Summit Park Mountain Bike Trails

Westbound as we hit a small break in the trees Road to WOS. Original ride review and photos by Bruce on July 18, 2015, with latest trail update July 8, 2022.

Summit Park Trails
Road to WOS, Short Stack, Short Ribs, No Worries

The Summit Park trails offer well-designed fun singletrack in cool fir forest. Your likely target for the ride will be the Road To WOS loop on the upper mountain. Road To WOS can be reached via Short Stack, the lower Road To WOS, or No Worries. Distance and climbing will vary depending on which route you take to the loop.

The riding in this area starts at 6800 to 7200 feet elevation. You'll climb via your choice of three access paths to an undulating loop on the upper mountain with a top elevation of 7900. Because the riding is on a north-facing slope, the expected riding season is late-June through mid-October.

Looking west uphill as we climb No Worries to the Road to WOS loop.

There are occasional views downhill. Here we're looking north toward I-80 at a short break in the trees.

You can do a lariat ride from any trailhead. After climbing uphill on either Short Stack or Road to WOS, you'll ride a stretched-out loop that combines upper Road to WOS with Short Ribs. The lariat from Short Stack is almost a mile longer but has the same amount of climbing as the lariat from the Road to WOS (Summit Park Peak) trailhead. Starting at Toll Canyon or Discovery Ridge makes an even longer ride. Details below.

Trailheads

Entry to Toll Canyon from St Morritz Terrace.

Summit Park Peak (Road to WOS) trailhead
This is the main trailhead for Road to WOS. There's paved parking at the top of Parkview Drive in Summit Park. A short doubletrack heads uphill to the switchback portion at the bottom of Road to WOS. This trailhead will have a few more hikers and hounds.

Toll Canyon Road (No Worries)
When climbing Parkview Drive, turn left on St Morritz Strasse. Follow it through two right-hand road forks, then turn left on St Morritz Terrace. There's room for two or three cars on the right side of the road just before the gate. Take the paved road down to the No Worries singletrack, on your right after descending 0.2 miles.

Discovery Ridge trailhead, looking west.

Short Stack
The Short Stack sorta-trailhead is reached by turning to the right after leaving I-80 at Parley's Summit. Take Maple uphill until it becomes Innsbruck Strasse. It's the easiest navigation, and is a good choice if you're doing the loop ride. You'll see the trail on your right as you drive uphill, shortly after the road turns to gravel.

Discovery Ridge trailhead
The trailhead for Gorgoza Park offers a longer ride with more climbing. You'll take A Toll New World to Toll Canyon Road, then climb No Worries. This trailhead is reached by taking Kilby Road east from the Summit Park exit, then turning right on Discovery Way. This trailhead has bathrooms and running water, and is my recommendation if you can handle a longer ride.

Short Stack and Short Rib

Climbing up Short Stack through shady fir forest.

Short Stack starts on Innsbruck Strasse, on the right side of the road as you drive uphill. There's a bit of roadside parking near the trail. Short Stack is 1.2 miles long, with 350 feet of climbing as you head up to the Road to WOS loop trail.

Short Rib connects the top of Short Stack (where it turns into the western end of Road to WOS) to the lower portion of Road to WOS a few switchbacks above the Summit Park Peak trailhead. It is 0.4 miles long, and is the piece that creates a loop out of Road to WOS. There's 100 feet of elevation change over the trail from west to east.

Both Short Stack and Short Rib are easier-intermediate rides and can be handled by experienced beginners. The sustained climbing during the first part of Short Stack puts this trail outside the capabilities of most young children, but strong pre-teens will do fine. For less-strong riders, I'd suggest skipping Short Stack and entering Road to WOS directly from the Summit Park Peak trailhead.

Oak forest northbound on the upper portion of Short Stack near Road to WOS.

Road To WOS

Cruisin' the Connifer at Road to WOS.

The Road to WOS trail is 3.0 miles long from the Summit Park Peak trailhead to the top of Short Stack. There's 400 vertical feet of climbing over the length of the trail (assuming you're starting from the Summit Park trailhead, rather than simply riding the loop with Short Rib after reaching Road to WOS from another trail).

The trail base is broad and 90% of the surface is smooth as silk. Some short stretches have a little limestone chunk, just enough to make noise under the tires, but there are no ledges or rock gardens or spooky side-slopes. Turns are nicely bermed with a comfortable turning radius. This is a ride where you just enjoy whooshing through the trees.

