike only, downhill trail with nearly 1,000 feet of descent. This will complete a 6-mile loop when combined with the Milky Way trail built by MTF over the past two seasons. With its unique volcanic rock gardens and exposure, this flow trail will be unlike anything in Park City.

Lastly, on the early-season dirt docket will be the completion of the Big Easy trail, also funded by the UORG grant. With the addition of three miles of trail, we’ll complete a 5-mile loop that will circumnavigate the Round Valley open space. This new “artery” trail will provide endless loop opportunities with existing trails and will be easily accessible from four of the six Round Valley trailheads. In addition to dispersing use, this multi-faceted trail will be the only true “beginner” trail with several “bailout points” and a wider footprint that will also accommodate adaptive cyclists. In winter months, it will also transition into an amazing fat bike loop, enabling cyclists and other winter trail enthusiasts to completely bypass the wider, Nordic offerings.

If this isn’t enough to get your trail juices flowing, look for beta on some exciting upper elevation projects next month… 

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Boots on the Ground – The 2022 Trail Crew

by

Any organization is only as good as its people, and the Mountain Trails Foundation has had no lack of good humans in the mix throughout its 30-year history. The success of Mountain Trails and the enduring legacy of the Park City trail system is due in large part to the guys and gals who are the “boots on the ground”- the MTF Trail Crew. 

Since landing the Trails Manager position many moons ago, I have had the good fortune and pleasure of working with some amazingly talented, passionate and hard-working individuals, who have literally left their mark on our local trails; building, maintaining, and protecting this amazing resource that we all love.    

Early on, through word of mouth, we tapped into the local ski resorts, attracting ski patrollers who were looking for summer work to complement their winter gigs.  We’ve also had many college graduates who ended up in Park City for the same reasons we all did and were looking for a temporary venture until they got a “real job.”  And we’ve had several individuals who had worked on legit trail crews, from Maine to New Mexico to Driggs, Idaho.  We’ve had Airforce and Marine veterans and we’ve had a professional cyclist, professional skier, and a 4-year “intern” who went on to become an aerospace engineer for Boeing – proof that rocket science and trail building are not that far removed. 

2022 has been a year of rebuilding, with several long-time, experienced staff leaving us recently to pursue their dreams. Despite my concerns a few months back that it would be a challenge to find sufficient staffing, it all came together, as it always does, and I couldn’t be more stoked with the diverse team that we’ve assembled. That said, I’m super excited to introduce you to the 2022 Mountain Trails Trail Crew… 

Rick

Trails Manager

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

It’s Mud Season Along the Wasatch Back

by

With the recent record-breaking high temps pushing 70 recently, we have gone straight from winter to full-blown mud season, seemingly overnight. While we’re all chomping at the bit to transition straight from white, to brown pow, we must remind ourselves that it’s only the first week of April and the weather can, and no doubt will, turn on a dime here along the Wasatch Back.   

We hate to get preachy but every spring as the temps rise, and the dirt reappears, we find ourselves trying to educate trail users and discourage muddy trail use. It’s a pretty straightforward concept, really.  ANY kind of soil displacement will lead to erosion and trail damage. Low spots and ruts created by foot, paw or tire, are ALL culprits. That said, we strongly encourage ALL trail users (yes, that means you too, hikers, runners and dog walkers) to turn around if it’s sticking to heels, wheels or paws. And walking/running or riding around the muddy spots is never ok as it damages vegetation and widens the trail.  Let’s keep our singletrack “single”.          

This time of year, “variable” and “aspect-dependent” are the words of choice when describing lower elevation trail conditions. On any given trail you can, and will go from south-facing and bone-dry, to north-facing and snow-covered or “snud” a snow/mud mix, everywhere in-between. While there are some trails that may be mostly good to go, you typically cannot piece together any measurable singletrack without hitting significant mud/snow. So, when you see a closure up at the trailhead and dry ground just on the other side of the closure, don’t assume that the rest of the trail, or the trail system as a whole, is also good to go. 

It’s good to have options…

If you’re a long-time local, you already know that there is no better time than spring, to venture down to the desert for some red rock trail adventures in Moab, St. George/Hurricane or Fruita. Looking for some great, low-impact, early season trail options locally? We have well over 30 miles of natural-surface and paved pathways in the greater Park City area.  And let’s not forget the 27-mile-long, Union Pacific Rail Trail – all of it in Summit County!    

Trail Condition Info…

While it will never be a perfect system, we’ll continue to do our best to keep you in the know on changing conditions. As you may already know, we regularly post condition updates on our Facebook page and website, but here are a few additional resources…

You can get a visual look at conditions by going to our website; https://mountaintrails.org, clicking on the “Trails and Maps” dropdown, and then click “Interactive Map” followed by “Conditions”.    

For the Snyderville Basin Area trails go to:https://www.basinrecreation.org/trails-open…/trail-report/ then click on the Trail Conditions tab.      

