20 Things To Do In Park City, UT

In the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains in the literal backyard of Salt Lake City, Park City is a popular ski town which was shoved into the international spotlight when it hosted several events during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The city combines some of the largest skiing areas in the United States with a captivating cultural scene and a charming historic downtown district with one-of-a-kind venues and stunning outdoor attractions. The home of the annual Sundance Film Festival, Park City travellers to pop into the world’s only ski-in distillery, take a scenic hot air balloon ride, follow in the footsteps of Olympic gold medallists, and hit the slopes of three different ski resorts all in one eventful day. Here are the top things to do in Park City.

Park City, Utah

20 Things To Do In Park City

1- Spend A Day At The Utah Olympic Park

A remnant of Utah and Salt Lake City’s hosting of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the Utah Olympic Park was used for Olympic bobsleigh, skeleton, luge and Nordic combined events before being converted into Park City’s ultimate outdoor attraction following the games’ conclusion.

Covering a total area of over 400 acres (162 ha), the repurposed Utah Olympic Park was converted to a year-round, multi-season adventure wonderland.

It has adrenaline-pumping activities such as ropes courses, ziplining, extreme tubing and scenic chairlift rides on offer during summertime.

When winter descends upon Utah and Park City, the park returns to its Olympic roots, with the same Nordic ski jumps and sliding tracks used during the 2002 Winter Olympics open to the regular public for wintertime enjoyment and developing the next crop of Olympians.

When you’re done sledging or skiing down the slopes of the Utah Olympic Park, an official United States Olympic Training Site, you can swing by the on-site Eccles 2002 Winter Olympics Museum and Alf Engen Ski Museum, which preserves Utah’s rich Olympic heritage and celebrates the many athletes and volunteers involved in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Utah Olympic Park is at 3419 Olympic Pkwy, Park City, UT 84098. Join the Experience Park City: Olympic Park, Hike and Historic Main Street tour.

2- Hit The Slopes At Deer Valley Resort

One of the top luxury mountain resorts in Utah, Deer Valley Resort is a world-class skiing destination in Park City’s backyard which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympic Games’ skiing events.

Deer Valley Resort isn’t the only world-class skiing resort in town, however, it is one of the most upscale, with luxurious amenities and a restaurants and shops that wouldn’t seem out of place in Aspen or the Vail Valley.

Notable for being one of only three ‘ski-only’ mountain resorts in the United States, Deer Valley Resort is usually less crowded than some of the region’s other popular skiing spots, with more than 2,000 acres (820 ha) of total skiable area and 103 different trails for skiers to enjoy.

Deer Valley Resort is at 2250 Deer Valley Dr, Park City, UT 84060. Rent your skis here.

3- Stroll Through The Main Street Historic District

Head to the Park City Main Street Historic District for a fascinating grouping of dining spots, art galleries, lively entertainment and great company inside a 13-acre (5 ha) section of downtown Park City which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The Park City Main Street Historic District is the effervescent heartbeat of the city and renowned for its Mission Revival style architecture, which has served as the hub of Park City since the city’s days as a silver mining town.

Easy to access and simple to explore on foot or join a guided tour of the district where most of downtown Park City’s most charming attractions can be found.

4- Experience The Sundance Film Festival

One of the world’s premier annual independent film festivals, the Sundance Film Festival has been an iconic feature of Park City and Utah since 1978.

The festival was organised in Salt Lake City for its first three years of existence before being moved to nearby Park City, where the Sundance Film Festival has continued to be organised by the Sundance Institute ever since.

The Sundance Film Festival has grown tremendously over the years and is today the largest indie film festival in the United States.

It has premiered numerous Academy Award-winning films such “Minari”, “Manchester by the Sea” and “Coda”.

5- Stop By One Of The Largest Ski Resorts In The US At Park City Mountain Resort

With well over 7,300 acres (2,954 ha) of skiable space, the Park City Mountain Resort is one of the largest alpine ski resorts in the United States and was originally opened in time for the 1963/64 skiing season.

The resort more than doubled in size when it acquired and incorporated nearby Canyons Resort in 2015 into one mega skiing and snowboarding destination which features a staggering 324 unique trails, 41 ski lifts and some 355 inches (9 m) of average snowfall per year.

Park City Mountain Resort also enjoyed a cameo appearance during the men’s and women’s snowboarding giant slalom and snowboarding halfpipe events of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, further proof of the resort’s world-class powder quality and popularity.

Park City Mountain Resort is located at 1345 Lowell Ave, Park City, UT 84060. Hire skis here.

6- Visit The Kimball Art Center

The Kimball Art Center has been the epicentre of the city’s arts and culture scene since the venue first opened in 1972.

Globally renowned for both its broad art exhibits and innovative architectural design, the museum was birthed from the personal collection of Kay and Velma Kimball, who amassed some 260 paintings and 86 other pieces of art and donated a large portion of their wealth for the museum’s establishment.

Today, the Kimball Art Museum showcases works by some of the world’s most talented artists, with the venue also playing host to educational classes, special events and travelling art exhibits.

The Kimball Art Center is at 1251 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060.

7- See A Film At The Egyptian Theatre

Built in a style that perfectly evokes that of the typical Egyptian-themed theatres of the 1920s, the Egyptian Theatre in downtown Park City is the long-time home of the Sundance Film Festival.

The theatre was constructed in 1926 on the site of the former Dewey Theatre and was opened to the public on Christmas Day that same year, with the theatre’s unique design the result of the widespread Egyptian fascination that swept the globe during the roaring ‘20s following the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

One of only seven Egyptian theatres still standing in the United States, Park City’s historic 266-seater Egyptian Theatre remains the best place in town to catch a film and is always abuzz with patrons and movie stars during the annual Sundance Film Festival.

The Egyptian Theatre is at 328 Main St, Park City, UT 84060.

8- Go Thrift Shopping At Park Silly Sunday Market

Touted as an eco-friendly, open-air public market for the local community, the Park Silly Sunday Market is a popular shopping destination in downtown Park City where visitors can snap up some of the freshest produce and most scrumptious homemade baked goods in the city.

On Sunday mornings between June and September, along downtown Park City’s Main Street, the market combines live entertainment and food stands with an exciting retail scene to create one of the most popular attractions in the city.

Now in its 18th year of existence, the Park Silly Sunday Market has attracted more than two million visitors since the first market was organised in 2006, with everything from antiques to handmade art and one-of-a-kind trinkets on sale to thrifty shoppers.

The Park Silly Sunday Market is at 780 Main St, Park City, UT 84060.

9- Drive The Guardsman Pass Scenic Backway

Stretching for 14 miles (22 km) between Park City and Brighton, the Guardsman Pass Scenic Backway is a popular drive through Utah’s backcountry.

It has stunning mountain landscapes, creeks and canyons that never fail to wow travellers.

The pass runs high up into the Wasatch Mountains where it treats passengers to epic panoramic views of the entire mountain range and nearby Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Free to enjoy and easy to reach, the Guardsman Pass Scenic Backway is the ideal Park City attraction to enjoy on a quiet Sunday afternoon and a fantastic way of enjoying the dramatic landscapes that northern Utah is famous for.

10- Discover The Park City Museum

Exhibiting Park City’s fascinating history for all to see and learn about, the Park City Museum is among the city’s top cultural institutions and perfectly charts Park City’s evolution from a humble mining town into the ski capital it is today.

Opened in 1984 by the Park City Historical Society as a small exhibition space inside City Hall for the city’s Centennial Celebration, the museum has grown to become a top-tier landmark with thousands of artefacts, photographs and items of historical significance on display.

Popular exhibits include a display recounting the Great Fire of 1898, which destroyed most of downtown Park City, as well as old mining equipment and recreated mine shafts left over from the city’s silver mining past.

The Park City Museum is at 528 Main St, Park City, UT 84060.

11- Plan A Trip to Salt Lake City

With less than 40 miles (64 km) separating Park City and Salt Lake City, the largest city in the Beehive State, Utah’s cultural, economic, and legislative capital is the perfect destination to explore for excitement away from the ski slopes.

SLC was established by Brigham Young and a group of Mormon pioneers in 1847 and is famous throughout Utah for its thriving culinary scene, world-class entertainment venues and picture-perfect backdrops.

Named after the Great Salt Lake, the city has developed into a flourishing Intermountain West city that captivates travellers with exciting attractions such as Temple Square, the Red Butte Garden, the Utah State Capitol and the Natural History Museum of Utah.

12- Visit The World Famous Woodward Park City

With state-of-the-art facilities for action sports such as snowboarding, tubing, skiing, indoor-outdoor tumbling, snowshoeing and mountain biking, Woodward Park City is one of northern Utah’s most exciting year-round attractions.

The centre is 11 miles (17 km) outside downtown Park City and was born from Ed Isabelle’s world-famous Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania, which honed the skills of Olympic action sports athletes and gymnasts from across the world during the 1970s and 1980s.

Opened in 2019, the 66,000-square-foot (6,132 m2) Woodward Park City is the latest ski area in Utah and has the longest tubing lanes in the Beehive State, with this indoor-outdoor beginner-friendly facility a great place to get into action sports for the first time.

Woodward Park City is at 3863 Kilby Rd, Park City, UT 84098.

