Round Valley's Big Easy Bike Trail

Westbound on the northern side of the loop. Trail review by Bruce on June 16, 2023.

Big Easy at Round Valley

Big Easy is a 6-mile loop in the Round Valley riding area near Park City. The loop was finished in fall 2022. Round Valley is a complex trail system, with around 35 trails stuffed into an area that's only two miles wide. Because the Big Easy trail crosses or temporarily joins several of the older trails, this separate page is provided to assist with navigation. See the main Round Valley page for further area information.

A word...
At the time of this review, most of the intersections and trail mergers on Big Easy are not adequately labeled. Even trail posts with the "Big Easy" sticker may not help you decide the correct path to stay on Big Easy, often because they're positioned before the trail fork with no directional arrow. (This tells you which trail you arrived on, not which upcoming trail to select.) The route still needs more trail posts, better indicators on the existing trail posts, and better placement of some trail posts. Hopefully this will come soon. Meantime for your first ride you'll probably need to pop up Trailforks at complicated intersections and figure it out as you go along.

Turns are nicely banked, functioning as fast climbing turns or smooth rolling downhills.

The terrain is a mix of sage brush meadow and groves of oak.

The trail lies at around 6800 feet elevation. Much of it is sun-exposed, so it will dry fairly quickly after storms. (Much of Round Valley has a problem with puddles persisting a day or two after summer rains. This is described as "variable conditions.") The expected riding season should be June through October.The loop generally sticks to the middle elevations of Round Valley. The terrain is sage meadows mixed with groves of gambel oak.

Trailheads and Access

Looking from the entry to the ice arena parking at the eastern entry to Rambler.

There's no trailhead that connects you directly to the Big Easy trail. But some are closer to the loop or easier to navigate than others.

East Rambler/Practice Loop (recommended access):
This is probably the easiest combination of finding the trailhead and finding your way to the trail. Turn off 248 onto Round Valley Drive. In 100 yards, turn left onto Gillmor Way. Follow Gillmor Way around to the intersection between Ability Way and the entry to the ice arena. Rambler is at the northeast corner of that intersection. Climb Rambler to Big Easy. (Alternate: go up Ability Way to the Practice Loop connector and climb the Practice Loop to Big Easy.)

Looking down at the Old Ranch trailhead from Rambler.

Old Ranch (West Rambler) trailhead: Climb Rambler up and across ridge, fork right on Big Easy as you approach Round Valley Express.
North Round Valley (Bike Park) trailhead: Take Happy Gillmor to Tin Man. Fork left on Rambler at Rademan Ridge. Descend and fork right as Big Easy leaves the combined Rambler/Rademan Ridge trail.
Silver Summit end of Silver Quinn: Pedal south 0.2 miles on paved trail, passing entry to Round Valley Express. At gate, fork right onto Bourbon Street and climb 0.2 miles to Big Easy.

Round Valley Way trailhead as seen from Big Easy.

Round Valley Way trailhead: This trailhead is a little harder to find; mostly used by locals. Take the northbound Matt's Flat (the trail closest to the kiosk) and pedal 100 yards to where Big Easy crosses.
Park City Hospital: Find the singletrack at the northern end of the parking lot. Go 0.2 miles uphill, cross Silver Quinn paved trail, then join Big Easy.

The Big Easy Loop

Arriving at the Practice Loop on Big Easy eastbound. Example of clumsy signage: there's a "Big Easy" sticker on the post, but no clue whether it means that the uphill or the downhill fork is Big Easy.

Big Easy is the longest trail in the Round Valley system, and it was built to be suitable for inexperienced mountain bikers. It's big, but it's easy. A trip around the loop will be over 6 miles -- and can be significantly more depending on which trailhead you use to climb to the trail -- with around 400 feet of overall climbing spread around the loop.

Big Easy is a machine-cut trail with built-in wiggles for flow and water shedding. The surface is 99% smooth dirt with only occasional short stretches of embedded rock. The riding is two-way. At this time, most riders are falling onto Big Easy for short segments while pedaling to other trails, rather than setting out to do the entire loop as a destination ride. This is likely to change as the trail becomes better known.

Much of the trail traverses gentle slopes in meadows of sage. It's not a high-voltage ride or a challenge. It's a cruiser with great flow -- when that flow isn't interrupted as you try to figure out which trail is which.

Northbound on a counterclockwise ride, eastern side of loop.

Most riders will reach Big Easy from the eastern end of Rambler. For kids and new beginners it may be easier to climb through the Practice Loop to reach Big Easy. These two routes both begin on Gillmor Way at the turn-in to the Park City Ice Arena.

The simplest connection is via Rambler. On Gillmor Way, find the singletrack that starts on the sidewalk just east of Ability Way. Around mile 0.3, the Practice Loop will join on your left. At mile 0.4, Rambler and Big Easy will merge. For a clockwise ride, fork to the left. To ride counterclockwise on Big Easy, go right on the combined Rambler-Big Easy. In 0.3 miles you'll reach a 4-way trail fork. Rambler continues straight while Kari's forks slightly left uphill. Big Easy splits away in a 150-degree turn to your right.

Beginning to find a few more trees as we approach the northeastern corner of the loop.

Approaching a set of climbing turns.

To reach the Practice Loop, pedal north gently uphill on Ability Way. Turn right uphill on the singletrack Practice Loop Connector. (There's a second, flatter connector located 100 yards further uphill.) When you reach the Practice Loop, turn in the direction you want to ride -- left for a clockwise Big Easy ride, right for counterclockwise. If you went right, Rambler will join on your right as you climb uphill. The Practice Loop and Big Easy will then join together at around 1/2 mile from the trailhead. Turn in the direction you plan to ride.

