Park City is a "love at first sight" spot. As soon as we drove over the canyon and into town, I gasped at the beauty of both the mountains and the village. The mountains just beckon you to climb each and every one of them, and historical Main street is full of colorful charm. Within 5 minutes of looking around, I said I could live there. And 2 years later, my mountain town living dream came true! So this post may be biased, since I am lucky enough to call Park City home. And since I live and explore here daily, I probably will need numerous posts about it, but for now, I will share my favorite snacks and trails with you.
My first and favorite recommendation is to stop at Ritual Chocolate Cafe. Before any good adventure, you need to fuel up and grab snacks, and this cafe is the perfect first foray into Park City. The Park City location (the larger chocolate factory and cafe is now in Charleston, UT) was redone in 2021, and is beautiful. There is ample seating both indoors and outdoors, and the pastry display case will leave you trying not to buy the entire selection. And Ritual uses Pink Elephant Coffee Roasters coffee, a coffee roastery located on Main St. in downtown Park City, and being a chocolate shop, Ritual has the best mochas and hot chocolate.
While I have yet to try a baked good I have not enjoyed from Ritual (thanks to the original pastry chef, Shirley Bordas and current pastry chef, Sophia Davila) I do have some favorites. If you see Sophia's flourless chocolate cake in the refrigerated display, make sure you try a slice! Of course, it is made with premium Ritual chocolate, and Sophia often adorns the cake with edible flowers, chocolate discs, and seasonal fruit.
If you are in the mood for something savory, the quiches and savory galettes are always delicious. When getting ready to head out on a Park City adventure, grabbing an everything bagel with cacao nibs is a wondeful choice. Another handheld adventure snack is Ritual's honeycomb chocolate chip cookie. These fit in your pocket and are the most scrumptious snacks to eat on the trails overlooking Park City. Of course, you can also stock up on the many wonderful chocolate bars, and these also make great mid-adventure snacks!
My favorite time of year in Park City is in the Fall, and then in the Summer. This is when the trails are open and in the fall, the leaves are wonderful, and you can explore all day every day. If you are lucky enough to visit this mountain town from June-October, my first trail recommendation is Park City Mountain Resort's (PCMR) Armstrong Trail. This is an uphill bike only trail (open both ways to hikers) and has the most amazing views. It has a few technical spots, but otherwise is a pretty gradual gradient leading you all the way up the mountain. If you are hiking or even trail running, a great loop is Armstrong to Dawn's Trail. This is a 3.3 mile loop that is a scenic great first loop on PCMR.
If you are on a bike, you have many amazing options once you are on Armstrong. A good first mountain bike route is Armstrong to Ham to Spiro. This is a 10K loop with some great fast descending down Spiro back to the base of PCMR.
For a longer day on the bike, bypass Ham, and continue up Armstrong to Mid-Mountain trail to Pinecone. You can take Pinecone all the way to the Wasatch Crest. The views from the crest are incredible, and once at the Wastch Crest summit, you have many options for returning back to PCMR base. I love going down Puke Hill, and then onto Shadow Lake loop, then Comstock Mine road to Powerline Trail to Spiro and back down to PCMR.
For lunch and breakfast, one of the best places to check out is Five5eeds. This is an Australian coffee/breakfast/lunch spot that is probably the most instagrammable food location in Park City. And not only is the food beautiful, it is just as delicious as it looks. Five5eeds has everything from the best fruit pancake with lemon marscapone, to acai bowls, to avocado toast, to shakshuka, to breakfast sandwiches, and for lunch, burgers, bao buns, salads, and seasonal specials. They also carry Park City and Salt Lake City based breads and pastries, and have delicous coffee and non-coffee based drinks.
My favorite menu items at Five5eeds are the breakfast board, which I get with a chia pudding, green juice, and mini shakshuka, the pancake, and the breakfast panna cotta, which is served with granola and fruit. These dishes are so delectable, and a real pleasure to eat.
Another trail system that is slightly technical, flowy, and has amazing views, is Lost Prospector, in the Prospector neighborhood of Park City. This trail is singletrack, with a few trails that branch out into the local neighborhoods, and is a great trail network to explore.
After checking out the Lost Prospector trails, head to Salt Box in Prospector for the best fish tacos and other quick grab-and-go breakfast/lunch/dinner options.
Australian food in Park City is definitely a thing, and the other equally great coffee/lunch/breakfast spot is Harvest on Main St. Harvest is best known for its amazing toasts, sandwiches, and paleo banana bread. Every dish served here is also beautiful, and super tasty. I love the savory toast, which uses Midway based sourdough baker Hawk and Sparrow sourdough, topped with mushrooms, spinach, avocado, a poached egg, and herbs. It is so good! They also have weekly and daily specials, and the banana, mango, passionfruit smoothie is refreshing after a morning on the trails!
Finally, for a wonderful Park City dinner on Main Street, book a reservation at Yuki Yama. This is one of the best places for sushi, and also my very favorite dinner restaurant in town. The sushi rolls are incredible, the wagyu beef tataki is a deliciously fun dining experience, and the appetizers and specials are always a great choice. My favorite sushi rolls are the Chiller, which has tuna, lemon slices, and serrano peppers, and the Bruce Lee Roy, which has tuna, avocado, shishito peppers, and is topped with a tiny slice of seared wagyu beef.