13- Stop By The Ski-In High West Distillery

The only ski-in distillery in the world, Park City’s High West Distillery dates back to the city’s silver mining boom.

High West Distillery got its start during the 1870s and produces a range of fine bourbons, whiskeys and vodkas in addition to also being a popular hangout and dining spot near Town Lift Plaza in downtown Park City.

More than just a distillery, the venue is practically a living museum and regularly opens to the general public for guided tours of the behind-the-scenes distilling process as well as a quick history lesson about Park City’s roots as a mining town.

The High West Distillery is at 703 Park Ave, Park City, UT 84060.

14- Hop Aboard A Hot Air Balloon Ride

For the best views of Park City, its world-class ski slopes and the surrounding Wasach Mountains, hop aboard one of the many hot air balloons which operate sightseeing tours in the skies above Park City.

Available year-round, hot air ballooning is among the most popular activities in Park City when the weather’s too warm to hit the slopes.

15- Plan A Hike Along The Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail

Running between Park City and Echo Reservoir, the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail is a 28-mile-long (45 km) pathway that follows the same line which was constructed and used by the Union Pacific Railroad to shuttle out Park City’s silver deposits during the late 19th century.

The railway line was left abandoned following the closure of the region’s mines before being converted into Utah’s first non-motorised recreational trail in 1989 with the help of the Division of Parks and Recreation, Union Pacific and A&K Railroad Materials.

The trail along with the 450-acre (180 ha) state park, in which it’s situated, was officially completed in 1992 and has developed into one of Park City’s premier outdoor attractions that’s perfectly suited for hiking, jogging, biking, horseback riding and even cross-country skiing during wintertime.

16- Experience The Deer Valley Music Festival

The summertime home of the Utah Symphony, the Deer Valley Music Festival is an annual, open-air feast for the ears which brings world-class chamber music, symphonic music, opera performances and various popular music acts to the cultured streets of Park City.

Taking place over six weeks, the festival was first organised in 2003 and features a star-studded line-up of talented musical acts which perform live concerts at venues in and around Park City.

Where stunning mountain views and world-class musical acts meet under the starry night sky of Park City, the festival is one of the biggest draws to the region and can be experienced during the warmer months between June and August.

17- Enjoy The Thrill Of Downhill Skiing During Summertime At The Alpine Slide

You can still get your thrills after the snow melts.

The largest alpine coaster in the entire Beehive State, the Alpine Slide at the Park City Mountain Resort is a thrilling 3,000-foot (914 m) luge-like track which sees passengers speed down more than a mile of downhill loops, bends and hairpin turns.

Completed in 1978, the Alpine Slide instantly became one of the resort’s most exhilarating attractions and can be enjoyed during the warm summer months when waiting for ski season to start.

The Alpine Slide is located at 1345 Lowell Ave, Park City, UT 84060.

18- Be Inspired By David Beavis Fine Art

Opened by world-renowned photographer David K. Beavis in 2015, the David Beavis Fine Art gallery in downtown Park City showcases some of the Australian fine artist’s best works, many of which were inspired by the dramatic landscapes of north Utah.

Beavis, a 100-time award winner, moved to Park City with his family to follow his pursuit and passion for nature photography, successfully culminating in the opening of a sleek and inviting gallery.

Art lovers and nature enthusiasts can enjoy and indulge in some Beavis’ work through a range of different art mediums.

David Beavis Fine Art is located at 314 Main St, Park City, UT 84060.

19- Go Horseback Riding At Boulder Mountain Ranch

The 168-acre (68 ha) Boulder Mountain Ranch is a popular outdoor attraction and luxurious glamping spot situated just 2 miles (3 km) outside downtown Park City.

One of the biggest draws to the Boulder Mountain Ranch is horseback riding, with scenic nature trails through dense forests and incredible views of the Jordanelle Reservoir combining to create an amazing outdoor experience surrounded by some of Utah’s most dramatic landscapes.

Ideal for spending the night or a quick afternoon visit, the ranch offers travellers a slice of Park City far removed from the ritzy ski resorts and urban city centre, despite still being just a stone’s throw away from the ski slopes of Deer Valley Resort.

20- Swap Skis For Skates At The Park City Ice Arena

Boasting an Olympic-sized ice rink that’s sheltered from the snowy Utah winters, the Park City Ice Arena is the go-to spot in Park City for ice skating, with open skate sessions, children’s camps and private lessons available to get visitors of all ages and skill levels whipping about on skates.

The arena was opened in 2002 and is used for a variety of organised skating events such as pro and semi-pro ice hockey games, curling, speed skating and figure skating.

The Park City Ice Arena is located at 600 Gillmor Way, Park City, UT 84060.