Navigation counterclockwise from the junction of Rambler and Big Easy (southeast corner of loop)

Westbound on the northern side of the loop. The trail often contours mid-way between two other trails, in this case, between Round Valley Express below and Ramble On above.

Arrive at loop from combined Rambler/Practice Loop, turn right
100 feet, keep right and downhill as Nowhere Elks forks left uphill
0.3 miles, fork hard right downhill as Rambler continues straight and Kari's heads left uphill.
0.3 miles, keep straight (right downhill connects to Silver Quinn paved trail then Park City Hospital parking lot)
1.0 miles, keep straight to cross Rusty Spur
0.7 miles, keep left as Bourbon Street joins on right
0.3 miles, keep straight to cross RV Connector singletrack

Heading southwest after the fork off Rademan's. The spots where Big Easy temporarily joins another trail need more-visible signage and clear indicators of where you should ride to continue the loop.

0.4 miles, cross doubletrack Round Valley Express to broad singletrack labeled for Rademan Ridge
0.1 miles, Rambler joins on left
50 yards, fork left onto Big Easy into broad sage valley
1.1 miles, six-way trail intersection on ridge (RV Express and Cammy's cross), keep straight
0.2 miles, five-way intersection, cross Matt's Flat and veer 45 degrees right

Looking down one of several S-turns where the trail gains or sheds elevation. They ride well in either direction.

0.1 miles, cross Seventy 101
0.4 miles, cross Backslide
0.3 miles, cross connector from Round Valley Way to Matt's Flat
100 yards, join Ability Way/Matt's Flat heading southeast
50 feet, Downward Dog joins on left

Rolling southeast as we approach the intersection with Cammy's on the next ridge.

100 feet, fork left uphill off Ability Way
0.2 miles, keep straight as Valdemort joins from left
0.2 miles, keep straight as Practice Loop joins from R downhill
0.1 miles, keep straight (left) as Practice Loop/Rambler forks R downhill. (Right turn here takes you down to Ability Way/Gillmor Way)

Bottom Line:
Nice addition to the Round Valley system, offering a longer ride with less climbing for tourist-level riders. Nice access route to other popular trails in the riding area. But at this time it's not an easy route to navigate, especially in the area just above the Abilities Center. Needs some thoughtful work on signage to keep riders flowing steadily around the loop.

Bruce's bike at a trail junction in Matt's Flat.

Sports Complex Trailheads
On I-80, turn south at Silver Creek Junction (towards Heber). At the second exit (about 3 miles later) turn right towards Park City on Kearns Blvd (Highway 248). Less than 1/4 mile from the exit, turn right at the light onto Round Valley Drive. Quickly turn left onto Gilmor Way. Follow it around (pass the first parking lot) and veer north. You'll pass parking lots on your right. Head to the top of the parking area. Quinn's TH is across Gilmor Way. The other trails can be reached by heading toward the Ice Arena building. Bathroom and water are found in the middle of the parking area.
Quinn's TH: Directly across Gilmor Way from the top of the main Sports Complex paved parking area on the west side.
Rambler trail: Pedal on paved trail or road to the north. Go the entry to the parking lot on the south side of the Ice Arena. At the road crossing, turn north toward the stables. Rambler is the singletrack immediately on your right, just a few feet up the road.
Practice Loop trail: Go to Rambler as above, but don't turn onto the trail. Instead, go up the paved road toward the stables 1/10 mile. Just as it turns to the left, fork right on the yellow cinder path (Ability Way). The Practice Loop singletrack is about 100 feet up the path on your right.

Trailside Park and North Round Valley trailheads: (for access via Happy Gilmor and TM, bathroom and water available)
Leave US-40 (189) at the Silver Creek exit and turn west (toward Snyderville). You'll see the North Trailhead on your left as you approach a low hill. Turn in, and begin riding on Happy Gillmor. For the Trailside Park, stay straight on Silver Creek Parkway until it ends in the Trailside Park parking lot. To connect to Happy Gilmor, you have two options: (1) You can climb the broad trail right at the parking lot entry to the top of the saddle ridge, then head south when the main trail turns left to climb to the twisty DH trails. When you reach Happy Gilmor, turn right to head for the Old Ranch (Rambler) trailhead, or go left to find TM. (2) Backtrack on Silver Creek Parkway, past the church, and turn right at a dirt road with a gate. Veer left from DT to ST, and you're on Happy Gilmor.

Community Trailheads: (No water and bathrooms at these access points.)
Round Valley Way. Meadows Drive to Sunny Slopes Drive to Round Valley Way. Parking lot, access to the doubletrack trails just downhill from Somewhere Elks and Backslide singletracks.
Cove (Meadows Drive). Meadows Drive turns east at traffic light on 224 (Park Ave north of town). Parking on the north side of the street. Connects uphill to La Dea Duh and the west end of Matt's Flat.
Fairway Hills. Meadows Drive to Silver Cloud Dr to Morning Sky Court. No dedicated parking. Go to the end of Morning Sky Court. Street dead-ends at entry to Fairway Hills Connector. Room for a couple of vehicles.
Silver Summit Parkway. (First southbound exit US-40) Unmarked, about 1/3 mile east of the church. Minimal roadside parking. Two singletracks head south. They join and connect to Round Valley Express DT. Further uphill, ST connects to Ramble On at mile 1.4.
Silver - Quinn TH. From Silver Summit Parkway just west of US-40, south on Highland Drive. Parking after road turns to gravel.
Old Ranch (Rambler) TH. From 224, go east on Old Ranch Road. Turn north as you approach the hill. Parking is on the east side of the road.