Canyons Resort Utah has been known under plenty of other guises in former years such as “Park City West”, “Park West” and “The Canyons”. And resort upgrades occur much more frequently than name changes, such that the Canyons Ski Resort has undergone amazing transformation over recent decades with nearly every lift, building and amenity replaced or improved. And now that the Canyons Resort Park City has been acquired by Vail Resorts, the development will definitely continue.

Since 2015-16 the Canyons ski area has been interconnected with Park City Mountain Resort via a gondola to form one uber sized ski resort. The base area of the Canyons side is called Canyons Village at Park City. Yet another new name as part of its ongoing reinvention!

The Canyons zone of Park City was formerly an amazing all-rounder ski resort in its own right with loads and loads of varied terrain, great lift infrastructure, and of course the fabulous snow that Utah is famous for. Now it’s just even better and bigger with 7,300 (2,954ha) acres of terrain!

Pros and Cons of Canyons Park City

Pros 

• The large size of the terrain makes this a great stand-alone destination ski area as most riders are not likely to get bored too quickly, and then there’s also the other side of the Park City Mountain.
• The Canyons side caters incredibly well to intermediates (as does the PC side). The difference is that Canyons has better upper end intermediate slopes. The variety of advanced terrain is also impressive.
• Unlike the PC side and Deer Valley, Canyons has gated access to great sidecountry and backcountry.
• Canyons Village is very popular with families; in part due to the convenient location of the accommodations and great ski school and child care.
• It’s very close to a major international airport.

Cons 

• Canyons Park City doesn’t receive as much snowfall as the Cottonwood resorts, although the volume is about average for a major western USA resort.
• This is a high profile ski area that attracts lots of people for very good reason. For powder hounds, this means that in-bounds freshies don’t tend to last long.
• There are no economical lodging options and ski school and ski rentals are pretty expensive.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective 

• A lift pass is outrageously expensive if you rock up to the ticket window or if you only ride for a few days, but if you purchase an Epic Pass it offers great value for money if you want to go for a week plus (and especially if you want to visit other Vail resorts).
• Canyons Park City has something on offer for everyone, although the resort is progressively marketing itself mostly to a luxury market.

Canyons at Park City Ski and Snowboard Terrain

The Canyons Ski Resort side is rather large with 182 trails and 4,000 acres (1,619 hectares) of skiable terrain. Canyons at Park City has 21 lifts, which includes gondolas and lots of fast speed quad chairs and a 6-pack chairlift.

The Canyons skiing terrain provides plenty of diversity for all ability levels, but it has an abundance of intermediate runs and a bias towards the advanced rider. Canyons has easily accessed sidecountry (out-of-bounds) skiing, but there’s enough in-bounds terrain such that you don’t need to ski the same run twice.

Highlights of the terrain include the great fall-line cruisers of varying pitch, and the impressive tree skiing in the well gladed areas. And unlike at Deer Valley, snowboarders are definitely welcome at Canyons (and the Park City side), and with many natural half-pipes and multiple terrain parks, there’s plenty on offer for shredders.

Canyons Snow

Whilst not quite the extraordinary snow volumes found in the Cottonwood Canyons, an average of 355 inches (9 metres) per season at the Canyons ski resort is still pretty impressive. And like the other Utah ski resorts, the powder is generally of superb quality.

Where is Canyons Village at Park City?

The Canyons Village is only 4.6 miles from downtown Park City Utah, 4 miles from the main base of Park City Mountain Resort, and only 5.7 miles from Deer Valley Resort.

Canyons Village is only 33 miles west of the Salt Lake City International Airport. There are lots of transfer options between the airport and Canyons, and these can be provided as part of a Park City ski package.

Canyons Village Lodging

The Canyons village is growing and there are various Canyons hotels and condo properties. The Canyons lodging options generally range from deluxe to luxurious, and many of the accommodations are ski-in ski-out, or very close to it.

Another option is to stay in downtown Park City lodging which can provide easy access to a greater range of restaurants, bars and shops than at Canyons. Park City accommodations are also typically upscale, but for those travelling on a budget, there are some inexpensive lodging options located a little off the main drag.

Park City Accommodations Listings 

Facilities

The Canyons village provides all the required amenities for skiers and snowboarders including equipment rental shops, a handful of retail shops, a large ski school, and child care. There are several Canyons restaurants, bars and eateries that range from casual to upmarket. The nightlife can be very vibrant during specific events; otherwise the nightlife is typically more on the subdued side.

Activities

Activities at or near the resort include sleigh rides, zip lining, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and day spa treatments, whilst a great powder hound activity is to go cat skiing with Park City Powder Cats.