Announcements

We’re excited to share that the long-awaited Run-A-Muk trailhead expansion project will begin tomorrow, August 15th! A new Trailhead will be constructed along Olympic Parkway, providing additional parking and trails to Run-A-Muk Off-leash Dog Area. The current Trailhead will remain open and will not be affected by the construction.     Please note that during the construction period, there may be temporary gaps in the fencing along Olympic Parkway. While these gaps will not affect the areas near the trails, they are necessary for the completion of the project. We ask everyone to stay on designated trails and keep your dogs in eye-sight and under voice control at all times. Please have a leash on hand. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. Thank you to the Recreation, Arts, and Parks Tax Grant for their support on this project.

Basin Recreation and Park City Municipal completed a community survey in 2023 to evaluate the use of e-bikes on trails and pathways. Summit County found that residents were in favor of clear and concise e-bike regulations, which were put into place in August of 2024. View the comprehensive regulations on Basin’s e-bike regulations page.  Read More about E-Bikes

Construction starts later this month on a new playground at Willow Creek Park. The idea is to make it more accessible to kids of all abilities. Basin Recreation District Director Dana Jones says the new playground will capitalize on recent innovations in playground design. “This is not something that you’re going to find anywhere else, this is going to be, this is going to be built for the public here and for everybody to come and play on,” she said. Making the playground accessible to everyone is key. The current playground was built in 2005, and Jones says a lot has happened since then. “The idea is that there’s going to be kids of all abilities—no matter whether they have sensory issues or mobility issues—they can all play together and play side-by-side,” she said. To encourage side-by-side play, the new playground is designed with more than one sensory experience in mind, with special attention to sight and sound as well as touch. Visually, the playground incorporates different elements of nature for the kids to interact with. There are fish, animals, trees, a boat and a blue stripe running through the playground like a river. Many parts of it will also be wheelchair accessible. Basin Recreation said it hasn’t received complaints about the current playground, but Jones said she believes people will be excited about the new design. “We are anticipating that probably a lot of people don’t even know that these kinds of innovations are out there,” Jones said. “And we are really excited to be able to bring them to this area.” The National Ability Center already has an all-abilities playground, but Basin Rec’s would be the first in the Wasatch Back open to the public. The playground will cost $1.8 million, mostly covered by a $1.35 million grant from the Summit County Recreation, Arts and Parks tax. Jones said Basin Rec itself will cover the other costs, including site preparation, which will be an additional $250,000. Demolition begins later in July. The playground parts were ordered last September, and Jones said she hopes they will arrive as demolition wraps up. If all goes according to schedule, construction will last three months, and the playground will reopen this fall.

UPDATE:The planned control burn in Toll Canyon will occur on Thursday, February 22, 2018. Project DescriptionThe Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (the District) has been actively engaged with several partnering entities to advance forest management activities among the District’s forested open space lands. Through a strong collaborative effort between federal, state, local agencies and non-profit conservation organizations, forest treatment work has fostered efforts to help improve forest health conditions and lower the risk of catastrophic wildfire. These efforts are being coordinated in conjunction with the Utah State Forest Fire and State Lands (FFSL), Summit County Fire Warden (Summit County), Park City Fire Department (PCFD), and Utah Open Lands (UOL) to expand the effectiveness of these treatments across a larger landscape area on these protected forested open space lands. This letter is to inform you that the District will be conducting slash pile burning operation in the coming weeks, between January 15 and the end of February, within Toll Canyon open space. This slash pile burning project is aimed at eliminating approximately 50 slash piles on the areas located in the Toll Canyon drainage bottom along the emergency escape road between Summit Park and Pinebrook.  2016 Project BackgroundIn 2016, a 15-acre hand treatment wildfire mitigation project was completed. Approximately 100 slash piles were generated as a result of the treatment work. Approximately 50 piles remain due to the inability to mobilize the chipper in that part of the canyon bottom. The burning of these piles is necessary as they present a fuel load that needs to be properly mitigated. The project treated an 80-foot corridor of forested open space along the emergency escape route between Summit Park and Pinebrook neighborhoods. The FFSL Hot Shot Fire Crews cleared brush and hazardous trees. In conjunction with this project, fire “breakaway” gates were installed on either end of the escape route. Gates are designed to break open when a car pushes on the gate during an emergency. This project was funded by a FFSL Summit Fire Mitigation Grant. The buffer created by this project served to reduce the volume of surrounding forest vegetation (fuels) that presented a hazard to nearby homeowners, while providing a safe exit in the case of a catastrophic fire. The intention of this project was to reduce the homeowner’s risk to wildfire and to reduce the potential for fires to start in the treated areas. FFSL crews removed beetle-killed trees and thinned dense growing conifers to improve forest health and enhance wildlife habitat in the area. Firewood rounds were provided for community collection. 2018 Implementation of Burn PlanBurning operations are planned to begin in late January through late February based on the required snow cover, weather conditions and air quality regulation to ensure safety. The District’s Open Space Management Supervisor will be on site during the burn, while the actual burning will be conducted by Summit County and PCFD. All required Utah State smoke permits, local burning permits and needed air quality approvals will be acquired by Summit County for this operation. Exact burning dates will be dependent on snow cover and weather conditions. Given the