Mountain Trails Foundation

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

Trail News

Winter Update (2021/2022)

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The Mountain Trails team rung in the new year feeling inspired by a few feet of the Greatest Snow on Earth (TM). Thanks to a flurry of late December storms, we gladly buried 2021, and slid into 2022 with face-shots, fresh corduroy and a fresh outlook. 

Along with myself and veteran winter wizard, Chase Smith, new year-round crew members, Jonathon Huyck and Alec Johnson are welcomed to the snow squad. Both have had a crash course on snowmobiles, drags and PistenBullys – and they’re killing it!. 

With a solid base to work with, the crew quickly ramped up the winter trails program, providing nearly 30Km of groomed Nordic and over 17 miles of groomed singletrack- all in our favorite backyard winter playground, Round Valley. 

A few notes for the 2022 season:

  • With a legit winter and our one and only grooming cat focused on Round Valley, we will be holding off on any grooming up in Bonanza Flat until spring.
  • The Land Of Oz, “ski-only” area was tilled in it’s entirety for agriculture this fall, and will not be groomed this winter.
  • Be sure to check out the new 2Km Nordic loop and 2.5-mile fat bike loop on Clark Ranch parcel, just east of the highway 40 underpass, off of Richardson Flat Rd. Note: parking is limited. 
  • Did I mention that all of Round Valley is open for skating, gliding and fatty riding!!! 

We’re off to a killer start… Happy New Year indeed! 

Rick Fournier

Field 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

When Will We Groom Bonanza Flat?

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We are all aching for a high-alpine adventure and are planning to groom Bonanza Flat when it’s feasible to do so. But, it’s complicated…

Last year’s snowpack was, in a word, dismal. As a result Round Valley wasn’t groomed in its entirety until late January. These conditions provided us the perfect opportunity to get up to Bonanza early. As Rick put it: “We thought it would be great to provide something, anything, in what was a dismal snow year. It was in essence, our ‘backup plan’”. In contrast, this season we’ve enjoyed a bounty of snow which has allowed us to groom Round Valley early and required us to groom it often.  

We only have one snow cat, so to bring it up to Bonanza means we cannot maintain Round Valley. Furthermore, transporting a 15ft wide snow cat and its required attachments presents its own set of challenges.

Make no mistake, Bonanza Flat is squarely in our sights, and we hear the voice of the community eager to explore and enjoy the area. Stay tuned to our daily grooming reports, we’ll provide regular updates on Bonanza Flat and keep you up-to date on current conditions.

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

Fall Trail Report

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The Only Constant in Life Is Change.” -Heraclitus

Fall is a time of transition for the MTF crew.  As the temps drop, the leaves turn and we get our first taste of winter, there is some urgency in the air.  

This past week the team scrambled to pull our machines off the mountain ahead of the first snowfall.  While the Charlie’s 9K to Mid Mountain and Mother Urban trails were not finished this year, we are super happy with the work we have completed thus far, and have put ourselves in a great position to finish both, as soon as the snow recedes next summer.

As the snow began to fly above 9,000 feet late yesterday (Monday), the team was high on a peak above Bonanza, laying out a new trail that will connect Bonanza Flat to the WOW trail, scheduled for next season.  At the same time, Chase was installing the last few PVC markers in Bonanza, in preparation for the upcoming XC ski season, just around the corner.     

Historically, October has been the month that we say “so long” to our seasonal staff, as they take much-needed break before moving on to their winter gigs.  Our seasonal trail crew members have long been the heart and soul of our organization.  They are the “boots on the ground” during the summer months, and they represent everything that is great about our mission.   

Last week we said so long to two of our best- Tim McChesney and Jon Huyck.  They have been with MTF for the past 3 seasons and have played a huge role in completing major projects including the Lake Lackawaxen trail, Charlie’s 9K, the Big Easy, Milky Way at SkyRidge, and the yet to be finished Mother Urban and Charlie’s 9K to Mid Mountain trails, to name just a few.      

We’re going to remain optimistic that they both return for a 4th season, but if not, it has been a great run and we wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors.  Tim and Jon, thanks for the huge effort.  You guys rock!

Have a great fall y’all!

Rick, Field 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

September Trail Report from Rick

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As Lora touched upon in her “anatomy of a trail build“, we eccentric tree huggers and dirt dogs who have had the good fortune designing and building trail for a living, definitely consider it more of an creative artform than a construction process.  And those same individuals will tell you that mother earth is the most amazing and challenging canvas to work.  

The MTF crew is currently waist deep into two, huge, artistic renderings…

Chase, seemingly overnight, has turned into a pretty talented trail artist in his own right, and it shows in his latest efforts on the yet to be named, Charlie’s 9K to Mid Mountain trail.  This directional downhill and bike only trail will be heavy on the flow and even heavier on character, descending for over two miles through the black gold of Black Forest. 

A thousand feet below the 9K, your’s truly, along with machine operators in training, Tim & Alec, have been chipping away, literally, at the super steep and rocky hillside high above Daly Canyon.  “Mother Urban”, a shared-use, climb-only for bikes trail, will ascend for close to 4 miles from the bottom of Treasure Hill all the way up to Mid Mountain- a much needed alternative to Armstrong and Jenni’s.

Weather permitting, we’re hoping for a late fall opening on both of these projects.  Also look for another section of Mother Urban to potentially open next weekend.  

Stay tuned and have a great one out there!  

