View of the twists and dips on Tommy's Two Step. It's fun both ways. Photos and trail review August 5, 2013 by Bruce.
Tommy's Two StepTommy's Two Step is an uphill-only singletrack trail in the Park City Mountain
Resort area connecting
Midmountain
to the top of the Steps trail. The trail
was built in 2013 and later designated as a one-way climbing route.
The trail has a broad track and smooth banked turns. It's suitable for experienced beginners.
It's 1.5 miles in length, covering 450 vertical feet to a high of 8700
feet elevation. On the
upper end, it forks onto Steps about 100 feet from Thaynes Road and the
Yurt. Right behind
the Yurt is the one-way downhill Mojave Trail to Midmountain. From the
Yurt, you can also take
Three Candles uphill to Keystone.
Looking downhill on Steps at the point where Tommy's Two Step forks off into the aspens.
View downhill on lower Tommy's as we approach the Midmountain Trail.
Good rides with Tommy's Two Step include:
Easier non-technical climbing route to the high mountain. Start
with Jenni's, then take Midmountain south to Tommy's, then connect uphill
with Three Candles to Keystone and on to Shadow Lake.
New loop options above Midmountain. Take your favorite route to
Midmountain, then combine Tommy's with
Mojave. I've also put
together a bigger loop that includes Keystone.
Sample Ride:
Quick Loop -- Up Jenni's to CMG, loop
Midmountain, Tommy's, and Mojave
Overview of the loop. Jenni's then CMG uphill, Midmountain to Tommy's Two Step, a little piece of Steps, then Mojave back to Midmountain, and back to CMG.
This lariat loop is 11.5 miles long with 1600 vertical feet of climbing. You'll climb via Jenni's,
CMG and Tommy's, then descend by Mojave to close back to Midmountain.
You can also mix it up.
There are a lot of options on this side of Park City. But with more trails
being designated
as one-way routes, you may find a favorite ride must be done another way.
From parking, go to the southwest corner where there's a gravel path along the edge of the
condos. You should be able to see the lifts and the Alpine Slide. Pedal
up the path until you
hit pavement. (The entry to Silver Spur will be on your left about half-way
to the pavement.)
Jenni's is up the paved ramp on your right.
The intersection of CMG with Jenni's, as seen from Jenni's uphill. Lower Jenni's from this intersection downward is now uphill-only.
The Midmountain Trail crosses a couple of ski slopes as it climbs very gently uphill on the way to Mojave.
As you climb Jenni's, you'll reach a four-way. Jenni's continues straight across. Turn hard
right to get onto the two-way section of CMG. Follow the old mine grade
uphill. When it intersects
a gravel road, turn left uphill for 20 feet, then fork hard left to catch
the east-bound Midmountain
Trail.
About 1/3 mile after Midmountain turns back to the west, you'll come to a sharp turn. Mojave
-- straight ahead -- will be your downhill route. Instead, turn to the
left and continue on
Midmountain. Continue around a mile southbound on Midmountain until you
reach Tommy Two Steps.
Pedaling uphill through the aspens.
The Yurt (as seen from upper Steps). Mojave exits on the right side of this photo. You'll head to the right in front of the Yurt and go a bit down the road to Mojave.
Climb Tommy Two Steps (you can detour on Steps if you like the old classic climb). Tommy will
join Steps near the top. You'll also pass the top of the newer Silver
Queen downhill route
just before you reach Thaynes Road. Turn right and pedal past the Yurt.
Find the top of Mojave
on your right, just past the Yurt.
Now descend Mojave back to Midmountain.
A typical turn. Most turns are banked and roll well in either direction.
Back on the Midmountain Trail northbound.
When you reach Midmountain, fork left. Now follow the trail signs to navigate through the complicated
interaction above the mine and ski lift. (Below are
Johns
, Johns 99, and Jenni's.) Stay on Midmountain until you hit the gravel road where you left
CMG. Hard right downhill, catch CMG and roll downhill. When you reach
the Jenni's intersection,
though, stay on CMG for the rest of the descent.
Sample Ride:
Intermediate Loop --
Keystone around to Tommy's
Overview of the ride. Lower Jenni CMG to Midmountain, then go all the way south to Tommy's Two Step and climb to the Two Step connector. Find Keystone across the road and take it around to Three Candles. At the yurt, catch Mojave back down to Midmountain and drop down CMG.
This ride is for upper-intermediates at 13.3 miles and 2000
vertical feet of climbing. Although I again climb lower Jenni's to upper
CMG uphill, you can mix
it up by climbing to Midmountain via the whole length of
Jenni's
,
Sweeneys/Johns
,
Empire Link
,
Spiro
,
Armstrong
... whatever. The loop will be in the
clockwise direction.
's to
As above, find the start of Jenni's and climb uphill. When Jenni's crosses over CMG, turn hard
right onto CMG and climb all the way uphill toMidmountain and turn left.
Looking south back down CMG about 1.5 miles uphill. We're on an old mine grade that provides a base for the trail.
On Midmountain. We'll go all the way to Tommy's Two Step before heading uphill.
Now head east then south, passing the bottom of the one-way Mojave trail (our return path).
Continue until you reach the bottom of Tommy's Two Step.
Climb up Tommy's Two Step. When you see a trail on your left at a spot where Tommy's turns
hard right, take it. That's Two Step, and it will take you to the bottom
of Keystone at Thaynes
Road. You'll miss about 1/2 mile of Tommy's, but you could climb all the
way to Thaynes Road
and coast back down to Keystone.
Looking from Two Steps at the turn on Tommy's Two Step. Behind my back, Two Steps coasts downhill to connect across Thaynes Road to Keystone.
Keystone as it leaves Webster Road and enters fir and aspen forest.
Climb all the way up and around Keystone. Enjoy views to the north, south and east as the trail
meanders. You'll cross Webster road twice.
At the trail fork above the road, keep to the right. The left fork is Fat Lip. When you reach
a fork in a large meadow, fork to the right on Three Candles.
Keystone Trail.
Three Candles alternates between groves of aspen and ski slopes.
Descend Three Candles. As Three Candles hits the yurt area, take the lower gravel road on the
left, just past the yurt. Find the top of Mojave and begin the descent.
Mojave will end on Midmountain. Turn to the left and ride to CMG. Turn right downhill on CMG.
View back uphill at the twisting path of Mojave.
A railcar bursts through a clearing near a turn in the CMG trail.
Coast down CMG to PCMR parking.
Map of the Tommy's area
Getting there:
In Park City, follow the signs to Park City Mountain Resort. As you see the first parking area,
turn in and park there. Look to the southwest (toward the main resort.
Pedal toward the spot
where the parking lot meets the condos. As you reach a wire gate, the
gravel doubletrack that
heads uphill toward the Alpine Slide is the beginning of our ride. As
you reach pavement again,
you'll pass the entry to Jenni's Trail (to your right). Look to the left.
See the log squeeze
chute? That's the start of the Crescent Mine Grade (CMG) trail. Jenni's
is across from CMG,
along the edge of the lift.