To call Park City the center of Utah’s skidom is far from hyperbole. The evidence is in the numbers: 62 lifts, 444 runs, and more than 9,300 acres of in-bounds terrain are represented by the town’s two mountain resorts: Deer Valley and Park City Mountain. But that’s not all. The town boasts more than 85 kilometers of cross-country skiing track, and backcountry skiers and riders revel in tens of thousands of acres of earn-your-own-turns skiing and riding just outside of Park City proper.

While this abundance of snow-sliding options certainly contributes to Park City’s status as a world-class winter destination, it can also be a bit overwhelming. That’s why we’ve compiled a greatest-hits and tricks-and-tips guide to skiing in and around Park City. From what’s new at the resorts and our favorite inbounds runs to circumnavigating Park City on skis and finding out what “skinning” is all about, we’ve got you covered. 

Choose Your Ski Adventure

Deer Valley Resort | Park City Mountain | Backcountry | Cross-Country

Deer Valley Resort

Consistently great snow, food, and service—and no snowboarders—are Deer Valley’s well-known calling cards. Returning skiers also appreciate how well DV’s 21 lifts spread skiers out on the mountain and keep lift lines short. Limiting daily lift ticket sales is another plus for lots of Deer Valley faithful. Many are also looking forward to the big—and we mean BIG—changes in store for this industry-defining mountain resort. (And, no, at least for now, those changes do not include welcoming snowboarders.) 

Parking

All parking at Deer Valley is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The greatest concentration of parking is at the Snow Park Lodge lots, where cars with three or more passengers get priority parking in Lot 2 and electric vehicles may charge for the day at stations in Lot 1. Additional but limited free parking is available at the resort’s Mayflower Base, located east of Park City off Highway 40. Some parking is available at the Silver Lake Village base area, but you’ll pay $50 or more per day to park there.

Thinking Ahead

IKON passholders are now required to make reservations to ski Deer Valley through. (Advance booking is not required for Deer Valley season passholders, however.) If you plan to purchase a day ticket, be advised to do that ahead of time too. Day tickets are not only up to $50 cheaper when pre-booked at deervalley.com, you’ll avoid getting shut out altogether as DV tends to sell out on the weekends and other high-volume days. Their Ski School (435-645-6648) is very popular and fills up regularly; if you’re thinking of taking a lesson or booking an instructor to show you around for the day, be sure to make that reservation well ahead of your visit.  

What to Eat

There are no bad choices when it comes time for lunch, a snack, or après-ski at Deer Valley. A few highlights include: the resort’s famous turkey chili, which can be had multiple ways—as a nacho topper, in a bread bowl, or over fries at the Snow Park, Silver Lake, and Empire Canyon lodges, respectively. For something a little lighter, but just as satisfying, try the pho at Silver Lake Lodge. Though it’s a bit tucked away in Silver Lake Village, you’ll be glad you sought out the Goldener Hirsch’s Antler Lounge after sinking your teeth into the Wagyu burger there. Novelty aside, the lobster rolls at Rime Seafood & Raw Bar (top of Jordanelle Gondola) taste like a summer day in Maine. And back by popular demand is Deer Valley’s seafood buffet, offered at Snow Park Lodge’s Cast & Cut.

Take a Tour

Get oriented to Deer Valley’s six mountains while learning a little about the local history—and secret spots not highlighted on the trail map—with a free Mountain Host tour. Intermediate and expert tours are offered daily at 9:30 and 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Advance registration is required. 

What’s New for 2023–24

The second level of Silver Lake Lodge’s Royal Street Café is now RSC Bar, open for both lunch and après-ski for guests ages 21 and over. And thanks to new lockers at Silver Lake, instead of sitting around in your ski pants while sipping a cocktail, you can bring a change of clothes to wear at RSC during the aforementioned après-ski hour. 

Five Deer Valley Must-Dos

Little Baldy 
At the top of Deer Valley’s Little Baldy Peak (accessed from the top of the Mountaineer chairlift or Jordanelle Gondola), point your skis onto the intermediate Jordanelle ski run. This run is impeccably groomed every day and skis best in the morning when the sun heats it up slightly to make its pristine corduroy feel creamy under the skis. 

