A ski run on Park City Mountain called Creole sits in the pines between Town Lift and Payday Express. It is named for the Creole Mine, which was built in 1875. After the mine was abandoned in the 1920s, before Utah had a single chairlift, Alf Engen built a ski jump on top of its waste rock pile. The Salt Lake Tribune calls that spot the birthplace of ski competition in Park City.
Since Miners Day, the Creole site has been one of 24 stops on the Park City Historic Mine Route. The route starts at the Park City Museum at 528 Main Street. It is now seven weeks old and about to finish its first fall. Summer lift service is over and ski operations have not started, so for the next three weeks you can only get onto the route on foot. The official start is on Main Street, and the leg that suits these weeks best is the shortest one.
What opened on Miners Day
Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History built the route. The all-volunteer committee of the Park City Historical Society & Museum has spent about a decade stabilizing the Silver King Complex, the Alliance Mine and the Alliance Watchman's Cabin. Committee co-chair Donald Roll told The Park Record that those structures are "all somewhat isolated," and people skied, hiked and biked past them without knowing what they were. The Park Record reported on Sept. 8 that the route had officially opened to the public on Miners Day.
The full loop is about 7 miles with roughly 1,200 feet of climbing. It heads up Treasure Hill to the Silver King complex at the top of Town Lift and Payday, then comes down through Empire Canyon and over Ontario Ridge back to Old Town. Project manager Wayne McKay said Mountain Trails Foundation built and maintains about 90% of the trails it uses.
The narration is the main draw. The free TravelStorys app plays stories automatically by GPS as you approach each site, and you can download the tour beforehand to use without cell service. Roll told The Park Record that the segments run two to three minutes each. The voices include Park City Museum Executive Director Morgan Pierce, restoration project manager Brian Buck, local historians Larry Warren and Michael O'Malley, and geologist Dr. Sherie Harding.
The shortcut ran with the summer lifts
McKay told The Park Record that the team designed four ways to use the route because "not all visitors or locals for that matter" can give it three and a half to four hours. Two of those four depend on a chairlift. The route's own guidance says the lift options require an active Epic Pass or a Scenic Day Pass. The latest summer date in Park City Mountain's 2026 tip sheet was Sept. 27. The resort's winter season is scheduled to start Nov. 20, weather and conditions permitting.
That leaves the options looking like this as November begins:
| Option | Distance and effort | Audio sites | Needs a lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full hiking loop from the Museum | About 7 miles, about 1,200 ft of climbing | All 24 | No |
| Full bike loop from the Museum | Longer route that skirts hiker-only sections | 20 | No |
| Town Lift or Payday up, walk down Empire Canyon | 3.4 miles, mostly downhill | 15 | Yes |
| Out and back to Empire Canyon | 3.75 miles, about 500 ft uphill outbound | 11 | No |
The full loop is still available on foot, and the Friends describe it as moderate with some difficult uphill sections. Its climb runs up Treasure Hill on Park City Mountain terrain, and late October is a hard time to be on that terrain. That makes the fourth option the practical one for now.
The half that fits these weeks
The route's organizers rate the Out and Back to Empire Canyon as the easiest HMR option. It starts and ends at the Museum, takes about an hour and a half, and covers the 11 audio sites in Empire and Ontario canyons. That stretch includes the Judge Mining & Smelting Co. office, the Daly-Judge Mill and its aerial tram tower, the American Flag Mine, the Judge loading station and Ontario Mill, and the Ontario No. 1 Drain Tunnel. For someone who lives within walking distance of Main Street, it fits into an afternoon. TravelStorys also lists the Daly Trailhead as a shorter way into the Empire Canyon sites, about 2 miles round trip.
- Load the tour at home. Download the TravelStorys tour and set location access to "always allow" so the stories trigger on their own.
- Start at the Museum. The closest parking is the China Bridge Parking Structure and the public spaces on Swede Alley.
