Summit County brings back Trails, Trash & Tunes for National Trails Day

Summit County is turning National Trails Day into a cleanup test at Newpark Amphitheater, where volunteers will spend part of Saturday pulling weeds and picking up trash before the afternoon shifts to live music, children’s activities and food vendors. The county’s Stormwater Coalition is using the event to underline a basic local reality: what is left on trails, roads and open spaces does not stay put for long when runoff starts moving.

The fifth annual Trails, Trash & Tunes is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, from noon to 3:30 p.m. at Newpark Amphitheater, 1258 Center Drive, in Park City. The first 50 participants will receive a free lunch, and the event will also include educational booths staffed by local partners and county employees. Visitors can collect raffle tickets and prizes by stopping at those booths, turning the gathering into both a volunteer day and a public information fair.

The county is tying the event to the broader work of its stormwater program, which focuses on keeping pollution carried by runoff out of waterways. Summit County Public Works says it is responsible for road maintenance, waste management and flood control, while Summit County Engineering reviews and supervises construction projects, manages right-of-way, handles development in the floodplain and administers county ordinances. The county’s staff directory also lists Storm Water Management as a separate function, underscoring how trail cleanup, drainage and construction oversight connect in the same system.

National Trails Day is held on the first Saturday in June and has been a national trail service and advocacy event since June 5, 1993, according to the American Hiking Society. The organization says the day brings together hikers, bikers, paddlers, horseback riders, trail clubs, agencies, land trusts and businesses, a mix that fits Summit County’s own recreation-heavy landscape.

This year’s return to Newpark follows earlier county celebrations at Wanship Trailhead in 2024 and Silver Creek Loomis Park in 2025. Prior coverage also encouraged participants to bike or carpool and handed out trash bags at the event, practical reminders that the cleanup is meant to do more than create a crowd photo. In Summit County, success will depend on whether the county can keep enough people engaged in the unglamorous work of keeping trash and runoff from becoming a long-term burden on trails, open space and the watershed itself.