Mountain Bike: Park City. Jared Hargrave

five types: a loop, lariat loop, out-and-back, shuttle, or network.

       Loop

      Just as it sounds, a loop starts and ends at the same trailhead by going around in a circle. Loops use different ascent and descent trails to make the ride circle back to end where it started.

       Trailside Bike Park (Route 32) is a great place to learn technical skills and practice bike handling on manmade features.

       Lariat Loop

      Also known as a lollipop loop, a lariat loop is a cross between an out-and-back and a loop.

       Out-and-Back

      An out-and-back route follows the same trail up and down, with a turnaround point at some sort of high point or cool destination.

       Shuttle

      Almost always downhill, shuttle rides are one-way routes for those who want all the gravity thrills without earning it by pedaling uphill. You leave a vehicle at the bottom, then drive to the top of the trail for a bike ride back down.

       Network

      In Park City, almost every trail is part of a network where I feature a particular loop or ride within the singletrack system. For this book, I use the network category for places like the Deer Valley Bike Park, where I don’t focus on a single route but feature every trail. You can choose your own adventure within a given network.

       TRAIL TYPE

      Trail type describes the type of trail or trails in a route, such as singletrack, doubletrack, etc. I give a percentage of each trail type in a given route.

       DISTANCE

      This category outlines the mileage of each route. I’ve rounded the mileage to the nearest tenth of a mile, so you may find your GPS mileage is a bit off from my route descriptions.

       ELEVATION GAIN/LOSS

      This category indicates the amount of uphill and downhill elevation loss or gain you can expect on a route, given in vertical feet and rounded to the nearest ten. The vast majority of routes in this book (loops) have the same elevation gain and loss. Shuttle rides and lift-served mountain biking have a significant difference, with elevation loss outpacing the gain.

       HIGH POINT

      High point indicates the highest point above sea level of every ride. This figure sometimes (but not always) indicates the turnaround point for out-and-back rides.

       RIDE TIME

      Ride time is subjective, as every mountain biker goes at their own pace. I consider myself a mountain biker of average fitness, so for this book I used a range between my own “moving time” and the total ride time that includes time spent stopped for photos, snacks, and simply enjoying the view.

       DIFFICULTY RATINGS

      The overall difficulty of these rides is broken down into two parts: technical difficulty and fitness intensity. This category is also subjective, as one rider may have no problem banging out a 30-mile ride with 4000 feet of elevation gain, but cringes at the thought of rock drops or steep, rooty sections. On the other hand, many gravity riders don’t blink an eye at launching off giant wood features at the bike park, but are incapable of pedaling an epic backcountry route. Use these ratings to match your technical skill and fitness to find rides that you will consider most enjoyable.

       A NOTE ABOUT SAFETY

      Safety is an important concern in all outdoor activities. No guidebook can alert you to every hazard or anticipate the limitations of every reader. Therefore, the descriptions of roads, trails, routes, and natural features in this book are not representations that a particular place or excursion will be safe for your party. When you follow any of the routes described in this book, you assume responsibility for your own safety. Under normal conditions, such excursions require the usual attention to traffic, road and trail conditions, weather, terrain, the capabilities of your party, and other factors. Because many of the lands in this book are subject to development and/or change of ownership, conditions may have changed since this book was written that make your use of some of these routes unwise. Always check for current conditions, obey posted private property signs, and avoid confrontations with property owners or managers. Keeping informed on current conditions and exercising common sense are the keys to a safe, enjoyable outing.

       —Mountaineers Books

      Sharing the Union Pacific Rail Trail (Route 7) with cows as the route passes through a working ranch (Photo by Eric Ghanem)

       Technical Difficulty

      Routes are categorized into one of four levels of difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert. It is very important to know your own skill level when choosing a route to ride. However, sometimes the technical sections of any given trail are short, and you can walk your bike around them. The Spine on the Wasatch Crest (Route 36) is a great example. Most of the Wasatch Crest is intermediate, but I label it advanced because of that one technical section. It’s up to you to decide what is rideable and what warrants a dismount to hike-a-bike.

      Beginner: Easy rides with few or no obstacles. The trails are wide, smooth, and flat. There are also no steep sections.

      Intermediate: Routes are rougher and narrower, with smaller, unavoidable obstacles that are easy to roll over. Intermediate trails can also be steeper. The vast majority of routes in Park City fall under this category.

      Advanced: Narrow and uneven trail tread combined with steeper grades and larger obstacles like rock drops, large roots, and tight corners with loose soil. These routes require advanced skills to clean safely.

      Expert: The most difficult trails with very steep grades, continuous uneven tread, large drops, challenging rock gardens, and big, unavoidable jumps. These types of routes are mostly found in lift-served bike parks where body armor and full-face helmets are recommended.

       Fitness Intensity

      This category is based on a scale of effort to complete a route, quantified by mileage and elevation gain. Some trails are short but steep, while others are very long, but without much climbing. To come up with the fitness rating, I always choose the more difficult rating between mileage and vertical. Again, these ratings are subjective and dependent on a rider’s individual fitness level.

      •Easy: 10 miles or less and/or 1000 or less feet of vertical gain

      •Moderate: 10–15 miles and/or 1000 to 2000 feet of vertical gain

      •Strenuous: