Here is another ski resort destination, but experienced in the summer or fall. This is one of my favorite ways to escape the heat, especially in Arizona where summer heat lasts through October. This is a great itinerary with older kids or teens….lots of adventure in this one! On this trip, we were doing a week-long road trip from Phoenix, to the Grand Canyon, to Park City, to Zion National Park, and back to Phoenix. Needless to say, we had just a short time in Park City, but we made the most of this beautiful place. This itinerary would work for an active couple or single as well. I’ve also visited Park City in the winter, and will have a separate post later on that!
Here’s a sample itinerary for 3 days in Park City in the Summer or Fall:
DAY 1: TRAVEL DAY, HISTORIC MAIN STREET, AND ALPINE SLIDE
The best way to get to Park City is to fly in to Salt Lake City (SLC), rent a car, and drive the 45 minutes to Park City. There are some places to stop for lunch in Salt Lake City if you’re hungry, and also stock up on water and snacks since you have the kids with you! Since it’s a pretty quick trip, I recommend staying as close to Main Street as possible. You can walk to restaurants, shops, and lifts or gondolas from there. For a family-friendly stay, try out Marriott’s Mountainside; complete with an outdoor pool, game room, and fire pits to enjoy during the cool evenings.
If you arrive early enough, walk from Main Street to the Alpine Slide or Mountain Coaster (depending on how daring you are!) to get your Park City visit off to an exhilarating start! Then make the short walk back down to Main Street for dinner and some shopping. I recommend No Name Saloon for great burgers, or Davanzas for pizza. There are some fun shops to explore, as well as a historic museum (open during the day) that the kids may or may not enjoy…haha! Make your way back to the hotel for an evening swim or some time by the fire pit.
DAY 2: EXPLORE PARK CITY MOUNTAIN
We grabbed breakfast at the hotel, stocked our backpacks with sunscreen, water, and snacks (remember at elevations over 7,000 ft, it’s easy to get sunburned and dehydrated!), and headed toward the Town Lift, where we purchased Scenic Lift Ride day passes and headed up the mountain. There are lots of options for hiking and mountain biking. We explored around aimlessly, and finally settled on the Mid-Mountain Trail, a moderate hike for all ages where there are a number of places to get on and off the trail. We had lunch on the mountain at the Red Pine Lodge; the food was nothing special, but the location was perfect. It was a pretty long day, so we headed back toward Main Street for dinner and called it a night!
DAY 3: UTAH OLYMPIC PARK
For this excursion, we had to get in the car and drive about 15 minutes back toward Salt Lake City to the Utah Olympic Park. It was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, and is used today as a training facility for Olympians, and an adventure park for visitors in the summer. They have a great Olympic museum there that even the kids enjoyed, and a restaurant that overlooks the freestyle area where skiers and snowboarders practice acrobatics in to a swimming pool. When we were there several years ago you could just watch the athletes practicing their jumps. Note that in summer 2023, shows are only running on weekends from mid-June through Labor Day. Be sure to check the website for show schedule and tickets…it’s worth it!
Next we moved over to the adventure park area, where we watched ski jumpers practicing jumps on the mountain, we zip-lined, did two ropes courses, and watched the bobsled run (we were all too afraid to try it!). It’s a great way to spend the day; just keep in mind that it is weather-permitting and the various activities can be shut down even for wind, so be sure to check the weather report before you head there. That rounded out our time in Park City. With kids, I think 2-3 days is enough anyway!
