Thaynes Canyon's Walk to the Lifts Is Half-Built. Here's How to Get There This Winter.

"It's been amazing the adoption of this path already," Park City Councilmember Jeremy Rubell told KPCW when the Thaynes Canyon Drive pathway opened on Sept. 23, 2025. "It connects all the way across [state Route] 224, into Snow Creek plaza and the McLeod Creek trail."

The new path runs east toward Snow Creek and the McLeod Creek Trail. The road that leads to Silver Star and Park City Mountain Resort is Three Kings Drive, and it still has no continuous sidewalk. This winter, a car-free ski day out of Thaynes Canyon depends on the bus and on one small plaza at the base of the Silver Star lift.

The Path Points Toward Groceries

The first phase gave Thaynes Canyon Drive a 12-foot multi-use path. Before that, the road had no sidewalk at all. KPCW reported that the path gives Thaynes residents easier access to the Park City Golf Course and the Snow Creek shopping center. UDOT and Summit County grants paid for 80% of it.

So a walk to the store or a ride onto the McLeod Creek Trail is now easy. A walk the other way, toward the lifts, still means a stretch of road built without pedestrians in mind.

Three Kings Drive Is the Missing Piece

The city spells out the problem in its own June 25, 2026 staff report. Three Kings Drive "lacks a continuous and safe pedestrian facility," which produces conflicts between cars and people on foot, "particularly during winter months when snow storage further narrows the roadway." The report also says the corridor serves residents, visitors, transit riders, Silver Star and Park City Mountain Resort. That makes it "an important missing link" in the city's walking and biking network.

That means the stretch without a sidewalk is the stretch that matters in ski season, and it gets narrower when the snow piles up. Neighbors started asking for traffic calming and safer walking on this corridor through the city's Neighborhood Traffic Management Program back in 2018.

At the June 25 work session, City Council heard the recommended design. It calls for a 6-foot sidewalk, bikes kept separate from pedestrians, and a narrower roadway. According to the meeting minutes, staff put the timeline at final design by fall and construction in 2027, with most of the cost covered by a UDOT grant. Neighbors who had asked about the existing trees were told staff "felt confident the large vegetation would not be impacted." The staff report also shows how the plan changed after neighborhood feedback. It moved away from a shared-use path like the one on Thaynes and kept the work inside city-owned right-of-way.

Staff said they would bring an implementation and construction plan back to Council this winter. That leaves one more ski season with the gap still open.

This Winter, the Bus Covers the Gap

Until Three Kings gets its sidewalk, Park City Transit's two Thaynes routes are the car-free link between the neighborhood and Mountain Village. Here is how the city's posted timetables describe them:

Those are the spring 2026 timetables, effective April 1. The winter schedule replaces them. TownLift reported that Park City's winter service usually starts in early December and runs through mid-April.

This winter's buses will also be scheduled differently. An October 1 staff report on the 2026-2027 Winter Service Plan proposes building each route's runtimes from historical travel times for each segment, by time of day. Headways would vary with how long a full loop actually takes, and buses would mostly stay on one route or corridor so one late bus doesn't delay the others. For a resident at the III Kings Dr. stop, the published time should be more reliable on a powder morning, even if the gap between buses stretches when traffic is heavy. Council did pause a proposed new 10-Pink route to Quinns Junction, but that route never touched the Thaynes corridor.

Silver Star Is the Neighborhood's Side Door

The bus stop that matters most for this neighborhood is the one at Silver Star. The Silver Star Café at 1825 Three Kings Drive describes itself as sitting on the back side of the Park City Golf Course and its cross-country ski track, at the base of the Silver Star lift. In winter the café is ski-in/ski-out, and skiers can reach it by the Silver Star or Ligety Split runs.

Silver Star isn't a skier parking lot. The café says its parking is "free but limited" and states plainly: "No trailhead or skier parking." It also notes it's on the free Park City bus route. In the café's own directions, the trip from Thaynes Canyon runs past the driving range and a quarter mile up Three Kings Drive, which is the same stretch the sidewalk plan targets.

The plaza also has Silver Star Ski & Sport, a ski and bike rental and repair shop. The shop says it's working by appointment this fall and asks customers to call ahead. That makes Silver Star a place to get skis tuned before opening day, as well as a place to get on the mountain without a parking spot.

What Driving to Mountain Village Costs Once December Arrives

The bus and Silver Star matter more because of how Park City Mountain handles parking at its main base. Park City Mountain's posted winter operating period runs November 20, 2026 through April 19, 2027, depending on weather and conditions. The resort's parking page lays out this schedule for the Mountain Village surface lots:

1. November 20 to December 4. All lots are free, but you still need an advance reservation, seven days a week.
2. December 5 to April 3. Reservation parking costs $29 in the First Time and Main lots, and the Silver King Lot opens on certain peak days.
3. All season. Cars with four or more people park free in the First Time lot with an advance reservation.
4. After 12:00 p.m. Every Mountain Village lot is free, with no reservation needed.

Garage parking at the base runs $50 per reservation. A garage season pass costs $825. It's good only at the garage you select, and you need an active 2026/27 Epic Pass that includes Park City Mountain. The same resort page includes older FAQ material, so check the live reservation system before a specific ski day.

Compare the two calendars. Paid parking starts December 5, and winter bus service usually starts in early December. For a Thaynes Canyon household, the $29 mornings and the full winter bus schedule arrive within days of each other. The neighborhood's bus line and side door at Silver Star are worth the most during the stretch when a car parked at Mountain Village costs money every morning.

The Lifts Above Silver Star Stay the Same This Season

Up the hill, the change is a year out, just like the sidewalk. Vail Resorts announced on September 28, 2026 that it plans to replace Silverlode with an eight-passenger detachable lift and to replace Eagle and Eaglet with a single six-passenger detachable lift. Completion is targeted ahead of the 2027/28 season, and the company said construction timelines would follow.

The Planning Commission approved both lifts on May 27, 2026, and a hearing officer denied an appeal on July 29, according to the city's project page. A petition filed in Third District Court on Aug. 28 asks the court to overturn the approvals or send them back for more review. TownLift reported the challenge was still pending as of Sept. 29.

On the current schedules, the Three Kings sidewalk is set for 2027 construction and the new lifts are targeted for the season after. If both stay on track, the 2027/28 winter will be the first when Thaynes Canyon has a continuous walk to the base and new lifts at the base. This season, the route to Park City Mountain is still the Route 2 Green or Route 3 Blue bus, or the Silver Star plaza.

Want to try the Thaynes Canyon route to the lifts before opening day on November 20? INHABIT Park City can walk it with you, from the Thaynes Canyon Drive path to the Silver Star plaza, and show you how each piece fits a winter morning. Schedule a Neighborhood Tour.