On the lower Road to WOS, we're riding through a jungle as we cross a drainage.

The entry into the dirt portion of Innsbruck Strasse. When the loop is done counterclockwise, the doubletrack connector starts out as pavement before turning to gravel.

One nice riding option is a loop ride that uses the doubletrack through the preserve to join the Short Stack and Summit Park Peak trailheads. (This gravel connector is a continuation of Innsbruck Strasse, which is the road leading up to the Short Stack trail. Gates keep the doubletrack closed to vehicle traffic. On the east end, it begins as paved road passing about three homes before turning to gravel.)

This loop is 5 miles with 750 total feet of climbing. While you're on the mountain top I'd suggest you do a loop-around: Instead of descending, use Short Ribs to connect back for another run around the upper mountain. This adds 2.6 miles and 300 feet of climbing to your ride.

Most of the terrain is shaded fir forest. On occasion you'll ride sun-exposed east-facing slopes with a canopy of oak trees. Wildflowers can be found here and there where enough light gets through the forest.

Desert trumpet (scarlet gilia) blooms on a rare sun-splashed section of trail.

Sample turn on lower Road to WOS. Huge berm, wide radius, smooth track.

All trail forks are marked with carsonite posts. Navigation is easy. There are multiple spots where narrow steep hiking trails cut across the bike route. These intersections show the little hiker symbol as well as the trail name. It should be obvious that these are foot-traffic only.

Viewpoints are rare -- mostly a partial glimpse to the north through the trees. You'll want to stop on the far east corner of the loop for the ride's best views. On the edge of the ridgeline, you'll be able to see many miles to the north and east.\

View to the east with receding mountain ridges of the Uintah Mountains in the distance.

Typical trail, with undulating smooth dirt ribbon in a forest of tall fir.

At a turn on the lower eastern side of the Road to WOS loop, the newer No Worries trail joins. Make the hard turn if you're continuing the Road to WOS loop.

No Worries

The entry to the bottom of No Worries from the Toll Canyon Road.

The No Worries trail offers another route for riding Road to WOS. It links the Toll Canyon Road (the gated continuation of St Morritz Terrace) to the lower eastern side of the Road to WOS loop. In turn, the Toll Canyon Road links to the A Toll New World trail, which can take you to the Gorgoza Park trail system .

From the Toll Canyon Road, No Worries climbs through a lot of switchback turns. It's 2.1 miles long, with 800 vertical feet of climbing. While most of the trail is smooth dirt, there are jagged bits of embedded limestone rock in some of the switchback turns that require a bit more skill and strength to clear when riding uphill.

Climbing uphill through fir forest at a pleasant pace.

A grove of maple fills a space in the dense conifer forest.

The terrain is heavily forested, with only a couple of narrow breakout views. The trees are mostly mature fir but there are some stretches of maple, and an aspen here and there. The understory is generally lush where light can reach the ground. The north-facing slope and tall trees keep this trail cool until afternoon.

When you reach Road to WOS, go right downhill to head for the bottom of the loop and the Summit Park Peak trailhead, or left uphill to climb to the top of the loop at 7900 feet. Most riders will loop around Road to WOS before backtracking on No Worries -- which makes a very nice downhill romp.

We'll cross this thin strip of meadow on our way uphill.

About half of the switchback turns are butter-smooth dirt with a tall bank. But others have little peaks of rough limestone protruding through, giving this trail an intermediate technical rating.

My ride recommendation for stronger riders would be to start at the Discovery Ridge trailhead in the Gorgoza area . Drop back to the Millenium paved trail and link to the Gorgoza Park trail for more miles. Make a couple of laps around the Gorgoza DH trail system . Climb A Toll New World to the Toll Canyon Road, link to No Worries, and climb up and around Road to WOS.

This ride will be around 20 miles (if you start by doing the Gorgoza Park trail then do a couple of loops on the DH trails) with 3000 feet of climbing.

If you have the time and the endurance to add No Worries to your Road to WOS ride, I highly recommend it. A simple lariat from Discovery Ridge to WOS and back will be around 16 miles with 2600 feet of climbing.

A rare breakout meadow on No Worries as we get closer to the top.

Connecting Trails

Looking south downhill after joining Toll Canyon Road from A Toll New World.