Rick    

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

The Anatomy of a Trail Build

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During the many days Mountain Trails staff and Ambassadors have spent talking to trail users at trailhead meet and greets, we have learned one thing for certain: most trail users have no clue how trails come to be. And that’s perfectly wonderful because it means we here at Mountain Trails Foundation have done our job in providing a public amenity that demands little thought on the part of the public. Trail users show up, have fun, go home. But, for those who are interested in understanding how trails materialize under Mountain Trails purview, read on.

[twenty20 img1=”4941″ img2=”4942″ direction=”horizontal” offset=”0.1″ align=”right” width=”40%” before=”Before” after=”After” hover=”true”]

Surprisingly, there’s a great deal of coordination that goes into each and every trail project. It’s not like when we were kids and took to scratching in trails on the neighborhood dirt lot. Trails that will see millions of enthusiastic trail users over the course of decades, take careful thought, planning and expert execution. The anatomy of a trail build consists of three basic elements, each of which has a laundry list of chores propping it up. Here’s the short (short is a relative term) story on how a trail build generally rolls out. 

First, the WHY. A compelling reason to build a trail needs to exist. Trails are far too expensive to just throw in, willy-nilly. A determining factor could be reducing pressure on old, tired trails – think Spiro. Or creating new routes by connecting already existing trails like the ones off Charlie’s 9K or the Big Easy trail in Round Valley. Both of those created fresh route options for various trail user types and skill levels. The exploding popularity of non-motorized trail recreation has driven the need for directional and single user-type trails to the top of the priority list. Point is, trail builds are always strategic.

Next, the WHO. Landowners, whether private or public, need to give permission. Often this involves explaining to the stakeholder why a new trail is a good idea. Here in Park City, we are fortunate, SO fortunate, to work with ski resorts (aka the private landowners named Deer Valley and Park City Mountain), land trusts (Summit Land Conservancy, Utah Open Lands) and the local municipality, Park City Municipal. All of these landowners comprehend the intrinsic value of trails and almost always support MTF’s carefully considered proposals. We acknowledge the unique and very fortunate position we are in and thus work diligently to foster the long-game of collaboration in the interest of public service. Oh, and it helps that MTF is willing to fund projects – which leads to the next element: funding.

Funding for trails comes from myriad sources. Easiest to identify are donors, grants and work contracts. A work contract, like the one with SkyRidge, where MTF is developing an e-MTB-friendly trail system, is an example of a work contract that yields great public benefit and also benefits Mountain Trails. 

As to grants and donors, a superb example of how we strategize funding for the maximum impact is the relatively new, Charlie’s 9K trail. Funding for that trail required the orchestration of four funding sources: Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation, Utah State Parks Recreational Trails Program, Park City Municipal Corp. and Mountain Trails Foundation donors. The hard cost (does not include necessary overhead like insurance, rent, payroll taxes, etc.) of that project exceeded $125,000. By leveraging  private donations against grant money, Mountain Trails was able to cover the entire cost of not only the build, but its long-term maintenance as well – shout out to Adopt-A-Trail Sponsors, Mike and Lynn Lee, here!   

Now the HOW. Once need, permission and funding are secured, the fun part begins. Our crew of professional trail builders goes bushwhacking. For real. They scramble the terrain – remember there isn’t a trail yet – to identify and flag the trail’s alignment upon the landscape. This is where the “art of trail building” begins and the character of a trail is born. Flagging guides the hand crew as they clear a corridor (with chainsaws, brushcutters, etc.) for the machine operator to follow – kind of. Oftentimes, the environment offers up surprises and alignments are re-routed to avoid old growth, extensive rock bands and, yes, even little birds’ nests. Because we do care about the environment. 

As the machine work motors along, day after day, the hand crew follows behind. It’s tedious work, buffing out the newborn trail by hand – de-berming, lopping roots and removing obstructive rock and debris. This is where we can use a few extra hands and often recruit the help of dig-day volunteers. Depending on terrain, length of the trail and weather, a build can take anywhere from several weeks to several months.  Larger projects can span over years as the building season is only as long as the snow is absent.  

Once the thinking, permitting, fundraising and buffing have culminated in a sweet piece of singletrack, it’s time to open the trail to the public, dust off the work boots, crack open a cold one and celebrate!

It’s a long-winded story, but I hope this helped you appreciate what it takes to make your trail experience a reality. I also hope you will be inspired to support our work by making a donation today!  

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

Monsoons, Mothers & Black Gold

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After an unrelenting, hot, dry and smoky early July, this past week has brought monsoonal storms, giving our high desert dirt some desperately needed moisture and our lungs a little reprieve from the smoke.

With long-awaited approvals from stakeholders and necessary digging permits from the resort, the MTF crew was able to start work on two major new projects- both directional in nature.

The Mother Urban trail, named after a colorful character in Park City lore, will be a directional, “uphill only for bikes” trail (multi-directional for hiking) and will create a much needed alternative route up to the Mid Mountain trail from the heart of Old Town.  It will utilize a good bit of the Treasure Hill parcel along with the adjacent Moosehouse/Gravedigger zone and should go a long way towards taking pressure off of both Jenni’s and Armstrong.    

We’ve also broken ground- beautiful, rich, organic, black gold, in the north facing conifers of the Black Forest zone up at Park City Mountain.  This new “down country” directional downhill and bike only trail, will create an early connection from Charlie’s 9K down to the Mid Mountain Trail.  While it will be intermediate in nature, it won’t be lacking in fun flow and will descend for over two miles before meeting up with Mid Mountain just below the Pioneer lift.  

We’re super stoked about both of these projects and are confident that they will greatly enhance the trail system as whole, by dispersing use, providing meaningful connections and creating multiple new route options.  Oh, and there’s a pretty good likelihood that they will both put a smile on your face.  

Rick  

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