Electric Bike Tour From Park City To Utah Olympic Park
Okay, I get it, some people maaaay think that an electric bike is totally cheating the experience of biking, but here’s what I have to say about that: you don’t have to use the battery power and wouldn’t a little assistance on a multi-mile hill climb make your day a little brighter—or at least make you a little less sweaty when arriving at your destination(s)?
We rented electric cruiser bikes from Silver Star Ski and Sport (you can also rent fully human powered bikes) for the day with our final destination being Utah Olympic Park. Tip: if you reserve your bike at least 48-hours in advance, you’ll receive 20% off the reservation price.
From the rental shop, we hopped on McLeod Creek Trail heading to the north end of Park City, which parallels Highway 224. But don’t worry, the trail is lined with trees, so you quickly forget the highway is even there. The trail is wide and mostly flat, with some minor elevation in a few areas, and features fantastic mountain views, wildlife sightings and numerous creeks along the way.
A couple miles into our ride, we passed the historic McPolin Farm and stopped to check it out. The farm was homesteaded in 1886 and operated as a farm until Park City purchased the 80-acre parcel in 1990. The iconic white barn was extensively refurbished and remains one of the most significant visual features in the valley. The trail adjacent to the farm has many posted signs that tell the history of the farm, and you can also download the McPolin Barn Walking Tour Map from the App Store if you want the full history lesson.
We continued along McLeod Creek Trail another four miles or so to Kimball Junction, a retail, dining and residential area that backs up to the 1,200-acre Swaner Nature Preserve. This might not be a typical pairing, but it definitely makes this area unique. Spend the morning shopping and dining, and then take a stroll (guided or unguided) through the Preserve--be on the lookout for foxes, coyotes, and weasels!
Next, we headed straight uphill (this is where our electric bikes really came in handy) to Utah Olympic Park. Built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, the 400-acre venue is home to training facilities, numerous adventure activities, an Olympic museum, and much more. We just happened to arrive on an afternoon when a group of athletes were working on their ski jumping skills—aiming themselves downhill and letting it fly, dropping straight into a huge swimming pool. It was quite the spectacle, to say the least.
Our day-long bike tour was about 14 miles round-trip, a perfect combination of light exercise and much sightseeing and fun. There are so many bike trails throughout Park City, one could explore for days and never bike the same path twice; we highly recommend touring Park City on two wheels if you can—and don’t be afraid to give an electric bike a try!