Toll Canyon Road

The Toll Canyon Road links the southern end of the Sunridge Perimeter (a PRIVATE trail for homeowners; don't go there) and the south end of A Toll New World (public trail) to the bottom of No Worries to form a continuous ride from the Gorgoza area uphill to Road to WOS. Toll Canyon Road is part pavement and part dirt doubletrack. It's 0.5 miles from the top of A Toll New World to No Worries, with 150 feet of elevation loss.

The western end of Toll Canyon is an alternate trailhead with room for only a couple of cars on the side of the road.

Heading south uphill on Spare Change.

Spare Change

This doubletrack will probably be of no interest to you. It's 0.4 miles long with 125 feet of elevation change. This trail is used by locals to reach the Toll Canyon Road and link to No Worries or A Toll New World. There's NO parking at the bottom, and the only reason you'd ever use this trail is as an emergency bailout route downhill.

Climbing toward Toll Canyon in a mixed forest of aspen, fir, maple, and elderberry.

A Toll New World

A Toll New World links the eastern side of the Toll Canyon Road to the bottom of the Gorgoza DH loops (just a bit uphill from the Discovery Ridge trailhead). The trail is mostly forested with a gentle climbing pace on the uphill and smooth flowing downhill. A Toll New World is 1.5 miles long with 400 feet of climbing from Discovery Ridge to Toll Canyon.

Heading into a jump at the Gorgoza Park trails.

Gorgoza DH loops

This is the famous "Arcylon" loop, but with new DH routes added (an easy option and a technical option). The new Discovery Ridge trailhead is just downhill, offering quick access. A Toll New World heads west from the bottom, and Gorgoza Park forks away from the middle of the Up trail.

Bottom Line:
Very fun ride with swooping trail in cool forest. Suitable for strong beginners, but fun for advanced riders as well. Road to WOS is a short route by hammerhead standards, but the addition of the newer trails No Worries and A Toll New World offers the opportunity for much longer rides. It's definitely worth the trip!

Climbing uphill through forest of maple and fir on the No Worries trail.

Loop (plus a loop) from Short Stack:
0.0   Park on Innsbruck Strasse
        N40 44.467 W111 37.052
        Climb Short Stack singletrack
1.2   Keep L uphill (R = Short Ribs)
        Road to WOS N40 44.191 W111 37.228
1.5   Keep L uphill N40 43.998 W111 37.325
3.4   L straight onto Short Ribs
        N40 43.990 W111 37.017

3.8   Hard L on Road to WOS
        N40 44.191 W111 37.228
6.0   Back at fork, R downhill
        N40 43.990 W111 37.017
6.8   Pavement at TH, go L uphill
        N40 44.115 W111 36.976
        Pavement turns into gravel DT
7.6   Back at car at Short Stack

Map of Summit Park area

Getting there:
Road to WOS (Summit Park Peak) trailhead. Get onto Aspen/Maple Drive as above and follow it to Crestview Drive. Take the left fork where Crestview turns eastward. As you reach a Y intersection, go right on Parkview Drive. Now stay on Parkview until you hit the T intersection with Matterhorn Drive. Cross the road to find a spot to park. The trailhead is just a bit east of the intersection on the south side of the road. It starts as a gravel doubletrack for around 100 yards before becoming dirt singletrack.
Note: You can't drive the doubletrack Innsbruck Strasse between Short Stack and Road to WOS. There are two ride-around gates..

Short Stack trailhead. At the top of Parley's Canyon, take the Parley's Summit exit from I-80. Turn south (right if you're exiting after climbing from Salt Lake City). Immediately turn to the right to head west along the freeway on Aspen Drive, which becomes Maple Drive. Keep to the right at all road intersections. Follow the main road as it turns left uphill and becomes Crestview Drive. Again keep right as Crestview veers left, and you'll be on Innsbruck Strasse. The pavement will turn to dirt. A bit further uphill, you'll see the trail on the right side of the road. Now find a place to park.

Toll Canyon. When climbing Parkview Drive, turn left on St Morritz Strasse. Follow it through two right-hand road forks, then turn left on St Morritz Terrace. There's room for two or three cars on the right side of the road just before the gate. Take the paved road down to the No Worries singletrack, on your right after descending 0.2 miles.

Discovery Ridge trailhead. Exit I-80's Summit Park exit at the top of Parley's and turn east on Kilby Road. Drive 1.1 miles, then turn right on Discovery Way. Discovery Way will dip through the shallow valley and climb to three trailhead parking lots. The upper lot has bathrooms and running water. This trailhead is my recommendation if you can handle a longer ride.