- Fill water before you climb. The route has no water. The Old Town Transit Center at 558 Swede Alley has two bottle-filling stations, and there are restrooms there, at Miners Plaza at 415 Main Street, and downstairs next to the Museum.
- Follow the green logo. Wayfinding signs show the route name and a stylized mine cart with silver ore in a green circle.
- Bring layers and poles. The Friends' packing list includes hiking poles and trail shoes. They also note that moose and deer are the wildlife you are most likely to meet.
The last stretches of the full loop have almost no shade, apart from a short section between the American Flag Mine and the Daly-Judge Aerial Tram. That is a drawback in August and makes little difference on a cool afternoon at the end of October.
What the trails look like before Nov. 20
The updates on Mountain Trails Foundation's trail report over the past few weeks show what late-season hiking involves. On Oct. 14 the foundation posted a photo of "quite the soggy conditions up top." It reminded users to turn around if mud is "sticking to your heels or wheels" to prevent trail damage. It also reported:
- Signs have been removed from parts of Park City Mountain and Deer Valley for winter preparations.
- Empire Pass parking is closed while the winter Bonanza warming hut and yurt are built.
- Crews have started preparing winter operations at Round Valley and Bonanza Flat.
The removed signs make the most difference for this route, because they are on the resort terrain the full loop crosses. On the Museum out-and-back, the GPS-triggered audio and the in-app map help with routefinding.
Once the lifts start, the route is an open question
The HMR site lists no winter dates for the route. The uphill access policy Park City Mountain currently posts, which still carries last season's status, limits uphill travel to a designated Homerun route ending at the Angle Station, and says access can be limited or forbidden depending on conditions and operations. Rules for the 2026-27 season may differ. The Salt Lake Tribune described the route as built for hikers and bikers "and, eventually, skiers." The route is not closed for the winter, and it does not have a winter version yet. For the next three weeks, the route is a hike that starts on Main Street. After that, check current resort and trail conditions before planning any outing on it.
The stops will look different by next season
Two of the route's structures have had major work recently. The state's abandoned-mine program spent $358,507 from 2023 through 2025 securing the Thaynes and Silver King mine shafts on Park City Mountain property. Crews used custom polyurethane-foam and concrete closures and stabilized deteriorating foundations under mine buildings and headframes. TownLift reported that the project won an award on Sept. 21 at the National Association of AML Programs conference. The Friends finished restoring the Silver King Coalition Mine in October 2025. Park City honored that work in May 2026, and according to TownLift it included restoring 1,639 window panes.
The Thaynes site is next. The Friends planned hoist-house construction for the 2026 season and are targeting guided tours for 2027, according to The Park Record. The Park City Museum's Thaynes page also gives a 2027 completion goal. Both dates are targets. Roll told The Park Record that if this route works, "there are other areas that have mining history that could benefit from audio and video interpretation."
When the snow arrives, the history moves indoors
The same organizations are running mining-history programs in town this winter. According to TownLift, "Echoes of Silver," a free exhibition by artists Mackenzy Gilmore and Janika Linville, opened Oct. 16 at the historic Miners Hospital in City Park. The Friends host it, and it grew out of the artists' research into Park City's silver mining history in collaboration with the Park City Museum. At the Museum, the permanent exhibits cover mining history. TownLift reports that the Tozer Gallery show "Park City Loves a Parade: Our Parades, Processions and Protests from Past to Present" runs through April 4, 2027. The Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and typically stops admitting guests after 4:15 p.m. It is closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. You can also buy a printed route map with a legend for all 24 sites at the Museum's front desk for one dollar. Museum members get it free.
Brad Jensen has worked in Park City real estate since 1988, so Old Town's mining past is part of the market he knows. If you want to talk about which Old Town streets put the Museum and the Ontario Ridge climb within walking distance, Jensen and Company is glad to walk you through them. Find Your Luxury Home Today.
