Ruts Suck! Mud is Murder! These common phrases are splashed across social media each spring and . . . they’re pretty much right. Albeit, the latter one is a touch dramatic. It’s true though, as town melts out, Park City's 400+ miles of trails need time to drain and dry. For some users, riding or hiking in mud seems fine. The trails are going to dry out regardless, right? What’s the big deal with riding or hiking on muddy trails, anyway?

Trails may look dry but they are closed for a reason—time to turn around!

Why Mud Matters

Singletrack trails are not just lines drawn on the hillside but are built to last for decades to come. A good trail builder incorporates natural terrain features with a design that promotes good drainage. A well-built trail will have 3-6% of slope on the downhill side that allows the water to drain. This combined with water bars quickly removes running and standing water from the surface of the trail. 

When you run a tire through or plod in the muck with your boots, an imprint of your tire or foot is left over. These shapes solidify as the trail dries and the velvet smooth singletrack is now rough. And because these shapes have altered the trail, if there are enough of them, it will impede the built-in drainage and lead to quicker erosion. One long tire track through mud essentially acts as a canal for water, pulling dirt away and degrading the trail. If you're not sure if a trail is too wet, a good rule of thumb is if the dirt is sticking to your tires or shoes then turn around—it's too muddy.

Riding through mud creates lasting damage!
Ruts lead to bad drainage issues!

Puddles and Standing Water

Here is a counter-intuitive piece of advice concerning puddles. We’re telling you not to ride through mud but what about standing water? Ride straight through it. Yes, you read that right. If enough trail users maneuver around a puddle, it widens the trail (keep singletrack single, right?) and pushes the mud to the peripherals, creating more damage and more opportunity for erosion. So yes, ride straight through the middle of the puddle!

Where to Find Rideable Trails

This is simple—find the sun! South and west facing aspects will be the first to get warm spring sun. North facing trails do get sun but not directly and will hold their snowpack and water content for longer periods. A good trail is usually dynamic, crawling across, up, over, down, and around a multitude of aspects on any given terrain. An example of this in Park City is the new Skyridge trail network on the northside of the Jordanelle Reservoir. The climb switchbacks up the south facing hillside before gaining the ridge and crawling across to the north side near the top. The south-facing switchbacks may dry out quickly but the bit of singletrack on the north is going to hold water and mud for longer. You could do an out-and-back on the switchbacks but please turn around before hitting any northside slop.

Proceed with caution and be prepared to turn around when you see mud!

Areas in Park City that dry out quickly are the front side of Glenwild, south facing aspects of Round Valley, Riverview in Heber, and Dutch Hollow in Midway. A little known and much less ridden trail is Rocky Top on highway 35 towards Francis. This out-and-back is all south facing except for the top and sits at a low elevation allowing it to dry out quickly.

A Quick Note on Hero Dirt

If you’re a storied trail user, then you have probably heard the moniker “Hero Dirt.” This is dampened dirt on the trail that gives your tires enhanced traction (also called “Brown Pow” to some cross-seasonal linguists). This does not count as mud. Remember, if the dirt sticks to your tires or heels, it’s too muddy. But if the dirt is damp and not sticking, then it’s just tacky, and you’re good to go!

Tacky with a side of peanut butter—tread lightly!

Updates on Trail Status

If you don’t want to do the reconnaissance yourself, there are some handy tools to find out if the local trails are ready to go. First off, make sure you are following the Mountain Trails Foundation on Facebook and Instagram. These guys do a great job of updating the public on which trails are closed or open. They post near-daily updates. Plus, they have a good time doing it; their posts are often hilarious. Basin Recreation, the South Summit Trails Foundation, and the Wasatch Trails Foundation all leverage email blasts and social posts for updates for their own trail networks in Summit Country and the Wasatch Back. Apps like Trail Forks rely on user-generated updates with dates and time stamps, so you know you are getting the most recent information from users like you.

Get Out and Find Something to Ride

What have we learned today? Riding in mud is really bad for the trails as damage like ruts and deep footprints lead to quicker erosion and create rough, uneven surfaces where it’s not intended. Thankfully, trail maintenance crews and the public can fix them on community dig days. But let's all do our part to keep Park City's mountain bike and hiking trails in good condition by avoiding the mud. And while ruts do in fact, suck, mud is definitely not murder.

What spring dreams are made of!

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