What’s the big deal about muddy trail use?  Here are a few older, but still pertinent posts, that will shed some mud, and hopefully some light.  The first is spot on for Park City…

https://www.singletracks.com/…/over-a-beer-rutting-up…/

http://parkcitymountainbike.com/riding-wet-trails/

Rick, Trails Manager

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Keeping the White Side Up

by

A few days ago, as I was looking over the 10-day forecast, it occurred to me that the weather man (or woman) quite possibly has the most secure job on the planet.  Where else can you get paid to repeatedly regurgitate oxymoronic descriptors based on computer generated “models” and almost always have your bases covered??? Is it partly cloudy or is it partly sunny? Chance of rain/snow… well, which is it? What constitutes a “calm wind”? Fifty percent chance of precip… that’s a safe bet.  

All in good fun as I’m not here to bash our meteorologist friends, especially in light of the recent return of winter.  Although, I have to say, after a quick-hit road trip with the crew down to Moab for some sun-soaked, red rock, desert mountain biking, I think I was ready to be done with winter.  

One thing that we can all agree on, is that the winter of ’21-’22 has been a strange one.  Remember that huge storm in October?  And then pretty much nothing until New Years when it dumped… followed by nada for close to two months. Yes, we’ve had below average snowfall, ridiculously long stretches of high pressure and massive temperature swings. We even had our traditional January thaw, only it occurred for nearly the entire month of February, culminating last week.          

And now here we are, in early March, on a weather roller-coaster ride. Just last week the temps spiked into the upper 50’s with a full-on meltdown underway, that created pond-skim-worthy bodies of standing water and actively flowing rivulets where Nordic track had lived just days before. We were ready to throw in the towel. One week later and we’re back in the 20’s with a healthy dose of fresh snow and more on the way. Thanks a lot weather people!        

I’d like to throw a big shout out to our grooming team – Chase, Alec, Jonathan and all-star guest groomer, Todd Henneman.  Despite being handed a lemon of a winter, the MTF crew somehow managed to squeeze out some tasty, snow-spiked lemonade for over three months and counting. We made the best it, doing a lot with a little, as did all of you powder hounds and winter trail enthusiasts. Despite the lackluster winter, there were some good turns to be had up on the mountain and smiles for miles (and kilometers) out on our local singletrack and Nordic.        

Be sure to thank your local groomers (and meteorologists) for the good stuff, and have a great one out there!

Rick, MTF Trails Manager

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Winter Conditions are holding, despite fresh snow…

by

Keeping the White Side Up

For the past several weeks, we’ve experienced a healthy dose of high pressure, here in the high desert.  While we haven’t seen any meaningful snowfall in many moons, the Nordic track (and singletrack) continue to hang in there and conditions remain pretty darn good.  How is this possible, you ask???

Well, there are many factors that have helped us to “keep the white side up” as Nordic trails guru Charlie Sturgis likes to say. 

First off, those late December storms all came in “right side up”, meaning that they started off warm with high water content, and then turned cold, providing our crew with a nice, packable base.  That gave us a great foundation and solid “candy coating” to work with. The lighter, drier snow that followed, was the frosting on the cake.  Yes, I have a sweet tooth. 

The second key factor is temperature. If you’re going to remain high and dry, you had better have some cold temps to preserve what you’ve got. For the most part in January, we rarely climbed above freezing and our overnight temps have been super cold, with some single digits and sub-zeros thrown in the mix. With minimal thawing, the icy conditions have been held at bay.

So, those are the factors that we don’t control. What can we control?  

When we look at the forecast and see no refresh in sight, we go into snow-preservation mode. Kinda like watering the lawn a few times a week, versus each and every day, we do everything possible to preserve what we have. 

The first thing we do is limit our cat (Pisten Bully) grooming.  The cat creates a great snow surface but it also has a greater impact on our precious base. The friction from the high-speed tiller creates heat, which makes for great cord, but also dips into that candy coating that we’re trying to preserve. So, we limit our cat-grooming to the weekends and use the snowmobiles and drags to scrape up that top layer of hard-packed snow, and hopefully create some decent corduroy.  So far, so good.

A few other things that the crew does to preserve and protect… 

We are farmers… bum pa dum pum bum bum bum. When we start to see bare spots appear on the track, we often “farm” or shovel snow from off-trail, in an effort to cover up the blemish, followed up with a quick pack. We’ll then run the drag over it for the final touch, kind of like spackling the hole in your wall. 

If the cat is out and about, we can use the blade wings to farm snow from the outside edge of the track, and direct it onto the thin areas.  You’d be amazed at how well this works in the right conditions.

What can you do to help?  Any dark objects or “MOOP” (Matter Out Of Place – thanks Chase), left on the track generate heat and hasten the melting process. This includes sage/sticks, poo bags and muddy foot, paw or tire prints. Simply put, please pick up after your pups, toss sticks off the trail and avoid tracking mud onto the snow. 

Well, that about wraps up this addition of snow preservation 101. It has been a super solid winter thus far, despite a dry January. February is, or at least should be, Snowdance Awareness Month, so get busy and work on those moves!  

Rick, Trails Manager

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew