Park City Trail Series

Park City, Utah, occupies a position in the outdoor recreation landscape that is unusual even by Wasatch Mountain standards: a ski resort community whose summer trail infrastructure has developed to a scale that rivals its winter product in both quality and variety, producing a network that supports everything from casual family walks to high-altitude technical running without requiring significant travel between trailheads. The Park City Trail Series runs three race events across the summer of 2026: a 5K on June 6, a 10K on July 11, and a half marathon on August 1, each beginning at 8:00 a.m. MDT with courses designed through the trail network above and around the resort corridors. Race registration is available through the series’ official website, where current course maps, entry fees, and packet pickup logistics are published.

The June 5K is calibrated as the series’ entry-level race, with a course accessible to runners who have limited trail experience and families including older children comfortable with a rolling surface. The July 10K increases both distance and elevation exposure, introducing the kind of sustained Wasatch Mountain view corridors that make Park City trail running specifically worth doing rather than replicable in a lower-elevation context. The August half marathon represents the season’s competitive culmination, crossing terrain at elevations ranging from 7,000 to above 8,500 feet that demands acclimatization planning for athletes traveling from sea-level environments. The post-race atmosphere at all three events includes food vendors, raffle prizes from local sponsors, and the particular social ease of a mountain community that has built its civic identity around outdoor athletic culture.

Park City’s Trail Network

Park City Mountain Area Trail Association maintains more than 400 miles of trails accessible from the town’s residential neighborhoods, resort base areas, and the surrounding Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service land, a density that gives Park City the distinction of having more trail miles per resident than virtually any comparable-size community in the United States. The Rail Trail, running along the historic Utah Eastern Railroad grade from Park City’s historic district to Snyderville and beyond, provides a flat, family-accessible corridor that complements the mountain trail series’ more demanding courses. The Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter at 1258 Center Drive provides natural history interpretation of the Swaner wetland ecosystem, one of the most ecologically productive mountain wetland systems in the Wasatch, immediately adjacent to the east end of the Rail Trail.

If You’re Going with Kids
The 5K race is appropriate for children from approximately age 10 with some trail running experience, and the series’ race atmosphere at Park City reflects the welcoming mountain community culture that has historically prioritized participation over performance. The Park City Mountain resort’s summer operations — lift-accessed mountain biking, an alpine coaster, and hiking terrain — are active through all three race weekends and provide engaging alternatives for family members not participating in the race.