Park City

With more than 7,000 acres of terrain, a world-class mountain town, and easy access from nearby Salt Lake City, Park City Resort presents itself as a competitive option among North American alpine resorts. This Utah destination does a lot of things well, but some may feel the resort is too big for its own good.

Park City Resort is really two resorts: the formerly separate Park City and Canyons, which combined in 2015 to become the largest ski area in the United States. This behemoth resort offers diverse terrain for visitors of all ability levels.

The best green terrain is at Park City, where multiple mountain areas offer gentle slopes. The more challenging Canyons only offers a few small beginner areas. However, some resort areas are not beginner-friendly and there are no green runs connecting the two sides. 

Most mountain areas offer an array of blue terrain, with plenty of moderately-sloped groomers around the resort. A few intermediate runs can stay ungroomed at times. Visitors of this ability level will especially appreciate Park City’s King Con area, which boasts abundant cruisers, and Canyons’ Dreamscape area, which offers a unique intermediate glade experience.

Advanced visitors will find plenty of terrain in both resort areas. Park City offers a mix of groomed and ungroomed below-treeline runs, while Canyons consists mostly of ungroomed trails and glades. The double-black diamond rating only appears in high-elevation areas, with both resort areas offering demanding bowl and glade runs with steep pitches and some cliffs. Some lines require demandingly tight turns, but the toughest terrain here falls short of truly extreme. While some double-black terrain requires hiking to get to, the Quicksilver Gondola opened up lift service to a decent amount of previously hike-only terrain.

The resort has one of the top terrain park setups in the world, with 8 parks and 2 halfpipes. One of these is the renowned Kings Crown area, where many of the world’s most talented freestylers choose to hole up and practice. But if you’re not a professional, the resort offers generous features for freestylers of all abilities. Most features are at Park City, but Canyons offers the enjoyable, medium-sized Transitions park and six unique natural halfpipes.

While Park City Resort offers unmatched acreage compared to the competition, the process of traveling between Park City and Canyons can be quite frustrating. It takes four lifts to get from the Park City base to the Canyons base, and it takes five to go the other way around. Such journeys take at least half an hour, and that’s if you know where you’re going and don’t run into any lines. It’s especially important to stay cognizant during the late afternoon, when being in the wrong spot can mean a lengthy shuttle bus ride to get back to your desired base. Some resorts that are actually separate entities offer better connections than this current setup.

However, the navigation experience improved for the 2019-2020 season, when the resort added the new, fixed-grip Over and Out lift from the base of the Tombstone lift to the Canyons base area. Despite its slow speed, this installation has brought about a major improvement in Tombstone-area crowd flow. Especially effective during afternoons, it’s made returning from most areas to the Canyons base much faster.

When it comes to lifts at the rest of the resort, many areas see high-speed service. The Canyons base is more resilient to inclement weather, as both gondola and bubble chair options are available there. However, some places in both Park City and Canyons are only accessible by slow, fixed-grip lifts. The areas furthest away from the bases typically have the slowest lifts, and visitors must endure at least one slow lift to get between the Park City and Canyons bases themselves. In addition, long lines can still build up at some resort chokepoints.

With so many areas so far removed from the bases, one would hope that there would be mid-mountain lodges to go in for a break. Luckily, multiple options exist throughout the resort, and it’s not too difficult to get to at least one of them from any part of the mountain. However, getting back to some upper mountain areas from the nearest lodge can take time.

For the most part, the resort offers pleasant vibes. Many resort areas feel quite isolated and provide breathtaking views. Various lifts lead through scenic canyons, and it’s possible to ski directly into the charming Park City town. However, parts of the resort are rather built up, with the Daybreak and Dreamcatcher areas, where multiple condos and roads scatter through, being the worst offenders.

The resort offers the light, dry snow that Utah is known for. However, those expecting constant powder may be slightly disappointed—the resort doesn’t see nearly as much accumulation as nearby Alta and Snowbird. The resort employs extensive snowmaking operations to ensure a resilient base layer.

For years, Park City offered night skiing on select terrain until 6pm. However, these operations were discontinued a few winters ago.

Lodging

Park City Resort offers multiple lodging options across its Park City and Canyons base areas. Both areas have slopeside lodging with pools and hot tubs. The Park City side has some options that are impressively cheap for slopeside access; offerings on the Canyons side tend to be more expensive but fancier. Large condos in the Daybreak, Dreamcatcher, and Iron Mountain areas are occasionally available for rent but tend to be prohibitively expensive. Many reasonably-priced lodging options are only a short drive from both bases, and the town of Park City contains plenty of condo rentals within walking distance of the base. The Park City Hostel, a short bus ride from the Park City base, tends to be the area’s cheapest lodging option.

Apres-ski

Park City Resort offers extensive apres-ski and nightlife options. You can find apres-ski bars with good food specials (alcohol happy hours are illegal in Utah) at both base areas as well as in town. Park City easily beats out Canyons for nightlife, with bars and clubs within walking distance from most slopeside hotels and condos there. Options range from casual to lively, and many venues feature live music and DJs.

Verdict

Park City Resort offers a uniquely expansive footprint, a world-class terrain park setup, and, by far, the best apres-ski in Utah. While the resort initially phoned it in when it came to connecting the two resort sides, recent updates have helped alleviate some navigation and crowd flow issues. But while snow quality and terrain diversity are certainly competitive, you’ll find better snow, tougher terrain, and more modern lift infrastructure at other nearby mountains.

Getting around this behemoth resort can still be quite trying, and many people will find it more practical to consider the two resort sides as separate areas. If you’re trying to choose between base areas, Park City offers better beginner terrain, more terrain park features, and more intuitive navigation, while Canyons offers a larger percentage of difficult terrain, more striking views, and more glade runs. With lift ticket prices among the most expensive in the country, vacationers may want to do their research before committing.