This is a superb shuttle option from the top of Guardsman Pass if you've already ridden the Wasatch Crest Trail one too many times.

Statistics

0 - 1

hrs

103

m

930

m

8

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Difficult

Description

Have you ridden the Wasatch Crest trail so many times that you know it by heart? While that iconic shuttle route is tough to beat, this route, which similarly begins at the top of Guardsman Pass, offers some beautiful alpine views, but focuses more heavily on the descending, dropping quickly back down to the town of Park City. The alpine views up high and the sinewy black strips of singletrack through the aspen trees and wide-open meadows are more than enough reason to tackle this ride.

But when the singletrack points downhill, the high-speed descending will demand total focus, putting aspen trees and views of Park City completely out of your mind.

Dark black dirt makes for mad traction all the way down the mountain.

While some small rock gardens and root webs punctuate the singletrack, overall the trails are flowy and non-technical, making for a great intermediate-friendly shuttle run. The trails through Park City Mountain Resort are fast and flowy overall, but the fast straightaways have a tendency to end abruptly in switchbacked corners.

Most of the corners are now bermed, helping to conserve some speed.

The upper section of CMG is technically a two-way trail, although most people descend it.

The upper section is fast and wide-open, with a few rough rock sections to keep things interesting.

None of the rock features are large or exceedingly technical, but they do provide a little entertainment and a welcome change from Park City's generally-smooth trail tread.

As CMG winds around and down the mountain, beautiful views of Park City will open up below you. The final section of CMG is downhill-only as it twists and turns through the dense forest near the base of the mountain.

After swooping through a series of switchbacks, you’ll suddenly pop back out at the parking lot, asking yourself, “why does it have to be over already?!"