Bruce cruises through sage and oak in 2018. Trail page and photos from 20 years of rides in Round Valley, with latest update June 2023.
Round Valley
Rambler and Ramble On with Pulp Friction
Ramber is a popular trail in the Round Valley riding area east of Park City. Ramble On turns Rambler into a lariat loop ride from either trailhead. Pulp Friction is included here because it's a popular downhill that most riders will substitute for the far western side Rambler. See the main Round Valley page
for general area information.
Rambler runs from 6700 feet elevation to a high of 7050. A lariat loop from the Ability Center
trailhead (using Ramble On as the loop portion) will be 6.5 miles with around 650 vertical
feet of climbing. From the western (Old Ranch) end, the same lariat would be 7.6 with 800 feet
of climbing.
Looking northwest as Rambler reaches a high point in eastern Round Valley. The ridge at mid-photo is Rademan Ridge.
Round Valley is a popular spot for weekday races. And most of them will use Rambler.
Most riders now substitute Pulp Friction for a downhill on the western 1.5 miles of Rambler,
starting at the Rademan Ridge trail intersection. Pulp Friction is 1.4 miles with 350 feet
of elevation loss, ending at the Old Ranch trailhead.
Looking down at Old Ranch parking as Bruce begins the climb up Rambler.
Old Ranch (West Rambler) trailhead: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.
Looking north from the entry to the ice arena parking lot. The trail in the middle of the photo is the southeastern end of Rambler.
East Rambler Gillmor Way: 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.
Pedaling Rambler near the western end in 2018.
Rambler is the second-longest trail in the Round Valley system, and was among the first constructed.
It began as a hand-cut trail, often following old game paths between oak groves. Rambler is
5.8 miles long, extending from the southeastern corner of Round Valley at Gillmor Way to the
northwestern corner at the Old Ranch trailhead.
Rambler is a popular trail for connecting to Big Easy, Nowhere Elks, Kari's, Ramble On,
Porc-u-climb and Downward
Dog
,
Tin Man
, and Pulp Friction. It's almost impossible to have a good ride in Round Valley without using
Rambler at some point.
Four-way intersection near the eastern end of Rambler. The rider is heading up Kari's, while Rambler continues straight and Big Easy forks hard downhill to the right. We're looking north.
Heading up through the Practice Loop to Rambler.
Most riders will start their ride on Rambler from the southeastern end. Park at any of the
lots in the Sports Complex, then pedal further on Gillmor Way until you reach the intersection
of Ability Way and the entrance to the Ice Arena. Rambler is the singletrack that starts on
the sidewalk at the northeast corner of the intersection.
On the way up, Rambler will briefly share a piece of the Practice Loop
and
Big Easy
. Once combined with Big Easy, there are trail forks to
Nowhere Elks and Kari's before Rambler is again its own trail. You'll need
to watch the trail posts carefully during the first 0.6 miles.
As you ride north then west, you'll climb steadily. There will be trail forks for Ramble On
at mile 1.0, with Kari's at 1.5, and with High Side at 1.8 as you begin to descend.At mile 2.2 there's a 4-way intersection, with Rusty Shovel on the right descending to Ramble
On and Big Easy, and Nowhere Elks on the left descending either to Rambler near the eastern
trailhead or to Down Dog.
Eastern Rambler is a popular spot for young riders and families.
Bruce tackles the rock garden on western Rambler.
From the western (Old Ranch) side, Rambler is uncomplicated. It starts with a 1.5-mile, 350-vertical
climb. At the first turn in the trail, Happy Gilmor goes straight as Rambler turns right uphill.
Once you arrive at Rademan Ridge, there's a trail fork with Pulp Friction and Tin Man.This side of Rambler is steeper, but the climb is not unpleasant. There will however be one
rock-garden tech spot on the uphill.
After descending into the Valley in Round Valley, you'll cross the doubletrack Round Valley
Express and have the option of turning onto Ramble On at mile 2.1 from the western end. At
the top (mile 3.5 from the western trailhead) you can take an alternate route such as Rusty
Shovel to the east or Nowhere Elks to Down Dog.
Rolling a turn on Rambler.
Looking down the trail as we enter a grove of oak.
Ramble On is 2.9 miles long. It forks away from Rambler at mile 1.0 from the eastern end (Gillmor
Way). It can be used as a non-climbing route around the hill (substituting for 2.6 miles and
250 feet of climbing on Rambler) to reach other Round Valley trails, or as a lariat loop ride
when combined with eastern Rambler.A lariat loop ride using Rambler from the trailhead on Gillmor Way is 7.5 miles with around
500 vertical feet of overall climbing.
Ramble On is a traversing trail, hugging the side-slope of the main hill in Round Valley as
it curves around north then west. There's some up-and-down riding but no overall elevation
change, staying at around 6750 feet elevation for the trip around the hill.
Looking west as we break out of forest.
Typical terrain -- sage meadows and groves of gambel oak.
Ramble On rejoins Rambler just above the Round Valley Express trail crossing at the northern
end of Round Valley. When using Ramble On, it's 3.9 miles from Gillmor Way. If you rode Rambler,
it's 3.6.Ramble On joins the Rusty Shovel trail for a short distance at mile 0.6 from the southern end.
Rust Shovel provides a connection uphill to Rambler, or downhill to Big Easy.
Rolling downhill through swooping turns as we begin to drop from Rademan Ridge.
Pulp Friction is a highly popular downhill flow trail on the western edge of Round Valley.
It runs from Rademan Ridge down to the Old Ranch trailhead. The top can be reached by climbing
western Rambler (from Old Ranch) or Tin Man (via Happy Gilmor), or when arriving at Rademan
on westbound Rambler.
Pulp Friction is 1.4 miles long with 350 feet of elevation loss. Unlike most of the Round Valley
trails, it's a highly-engineered machine-cut trail designed for high-speed riding. The trail
is restricted to bikes only, and downhill only.
Typical highly-banked engineered turn.
The wiggles down the ravine are a highlight of the descent!
Turns are highly banked and designed specifically for high-speed bicycle traffic. Although
the riding surface and pitch would generally be safe for beginning riders, it's not a good
idea for slow timid riders to use this trail.
Pulp Friction ends at the Old Ranch trailhead, where you can catch Rambler for a 1.5 mile climb
back to the top. An alternative climbing route to the top of Pulp Friction is to take Happy
Gilmor (found at the first uphill turn of Rambler) around the hill 1.1 miles to Tin Man (TM)
then climb 1.4 miles to the top.
Approaching the bottom of Pulp Friction.
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.
