Digging up fun facts from National Trails Day with Park City’s Mountain Trails Foundation

PARK CITY, Utah — National Trails Day is an annual day of service and celebration the first Saturday in June all across the country including Park City. 

Mountain Trails Foundation employees, 13 of them, were joined by 100 volunteers and divided their efforts on the day between two projects.

One crew of 66 started from the National Ability Center parking lot and worked on the Somewhere elk’s trail, building a reroute, improving corners, pulling invasive weeds and working on drainage. From that crew, approximately 60% of participants were from local high school mountain bike teams, 20% were parents, and 20% were long-time locals, most people, roughly 85% of whom had previously attended volunteer work days.

The other crew of 34 met at Ontario trailhead and hiked over to work on a new hiking trail that will connect the lookout trail to the Silver Lake neighborhood. Those volunteers worked on cutting corridor and building the tread, the division of participants make-up was about the same.

Overall, about a mile of trail was built and rehabbed, and 150 lbs. of invasive weeds were removed.

Ian Hartley, Resource Manager for Mountain Trails Foundation told TownLift, “Most of the amazing volunteers came up from the Salt Lake Valley. You couldn’t really pick two more different areas to work on, with the shaded Ontario canyon hiking trail winding through pines and evergreens and Somewhere elks traversing typical rocky and exposed Round Valley terrain with oaks and sage.” He added, “We had breakfast donated by Wasatch Bagel and coffee provided by Silver King Coffee, which was a huge help.”  

Hartley has worked for the Mountain Trails Foundation for four years and was with White Pine Touring before that. National Trails Day is not grant-funded in any way and Mountain Trails Foundation spent about $700 on pizza and sodas. 

“It’s incredibly rewarding to work at Mountain Trails Foundation. The community support we receive is unparalleled; it’s clear that we love trails.” Hartley said. “It’s hard not to feel a bit emotional when you see generations of users out on the trails they helped create. What’s also amazing is the level of collaboration that goes on behind the scenes, Park City Municipal, Summit Land Conservancy, Utah Open Lands and Basin Recreation, we all work in conjunction with one another to bring these world-class amenities to the community, free of charge.”

The fact that recreationalists have trail access along the Park City Ridgeline, which is mainly comprised of private property, “is a huge win for all of us.” Securing trails and land access takes a long-term approach, community investment, blood, sweat, and tears. “A debt of gratitude is owed to those who have contributed and continue to work for this benefit, we are grateful.”

National Trails Day is a prime example of community support. Last year, over 140 people showed up, which led them to take a different approach and requiring a sign-up this year. Volunteer days are a proven way to give back, and they have a full calendar of events on www.mountaintrails.org for those who want to participate.

Their full-time professional trail crew is what allows Parkites to enjoy trails 365 days a year. Operating machinery and accessing sites deep within the trail system, the crew is constantly working to build and maintain this community asset.