Ski with a Champ
Give your family—or better yet, yourself—a dream come true with the Ski with a Champion experience, a full or half day of guided skiing with one of six Olympians, including Shannon Bahrke, Kaylin Richardson, or Trace Worthington. (For groups of up to six, ages 7 and up; 435-649-5766)

Après All Day
The après-ski options at Deer Valley are many, but if the sun is shining, grab a beer inside Silver Lake Lodge and sit outside in lawn chairs at the Ski Beach. 

Mayflower
Ignore the masses of powder chasers beelining it to the Empire area, and head instead to the Mayflower Chutes, Fortune Teller, or the thigh-burning Orient Express, which often stay untouched until as late as noon.

World Cup
It’s almost a certainty that the Winter Olympics will return to Utah in 2034. But you can get a taste for the games now at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International World Cup at Deer Valley, February 1–3, 2024. The event features elite mogul and aerial skiing athletes battling it out on Deer Valley’s Olympic runs in an under-the-lights nighttime competition.   

Return to Top

Park City Mountain

Park City’s namesake resort has held the undisputed distinction of being the largest ski and snowboard resort in the United States for almost a decade. While its 7,300 acres certainly make for click-worthy marketing fodder, how that humongous acreage translates on the ground is simple: ample opportunities to ditch the crowds and enjoy a little nature-infused solitude. Park City Mountain’s other hallmarks include its terrain variety, ample dining options, and ski-in, ski-out access to the city’s always-lively historic district. 

Thinking Ahead

If you’re not an Epic passholder, then you’ll want to go to the resort’s website to purchase a day ticket at least a day before you plan to ski or ride there. By doing so you’ll skip long lines at the ticket window and save up to 50 percent. After purchasing, you can use the new My Epic app to download your ticket to your phone and go directly to the lifts. 

Parking

Advanced parking reservations are required seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at all of Park City Mountain’s in-town, Mountain Village lots: Underground, Main, First Time, and Silver King. Make your res online for $26.65 per vehicle, per day, or for free for cars with four or more occupants. Parking is free and no reservation is required at the resort’s Canyons Village base. 

Touring the Nation’s Biggest Mountain Resort

You can certainly try to ski or ride Park City Mountain from one end to the other and back again in a single day, what locals call going “Coast to Coast to Coast,” but doing so is less about skiing or riding and more about sitting on lifts. For a more snow-sliding-focused tour, hop on the Mountain Village’s Eagle chairlift and ski or ride your way over to the Canyons Village side via the King Con, Silverlode, and Quicksilver lifts. From the top of Quicksilver, take the White Pine run down to the Dreamcatcher lift. From the top of Dreamcatcher, you can see forever and get a sense for how enormous Park City Mountain is. Ski or ride the resort’s Canyons side until the end of the day and then catch the city bus or an Uber back to the Mountain Village. 

What to Eat

With almost a dozen on-mountain restaurants—and many more at its Mountain Village, Silver Star, Town Lift, and Canyons Village base areas—choice is the name of the dining game at Park City Mountain. Standouts include anything from Tombstone BBQ, the poutine or fondue at Lookout Cabin, the prosciutto and St. André cheese baguette sandwich at The Viking Yurt, ahi poke bowls at Mid Mountain Lodge, fresh morning doughnuts at Cloud Dine, and the savory chicken pot pie at Miner’s Camp.

What’s New

Park City Mountain’s Red Pine Gondola has been outfitted with new cabins featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing 360-degree views as you head up the mountain. (A ride on this gondola makes it apparent why this side of the resort was once called Canyons.) 

5 Park City Mountain Must-Dos

Sip & Ride
Ski or ride Quit-N-Time or Creole down to the base of the Town Lift, located in the heart of Park City’s historic district. From there, walk across the street to wet your whistle and have a snack at High West Saloon, the world’s first-ever ski in, ski out gastro-distillery. 

Cozy Up
End your day at Pendry Park City, a boutique luxury hotel tucked into Canyons Village that’s ground zero for Park City’s newest après-ski scene. Cozy up with a hot bevvy at the outdoor firepits or go indoors to hang out in the hotel’s lobby lounge and bar—as stylish as it is spacious—to sip a craft cocktail and nibble on a German pretzel or tomato burrata while listening to live music. 

