The expected riding season will be late May through early November. The trails lie just to the west of US-40 east of Park City in an area known as Richardson's Flat. The starting elevation is 6600 feet.

To get there, go to Highway 248 (Kearns Blvd) east of Park City and turn onto the Richardson Flats Road. This road joins Highway 248 at both ends, one end on either side of US-40. Just west of the big Park 'n Ride lot and east of US-40, there's a dirt road on the south side that goes 100 yards to a parking area. This gravel trailhead has room for around 10 vehicles. Pedal south through the gate and find the outgoing singletrack on your right.

The Sparky's loop is 3.5 miles in length with 350 vertical feet of climbing. It can be a quick ride. The trail is an engineered bench-cut with tall banks on the turns, designed to be ridden one direction. The technical level and slope are appropriate for beginning riders.

First, make sure you're on the correct limb of the trail for a counterclockwise ride. Turn right on the first trail that forks away from the dirt road, 50 feet past the fence.  The loop ride starts in a sea of sagebrush, as the trail meanders through Richardson Flat. You'll spend about 1/2 mile twisting through the Flat before the trail reaches a scrub oak area and begins to climb.

While hikers can stroll either direction, mountain bikes must go counterclockwise. The trail starts at 6600 feet elevation in Richardson Flat, a sagebrush meadow just east of US-40 in the Quinn Junction area. It climbs a hill before looping back to the start. The uphill limb of the loop is close enough to US-40 that you'll hear the traffic as you ride. As you climb 350 vertical feet, so does the traffic on the highway. So the big-rig engines will be making a bit of noise.

At mile 0.9, the Cutoff Connector trail joins on your left. Keep right through the shallow ravine to continue uphill. After climbing up a small valley that parallels US-40 southbound, there are sets of climbing turns on the eastern slope of that valley. These are swooping banked turns that are designed to be attacked with speed. There's fairly flat trail before and after each turn, so you recover nicely from the burst of effort required to climb through the turn.

While most of the trail lies in gambel oak terrain, there are a few aspen and maple in cooler areas. For the loop, 1/2 mile on each end is nothing but sagebrush, 1/2 mile is aspen and maple, and the other 2 miles is tall scrub oak groves with bits of sagebrush between them.

The climbing isn't constant. Around mile 1.2, you'll turn north and begin to descend. But this is not the summit. After 1/10th mile the trail resumes climbing again and turns back southbound.  At mile 2.0 of the loop, the trail crosses a ridgeline. It makes a quick 180 turn to the north to begin the downhill on the east-facing slope of the hill. At this spot, Family Truckster forks away to the right, with Cousin Eddie forking right after another 1/10th mile on Sparky's.

The pitch of the descent is gradual. There may be some spots where you'll pedal to increase your speed. The trail winds back and forth through wide banked turns. Most of the banked turns are simple "adjustments" but there around a dozen full 180 reversals. The turning radius and the berm are sufficient that you usually won't need to slow down.

Between turns, the trail has dips and curves that make the downhill lots of fun. There are a few table jumps. For many of them, I didn't have enough speed to clear the top. But then I'm old and timid. An expert rider should have no problem spending a bit of time in the air.This isn't the sort of tech downhill where you have to make a scouting run first. Everything that's coming up is obvious in your sight line. Lots of cruise and flow.

As you get back to Richardson Flat, the pitch of the trail gets flatter. It's still downhill, but barely so. You've got 1/2 mile of twisty trail in the sagebrush. Add a bit of pedal to reach the speed you want.Very nicely built trail, both in design and digging. I really enjoyed the ride. The sagebrush and the noise of US-40 during the climb should not keep you away. The downhill run is super fun -- I hit the loop twice so I could rock the downhill without the heavy camera pack on my back. This trail is worth a visit.

The Family Truckster DH flow trail forks to the right from Sparky's at mile 2.0 of the loop, at the rides highest point (6950 feet elevation).

Family Truckster is 0.7 miles long, descending 200 vertical feet before it joins Cousin Eddie just before the combined trail ends on a doubletrack. (This doubletrack is the Cutoff Connector, which will take you around the shoulder of the hill to the downhill side of Sparky's then on to the uphill limb.)

The trail is early-intermediate in technical requirement, with some optional lines that require upper intermediate or expert skills. The route is highly engineered, with frequent rollers and turns. There are some table jumps that less-adventurous riders can simply roll, and one step-up jump (with a ride-around) for experts. There are high banks on turns.

Family Truckster offers more advanced riding, and more stunt opportunities, than the downhill on Sparky's. But it's easier than Cousin Eddie, and is well within the cabilities of most experienced beginners.

Cousin Eddie is a steeper, more technical version of Family Truckster. It forks away from the downhill limb of Sparky's at mile 2.1, dropping away to the right.

Cousin Eddie has somewhat tighter turns than Family Truckster, with a steeper pitch. The table jumps are taller and more frequent. I don't recommend this route for most beginners, but early intermediates can handle it.

There was only one wood feature at the time of my ride, a platform leading to a very-steep roll. If you take it with speed, it becomes a drop of around 8 feet. The transition area at the bottom is steep dirt, so the landing is plush. You can ride around this feature to the uphill side.

Cousin Eddie and Family Truckster will join for the final 0.1 mile as you reach the sagebrush area at the bottom of the hill. From here, you can veer to the left on the doubletrack Cutoff Connector.

The combined Family Truckster and Cousin Eddie's trails end on a primitive doubletrack. This DT will connect you back to Sparky's. Veer to the left as you hit the trail. After 0.15 miles, again keep to the left. (The DT to the right takes you back to the trailhead at Richardson's Flat.)

At mile 0.2, the trail crosses the downhill limb of Sparky's loop. You can turn hard right to head back to the trailhead, or keep straight. (Don't turn uphill here! Sparky's is one-way.) At mile 0.3, the trail will join the uphill side of Sparky's in a shallow ravine. Turn left here to go back up.

Bottom Line:
Very nicely built trail system, both in design and digging. I really enjoyed the ride. The sagebrush and the noise of US-40 during the climb should not keep you away. The downhill run on Sparky's is super fun -- I hit the loop twice so I could rock the downhill without the heavy camera pack on my back. Family Truckster and Cousin Eddie offer some very fun more-technical riding, but can still be handled by less-skilled riders. These trails are worth a visit.

Getting there:
From US-40 east of Park City, take the Quinn's (Keetley) Junction exit and turn west toward Park City on Kearns Blvd. After around one mile, turn left on Richardson Flats Road. Pass under US-40, then watch for a dirt road on your right at 0.8 miles from Kearns Blvd. The parking area is in front of the gate after 1/10th mile. Go through the gate on the dirt road then turn to the right on the first singletrack. (Note that the loop is one-way. The second singletrack just up the road is the return path.)

No bathroom or water at trailhead.