I’m not a winter person. I’m no skiier, I hate being cold and slipping around like a baby bird on the ground.
So for me, visiting Utah in summer is the ideal time. Especially because their famous ski fields and ski towns are open and as cute as buttons for hikers, bikers and lovers of scenery and a little potter around the shops.
Park City is about a 40-minute drive from Salt Lake City and is one of the closest ski resorts to the capital. But in summer it’s bursting with flowers, the quaint Main Street shops, bars and restaurants are open and the tourists are not heaving all around you in their fancy snow costumes with skis propped up against the buildings.
Things to do in Park City
Olympic Park was a real highlight. This is where the 2002 Winter Olympics was held and today is where the US Ski Team are based for their off season training.
It’s also a cleverly run tourist attraction where you can join a professional driver in a bob sled and scream down the track. Take a $10 bus ride up to the top of the park and stand at top of the steep and daunting K120 ski run, then return to watch athletes practice their flips from ski ramps into a pool. You can also zip line and even learn to ski yourself into the pool!
Tanger Shopping Outlets for when the weather is a little inclement and you need a retail fix. It’s not huge, but you’ll find shops like J. Crew, Gap, Adidas, Ann Taylor and a bunch more. It’s just at the exit from the highway to Park City and about a 15 minute drive back from the main little town.
Roam Main Street
With about 100 shops to ferret around in, bars and restaurants, Main Street is where we roamed both days we were here. There is metered car parking on the street, but free parking in various places in the streets parallel.
We started at the top and had a beer at Wasatch, then wandered down to sit upstairs and outside at No Name Saloon where their little burger sliders did the trick!
The next night I picked the brains of locals as to where to eat and they all said Main Street, so back we went and enjoyed with a live band (it was Whiskey Wednesday) at HighWest Whiskey Bar.
The chair lift from the mountain right behind also comes down to here, so in winter it’s an easy lunch time stop.
Summer in Park City Utah
But summer in Park City is now not the down season it used to be. The week after we left (it was very quiet when we were here in early June) the summer activities were kicking off.
Think biking trails and hikes with working ski lifts to take you up to the tracks – or just to see the view.
Every Sunday they have the Park Silly Sunday Market when Main Street is alive with vendors and shoppers, live music and loads of entertainment. Check out the summer calendar here >>
If you have the kids with you, or you’re an adrenalin-fuelled adult, head to Park City Mountain Resort which is a veritable theme park of activities from zip lining to luging and an Alpine Coaster.
