Long-planned Ranch to Ridge Trail nears completion in Snyderville Basin

PARK CITY, Utah — A new trail is marking a major milestone in connecting communities across the Snyderville Basin.

First envisioned about three decades ago, the Ranch to Ridge trail is nearing completion, according to a joint statement from Basin Recreation and Utah Open Lands.

“The trail represents years of conservation planning, public investment, private fundraising, and partnership,” reads the statement.

The story of the Ranch to Ridge Trail began in the mid-1990s, when Utah Open Lands began working with landowning families to protect connected open spaces in the Snyderville Basin.

 

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Those efforts eventually helped protect more than 1,400 acres at Hi Ute Ranch and created opportunities for new trails.

In 1998, the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District and Utah Open Lands secured the first trail easement, known as Hunter’s Trail. The Millennium Trail Connection was the first trail corridor created through the land protection, with additional connections envisioned as part of a broader effort to link neighborhoods and open spaces across the Basin.

The Ranch to Ridge Trail is becoming one of the clearest results of that long-term effort to protect open space and build a connected trail network.

But with the trail in final stages of construction, Basin Rec is asking users to exercise caution.

“Shoulder season is here, and the freshly built trail can be especially susceptible to damage before it has time to stabilize,” reads the statement.

Basin Rec also asked users to access the trail using the designated park-and-ride lot off Kilby Road and not to park at Ecker Hill Middle School.

Utah Open Lands and Basin Recreation are planning to celebrate the trail opening in the spring of 2027, when the trail has stabilized.