If you want to ride the downhill trails at Deer Valley, Utah, this summer, the new Pedal Pass means you will have to pay, even if you skip the lift and pedal up yourself.
The resort is charging $50 for a season pass or $12 per day for riders who pedal into the resort’s lift-served downhill terrain. Until now, riding up under your own power was free; only lift access carried a price tag. The Pedal Pass changes that, putting a fee on the climb as well as the chairlift.
The pass applies only to the lift-served downhill terrain on Bald and Bald Eagle mountains. Trails on Flagstaff Mountain and multi-directional routes such as Mid Mountain remain open and free to the public.
What the Deer Valley Pedal Pass Covers
Riders who want lift access still need the separate Deer Valley Summer Access Pass, which costs $329 and covers unlimited lift-served mountain biking, hiking and scenic chairlift rides all season. Ikon Pass and Utah Limited pass holders, along with eligible military personnel, can add it for a discounted $247.
The reasoning, the resort says, comes down to maintenance. “A lot of people ride the bus, come in, they pedal into certain areas of the bike park,” Doug Gormley, Deer Valley’s lead mountain bike coach, told KPCW, Park City’s public radio station. “Those are the ones that cost an enormous amount of money to build and maintain.”
Deer Valley’s bike park is widely considered one of Utah’s best. Spread across six mountains and featuring nearly 3,000 vertical feet, the bike park offers an extensive network of trails that cater to a wide range of riders. With lift access provided by three chairlifts, the park attracts riders from across the country who want to access the resort’s nearly 60 miles of machine-built and natural terrain.
Why Deer Valley Is Charging to Climb
For years, mountain biking in the Wasatch followed a simple rule: ride the lift, buy a ticket; earn your turns under leg power, ride for free. The Pedal Pass ends that arrangement on Deer Valley’s downhill flow trails.
The resort says the math is the problem. Deer Valley spends roughly $150,000 a year on summer trail maintenance alone, and modern machine-built flow trails can cost up to $100,000 per mile to build. With more than 100 riders a day busing in or climbing up from town to ride the downhill trails without a lift ticket, the resort says the Pedal Pass simply formalizes access that was already happening, and asks those riders to chip in for the berms and jumps they’re using.
The Deer Valley Pedal Pass Splits the Local Scene
The announcement has split the local community. Some object to the basic premise: if you do the work to climb the mountain yourself, why pay to descend? Others see it as a fair ask, especially given how little the pass costs next to a full bike-haul season pass.
What Stays Free
Trail advocates have offered some perspective on scope. The Mountain Trails Foundation notes that the Pedal Pass applies only to the lift-served downhill terrain on Bald and Bald Eagle mountains. The region’s roughly 400-mile network of public, multi-use cross-country trails, including Mid Mountain and the routes on Flagstaff Mountain, stays free and open to everyone.
Riders entering the bike park will find signage telling them to purchase passes, as well as to sign a release of liability waiver. E-bikes are welcome at Deer Valley’s Bike Park.
