PARK CITY, Utah — Stuart and Bianca McArthur felt lucky to snag a parking spot at the Bloods Lake Trailhead Sunday morning.
“When you Google ‘best trails in Park City,’ this is number one,” said Stuart. “We saw, OK, it's completely full. This was about like, I think, 11 o'clock, or maybe like 10 o'clock. We pulled up over here and just kind of waited for maybe like three or four minutes, and then somebody came off the trail, got in their car, we were able to kind of jump in and get a spot.”
To try to curb this problem, Park City is running free shuttles to three different trailheads in the Bonanza Flat Conservation Area on Saturdays and Sundays. It's part of the city's "Transit to Trails" program.
“Bonanza Flat is a beautiful place, and over the years, we've seen more and more visitation from folks from the Wasatch front and back, Park City, as well as the world at large,” said Billy Kurek, the trails and open space coordinator for Park City. “We'll see vehicles queuing for sometimes hours on end to try to get that parking spot and use the trail system.”
The service doesn't stop when summer ends; shuttles will continue to run throughout the fall, adding rides on Fridays starting in September.
“Transit to Trails is a really powerful land management tool for us to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips as well as provide a really high-quality experience for folks who want to visit,” said Kurek.
The city can’t just add more parking, he said.
“We are in a conservation area, and as such, we have a conservation easement that dictates how we manage this land and how we protect it as well,” said Kurek.
Shuttle reservations are first-come first-serve and can be made online here. Bikes and dogs can come too.
