Outdoor Retailer Reporting and Winter Running in Park City

I will be spending time at the twice yearly Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, Utah this week at the tail end of a family skiing and running vacation in Park City and at Alta.

Yes, winter running and nordic skiing is incredible in Park City and runners will find the running at least as good as the sliding.  My favorite outdoor running venue is in Round Valley, just to the northeast of downtown. Over 20K of machine groomed trails over rolling terrain with great views. Run, ski, even bike ride on these groomers.

Park City and the surrounding area has over 40 miles of free groomed run-ski-walk trails- a bit less than the summer total of 350 miles of superb trails, most with smooth, fast footing.  I often run at night with few roads to cross and cars to dodge.

What do you do when the outside weather is not great or for a workout after a day of skiing?  Well, Kimball Junction, 6 miles north of downtown has a spectacular public field house at the Basin Recreation Center ($6 day pass) featuring an approximately 9 laps ( I think it is closer to 8.75 laps)  to the mile indoor balcony track with a great surface.  The place for winter intervals. You can run from the Recreation Center on groomed relatively level trails almost all the way to Park City

The Racquet Club   another public facility which is in Park Meadows, closer to downtown, is under renovation and will also feature a similar indoor track when it reopens in Fall 2011.

Below a map illustrating the 2 facilities and Round Valley. Click the link below the map and zoom out.


View Park City Winter Running in a larger map

Most sports stores in Park City sell a very detailed trail map which can also be seen online at Mountain Trails