Mid Mountain Trail traverses the face of the Wasatch Range at roughly the 8,000-foot line, but bobs along lots of small ups and downs; some are smooth while some are steep and rocky. It dives in and out of splendid aspen groves, cool pine forest, and wildflowers in ski-slope clearings. This terrain is loved by mountain bikers, but less well known by hikers even though the trail is open to both. Mid Mountain is, in fact, the best way to hike or run between Deer Valley and Park City Mountain.

The southern end of the trail is near Deer Valley’s Silver Lake Village. Begin here by taking a chairlift or free shuttle to Silver Lake Lodge, or hike the elevation gain to Silver Lake from Snow Peak Lodge via Deer Creek Trail to Mid Mountain Trail (mapped).

North of Silver Lake Lodge, Mid Mountain crosses many ski runs with great views down-canyon toward the town of Park City. It links with Empire Lodge before continuing on a secluded section through forests and meadows en route to Park City Resort. On Park City Mountain, you’ll cross many ski runs and continue weaving around the mountainside through more forest. Eventually, the trail cuts into a canyon and meets Spiro Trail. Spiro can take you downhill to finish at Mountain Village, or you can come up Spiro to start Mid Mountain at this spot.

Proceeding northward, Iron Mountain is the next section of Mid Mountain Trail, where there is no easy exit for nearly 9 miles. This stretch is especially scenic and remote feeling. There are no ski runs for a while, only bouldery mountainside meadows and natural woodlands with vistas of Park City and all of the wide valley below.

Once the trail rounds Iron Mountain, it suddenly enters the upscale world of Canyons Resort and White Pine Canyon, where ski runs snake between luxury homes and through tunnels. There is no official exit from Mid Mountain here, however, as these trails are part of a gated community. Just keep following Mid Mountain Trail and admiring this new kind of scenery that surrounds you. The next access point is Red Pine Lodge, where you can ride the gondola down or continue through more of the resort and eventually finish in Canyons Village via Ambush and Holly’s Trails (mapped).

Sources: https://utah.com/hiking/park-city/mid-mountain-trail https://mountaintrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/MidMtonly.jpg http://cdn.deervalley.com/web/Content/pdf/planning/trailmaps/DVRSummerTrailMap.pdf https://assets.vailresorts.com/-/media/park-city/files/18pcsummermap.ashx?la=en http://www.parkcityreservations.com/blog/post/the-best-hiking-trails-in-park-city https://www.basinrecreation.org/trail/mid-mountain/