Over the years, it’s grown more than anyone could have imagined. Now, it’s a place that offers something for everyone. There’s shopping and golf. Beer festivals and wine tastings. Luxury spas and high-end restaurants. Horseback riding and boating. You can don a silly costume and join the Tour des Suds bike race, ride the zip line at the Utah Olympic Park or browse the galleries during the Gallery Stroll on the last Friday of each month.
Park City has evolved into a stunning outdoor playground, thanks to the many locals who’ve invested their time, heart and vision. In this issue, we talk to the people with a passion for play. People like Bob Radke, who spent 17 years crafting trails for Snyderville Basin Recreation and is responsible for building dozens of the most well-loved trails in the Wasatch Back. Or Julie Minahan, director of Young Riders, a program that gets kids on their bikes and teaches them how to read trail maps. Then there’s Shaun Deutschlander, who founded Inspired Summit Adventures, a guide service for mountain biking, hiking and camping adventures.
In a town that’s home to many international athletes, you never know who you’re going to brush shoulders with on the trail. Including people like Marty Jemison, a two-time Tour de France competitor and former U.S. National Road Race Champion.
Sounds too good to be true, right? It is. There’s a price of admission to this amazing playground. Park City once had abundant wildlife; it wasn’t uncommon to see moose, deer, elk, coyotes, fox, eagles, bears — and even mountain lions. But the influx of people on the trails and the number of new homes being built on animal habitats has changed all that.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has come up with some creative solutions to minimize the conflict between humans and wildlife and to protect precious areas and the creatures that live there. And Park City’s environmental sustainability department has set North America’s most ambitious climate goal: for the whole community to be net-zero carbon and run on 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.
But it’s also up to us, the people playing in this majestic playground, to care for it. So sure, come and play, there’s plenty to do. But be a good steward, too. Learn trail etiquette and pick up trash. Vote for people who care about preservation and sustainability and help us all conserve this natural playground so that future generations and the wildlife that call this place home can enjoy it too.