Happy Gilmor and Tin Man

Twisting downhill on Tin Man. Trail photos and review by Bruce on September 9, 2016.

Round Valley
Happy Gilmor and Tin Man

Happy Gilmor and Tin Man (TM) are singletrack trails on the northern edge of the Round Valley riding area. (See the Round Valley page for general area information.) They are popular as a way for local residents to enter the system, or for riders at the Trailside Bike Park to venture into Round Valley for some XC riding.

Happy Gilmor connects the North Round Valley trailhead (just east of the bike park) to the Old Ranch trailhead at the bottom of Rambler and Pulp Friction Tin Man connects lower Happy Gilmor to Rambler at Rademan Ridge, where riders can connect to more of Round Valley's options.

The popular lariat loop of Happy Gilmor, Rambler's western side, and Tin Man is a quick 5.1 miles with around 500 vertical feet of overall climbing. The trails run from 6500 to 6850 feet in elevation, with an expected riding season of late May through October. The terrain is sage mixed with groves of scrub oak.

View to the west on Tin Man.

Trailheads and Access

Looking down toward the Old Ranch trailhead.

North Round Valley
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.

Old Ranch
From 224, go east on Old Ranch Road. Turn north as you approach the hill. Parking is on the east side of the road. Happy Gilmor forks off Rambler at the first uphill turn.

Happy Gilmor

Pedaling southbound away from the North RV trailhead on Happy Gilmor.

Happy Gilmor is 2.2 miles in length. On the north, it begins at the North Round Valley trailhead. It then traverses west around the hill to end on Rambler just a few feet above the Old Ranch trailhead. There is relatively little elevation change on the trail.

At mile 1.0, Tin Man forks away on your left. (Tin Man is the fastest route to the Rademan Ridge trail intersection, which is the key to the rest of Round Valley.) Keep right to stay on Happy Gilmor.

At mile 1.3, there's a trail on your right. This is a "back door" trail to the top of the bike park. Keep left.

Coming around the mountain toward Old Ranch.

Hitting Rambler just uphill from the Old Ranch trailhead.

At mile 2.2, you'll arrive at Rambler, at the first turn above the Old Ranch trailhead. Turn left uphill if you're climbing Rambler, either to do the lariat loop, Pulp Friction, or to connect to the rest of Round Valley.

Rambler (Old Ranch to Rademan Ridge)

Heading into a grove of oak as we climb Rambler.

The section of Rambler between the western end of Happy Gilmor and the top of Tin Man is included here because the trails are often done together as a lariat loop. This bit of Rambler is 1.5 miles long with 350 vertical feet of climbing.

Overall, Rambler is 5.8 miles in length, extending from the Abilities Center parking to the Old Ranch trailhead -- climbing to the top of the low mountains of Round Valley on the way. It can serve as a connector to almost all of Round Valley's popular trails.

This segment of Rambler is a steady mellow climb with a couple of rocky steep pitches. Turns are generous in radius. The trail passes between groves of oak, with occasional choke cherry, serviceberry, and scrub maple in the cooler ravines.

Rambler is fairly easy riding. There's one steeper tricky section that many intermediates will walk.

We've arrived at Rademan Ridge. Looking north.

When you arrive at the top of Rademan Ridge, there's a five-way trail intersection. Tin Man is the leftmost trail. Rambler continues straight ahead (your route to Big Easy or Porc-u-climb) while to the right are the Rademan Ridge trail and Pulp Friction (1.4 mile one-way downhill ending on Rambler at Old Ranch).

Tin Man

Beginning the descent on Tin Man, heading northwest.

Most riders prefer to save Tin Man for a downhill, but it rides well in either direction. It's 1.4 miles in length with 200 feet of elevation change. Tin Man is often referred to, and labeled on maps, as simply TM.

Tin Man lies on a gently north-facing slope. The trees tend to be a bit taller here, and the oak groves larger, but like the rest of Round Valley, there's no shade.

Tin Man has many swooping turns that are fun to ride downhill, but easy to climb as well.

Railing around the turns of Tin Man.

Trail fork where Tin Man joins Happy Gilmor.

At the bottom, Tin Man ends on Happy Gilmor, one mile from the North Round Valley trailhead.

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.