Get Extreme
Though Park City Mountain is known for its intermediate runs, adventure seekers will find challenge-a-plenty in the resort’s high-alpine terrain, including Jupiter Peak, Ninety-Nine 90, or Pinecone Ridge. 

Party Time
This season marks Park City Mountain’s 60th anniversary. To celebrate its robust history from the silver mining era to a 2002 Winter Olympics venue to the world-class ski and snowboard destination it is today, special events are scheduled for the entire season, including a 60th anniversary party in mid-January, QUEERSKI Pride events in February, and Spring Grüv concerts and pond-skimming competition in March. 

Adventurous Eats
Looking for a dining experience you’ll never forget? Then book an evening at The Viking Yurt. You’ll ride a snowcat-pulled sleigh up Park City Mountain’s nighttime slopes to the cozy, Nordic-imbued shelter. There you’ll be served a fantastic six-course meal and plenty of joviality before tucking back into the sleigh to ride under the stars back to the resort base. 

Return to Top

Backcountry Skiing 

Upwards of 3,000 lifts now operate through the United States. As such, you may wonder why anyone would want to walk uphill versus catching a ride to the top. The answer: backcountry skiing offers endorphin-fueled exercise, camaraderie, and a level of solitude hard to find inbounds.

On-Piste Skinning

Inbounds uphill skinning—using alpine touring gear to ski uphill along groomed resort runs—is a practice that’s become popular in many mountain towns, including Park City. Uphill skinning is allowed, conditions permitting, on Park City Mountain’s Homerun trail from the bottom of the First Time chairlift to the old gondola angle station from 6 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. daily, December 15 to the final day of the season. Headlamps are recommended; dogs are not allowed. For details, call Park City Mountain’s trails hotline at 435-615-1911. Note: Uphill travel is prohibited at Deer Valley. 

Lift-Assisted

A great way to dip your toe into backcountry skiing without making the full educational and gear-purchase investment is the Ski Utah Interconnect Tour. You’ll get to cover up to 25 miles in a single day by skiing in and out of up to six mountain resorts on this unique adventure.  

Hire a Guide

For visitors and those new to backcountry skiing, the most efficient and safest way to sample Utah’s many backcountry skiing and riding opportunities is to hire a guide. Inspired Summit Adventures is a women-run guiding service based in Park City’s Pinebrook area that offers guided backcountry skiing and riding tours throughout Northern Utah. ISA’s experiences include backcountry skiing day trips as well as overnight stays at the Castle Peak Yurt, a cozy hut (complete with a barrel sauna) tucked into amazing Uintas’ skiing and riding terrain that can accommodate up to nine people. ISA also hosts multiday women’s and coed backcountry skiing clinics in the spring. 

Additional accredited backcountry skiing/riding guide services include Utah Mountain Adventures, The Backcountry Pros, Wasatch Mountain Guides, Red River Adventures, and Snowbird Mountain Guides.

Know Before You Go

The Utah Avalanche Center posts daily forecasts for backcountry riding regions throughout the state on their website, social media channels, and on the UAC app. 

Return to Top

Cross-Country Skiing 

You may have come to Park City for downhill skiing, but once you get a taste
 for the fantastic workout, laid-back vibe, and wealth of opportunities to skate 
or classic cross-country ski all over town, you’ll be hooked.

Where to Go

Basin Recreation regularly grooms 26 km of skate and classic cross-country ski track throughout the Snyderville area on multiuse paths in the Jeremy Ranch neighborhood, Kimball Junction, and alongside Highway 224 and McLeod Creek. 

The Utah Nordic Alliance (TUNA) grooms 5 km of track for skate and classic skiing on the Big Mountain Pass Road (SR 65) in Parleys Canyon two to three times per week. 

In Round Valley, the Mountain Trails Foundation grooms 25 km of multiuse trails for skate and classic skiing, snow biking, hiking, and off-leash dogs. 

Glide along 30 km of groomed track at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Heber Valley’s charming town of Midway. 

White Pine Touring Nordic Center offers more than 15 km of groomed-daily loops at the Park City Golf Course, as well as guided tours of Park City’s more than 75 kilometers of in-town cross-country skiing or more remote trails in the Uinta Mountains. 

Return to Top