Читать книгу Mountain Bike: Park City - Jared Hargrave - Страница 9

Park City, nestled in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, is world famous for luxury ski resorts and the Sundance Film Festival. But what visitors to this bustling winter destination don’t realize is that Park City is also home to some of the best mountain bike trails in the world. The town even has an award to prove it. In 2012, Park City was named the world’s first Gold Ride Center by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). To become a Gold Ride Center, Park City had to meet a set of criteria that took into account the following: number of trail miles, quality of trails, quality of hotel rooms and restaurants, bike shops, trailhead facilities, bike parks, brew pubs, and cooperation among local government, businesses, and land owners to create a vast, interconnected trail network.

Variety of trails is also very important. Park City has it all, from beginner loops to rugged backcountry epics and downhill-only gravity trails. Over 400 miles of nonmotorized trail are continuous, connected, and easy to access. The network spans two ski resorts and beyond, from low-elevation sagebrush desert to old-growth evergreen and aspen forests, to breathtaking alpine terrain above tree line.

Also, Park City isn’t the only trail destination in this guide. Nearby towns along the Wasatch Back, such as Heber City, Kamas, and Oakley, each have rapidly expanding singletrack networks of their own. Park City truly is a mountain biking paradise.