This year, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend several weeks in Park City in the summer. With the shift to work from home, my boyfriend and I roadtripped from Houston to Utah to spend a few weeks in the mountains. Here’s an overview of what we did, where we hiked and where we ate in the Park City area.
About Park City
Park City is less than an hour’s drive from Salt Lake City in Northern Utah. It was founded in 1869 during the silver mining boom in the Wasatch Range. It’s evolved into a major skiing destination that even hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. Park City is the largest ski resort in the US with 348 runs. Deer Valley is a popular ski-only mountain that tops the lists for best ski resorts, is known for its pristine terrain, limited foot traffic and après culture. You can also easily access other ski towns like Sundance, Brighton, and Snowmass. While you can’t ski in the summer, these mountains make for a wonderful backdrop for exploring in the summer.
Where to Hike in Park City
Most days after work and on weekends, we picked a trail and headed out for a hike. Thanks to the plethora of ski resorts in the area, we had plenty of trails to choose from. We used AllTrails to check trail conditions and assess degree of difficulty for each hike. Here are some of the fun trails and mileage that we did on hikes in the Park City area:
- Round Valley (3-5 miles)– rolling hills close to Park City; known for good horseback riding and mountain biking.
- Park City Mountain (8 miles)–packed with mountain bikers on the weekend, but pretty cooler to hike around the runs that we skied down back in February. We did the Spiro and Armstrong trails.
- Stewart Falls (4 miles) –stunning hike in the Sundance area to a waterfall
- Bloods Lake & Lake Lakahawken (5 miles) – two lakes to cool off in during the summer with gorgeous wildflowers!
- Dog Lake & Lake Mary- Brighton (4 miles) – stunning alpine lake views with lots of wildflowers. We saw two moose here!
- Pfeifferhorn (11 miles) – 5th tallest mountain in the Wasatch range. The last stretch was tough with lots of bouldering and scaling rocks at 70 degrees, but the views were incredible. Red Pine lake was a stunning pit stop around 4 miles in.
- Timpanagos (13 miles) – 2nd tallest mountain in the Wasatch range. My first mountain that I summited! Lots of mountain goats and winding beautiful trails through all sorts of terrain.
Round Valley, Park City 
Bloods Lake Trail 
Pfeifferhorn Trail 
Bloods Lake Trail 
Timpanagos Summit 
Timpanagos Summit 
Timpanagos Trail 
Pfeifferhorn Trail 
Pfeifferhorn Trail
Where to Eat in Park City
Due to COVID, we cooked 90% of our meals at home (pro tip: rent a place that has a kitchen and a grill!), we did pick up a few meals to-go and ate out a few times. Here are some of the noteworthy spots to eat in Park City in the summer. Whether it’s COVID or ski season, it’s always good to call ahead and make a reservation ahead of time.
Breakfast
- Wasatch Bagel – perfect spot to grab breakfast before a hike or drive
Brunch / Lunch
- Riverhorse Provisions—café/deli to grab a quick lunch
- Five 5eeds—lots of great vegetarian options! I got the mushroom toast and fell in love.
- Harvest – in love with this spot for weekend brunch
Dinner
- Twisted Fern – we split a bottle of wine and had a wonderful date night on the patio
- High West Distillery – do the tasting flight and try the charcuterie board. I never thought I’d be one to drink whiskey straight, but it was so fun!
- Chimayo—upscale southwestern fare on Main Street
- Squatters—hearty food American food, great after a day of skiing. They also make their own beer!
- Boneyard Saloon—half wine bar, half craft beer joint
- Yuki Yama Sushi – curbside takeout!
Harvest 
High West Distillery
Things to Do in Park City
Even when the snow is melted there are tons of things to do in Park City in the summer. Kyle went golfing several times at Park Meadows, Soldier Hollow and Wasatch Mountain. We also considered mountain biking in Round Valley and kayaking at Deer Creek Island Resort.
Where to Shop
Park City has an adorable Main Street with historic buildings full of shops and restaurants nestled into the hillside. During the summer, the street closes to driving traffic on Sundays so outdoor bars and artisan booths pop-up on the sidewalk and pedestrians can roam the streets safely. These are some of the cute boutiques and shops I like in Park City:
I bought my white wool fedora hat there as a fun souvenir of my time in the west!
Day Trips
You have endless possibilities if you wan to take a day trip from Park City during the summer. Below are some of the places we explored during our weeks in town.
COVID Considerations in Park City
Since we went to Utah to hike, it was pretty easy to socially distance when Park City. In general, we didn’t go out to eat often and minimized our trips to the grocery store. Here is what we did to stay safe during COVID in Park City in July:
- Park City establishments all require you to wear a mask. On Main Street, their statues are wearing masks and hand sanitizer stations have been set up at cross walks.
- We wore our masks any time we entered an establishment (shop, restaurant, grocery store, etc.) and brought them on our hikes.
- On the trails, we would wear our masks or pull up our sweatshirts over our faces as a courtesy when passing people closely. About half the hikers would do this as well. Encountering people typically happened on the first few miles of the trail. People usually thinned out as we got closer to the top of the mountain.
- We rarely asked anyone to take our picture. I balanced my phone on rocks and took many self-timer photos. I brought hand sanitizer with me everywhere in my fanny pack and would wipe down my phone if I did hand it to someone. (Exceptions have to be made if you SUMMIT A MOUNTAIN and want to document it!).
- We packed a cooler wherever we went so we had cold water and snacks on after hikes, so there was no need to go into gas stations on the drive home.
Always check the latest recommendations from the local and state government before you visit to understand how best to prepare for your trip to Park City.
What do you think of Park City in the summer?
