Park City Trail Crews Launch Early Season Maintenance Amid Fast-Drying Conditions

Lora Anthony had a blunt message for Park City's trail community: "This dirt season is coming early." Mountain Trails Foundation crews were already spread across Round Valley, Skyridge and Clark Ranch by late March, pulling winter markers and beginning maintenance work months ahead of the normal schedule, pushed into action by an unseasonably warm stretch that dried out much of the city's trail network faster than anticipated.

"We've already begun maintenance in Round Valley," said Anthony, executive director of the Mountain Trails Foundation.

In Round Valley, crews tackled sections of the Big Easy trail, one of the most heavily traveled routes in the system, while also working on a stretch just below Rademan Ridge where S-turn improvements aimed at better flow and accessibility were already underway. The Round Valley Express singletrack saw early attention as well, with crews "turning and burning what we have left on Round Valley Express that is workable," according to a Mountain Trails Foundation update.

The urgency is tied directly to soil moisture. The ground currently holds enough moisture to be shaped and packed effectively, allowing crews to smooth surfaces and address winter damage. Without consistent spring precipitation, the earth hardens and those repairs become significantly more difficult or impossible to complete.

"If we don't get monsoons this summer, the trails will be too dry to do much with," Anthony said. "It'll make completing summer projects very challenging and, in some cases, impossible."

Conditions have also created a split-day problem on the trails themselves. Mountain Trails Foundation noted that the Round Valley Express "is traveling fine in the morning while it's frozen, but as the temperatures rise and sun gets on it, it becomes snot." Temperature readings at Quinn's Junction and Empire Pass clocked in at 21 degrees and 15 degrees respectively during early morning hours. The organization urged riders to avoid rutting or post-holing soft trails during afternoon hours; the midweek fat bike race series in Round Valley was also called off due to deteriorating conditions.

With heavy equipment active on several trails, Anthony flagged a serious safety concern. "Machine operators cannot see trail users which makes it very dangerous for trail users and challenging for the trail crew," she said. "The more trail users interrupt work, the slower the progress, the longer the trail is off line."

The early maintenance push is intended to clear the way for a heavier project slate later in the season, including two new hiking-only trails, an overhaul of signage in the Old Town trail system and completion of the Silver Queen and Loose Moose extension.

The rapid melt also reshaped how the winter played out for Nordic users: Bonanza Flat served as the primary destination for cross-country skiers this season, taking over a role traditionally held by Round Valley, while the Park City Bonanza Winter Shuttle helped riders reach higher-elevation trails where snow coverage held longer. Lower-lying areas like Round Valley and Glenwild typically dry out up to six weeks earlier than the alpine trails above 7,000 feet, which rarely open before June. This year, that gap arrived ahead of schedule, and the crews followed.