Announcements

For Immediate ReleaseMarch 20, 2025Contact: Ben Castro, (801) 244-2892, [email protected] Park City, UT – After nearly five years of dedicated service, Dana Jones, District Director of the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District, has announced her resignation, effective December 31, 2025. Jones is stepping down to embark on new life adventures, leaving behind a legacy of impactful leadership and commitment to the District’s growth and development. Jones joined the team in December of 2020, after a 28-year career with California State Parks. During her tenure, she successfully guided the District through the challenges of the pandemic, completed a comprehensive master planning process, and helped establish a dedicated Ranger team to educate the community on trail access and etiquette. Jones also oversaw the completion of the long-awaited Run-A-Muk trailhead parking expansion, the addition of the new Trailside East community park, and the creation of an all-abilities playground at Willow Creek Park. Additionally, she led a successful truth in taxation effort, prioritized staff growth and wellbeing, and fostered a collaborative culture that greatly benefited both the District and the community.   “Serving as District Director has been a great honor,” said Jones. “I am incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished and the significant milestones we’ve achieved. The team’s hard work and enthusiasm have made my time here truly rewarding. While it’s difficult to say goodbye, I’m excited for the next chapter and confident that the District will continue to thrive under new leadership and with the support of its amazing team.” Ben Castro, Chair of the Administrative Control Board, shared the news with Board members and the County Council, praising Dana for her leadership, dedication, and hard work. “Her shoes will be difficult to fill,” he remarked. The Administrative Control Board will form a committee to initiate a search for her replacement, ensuring a smooth transition and the continuation of the excellent work Basin Recreation is known for. Jones has expressed her “full commitment to supporting the transition process, ensuring a seamless hiring process, and assisting with the handover of responsibilities.” “We are grateful for Dana’s leadership and dedication over the years,” said Castro. “Her contributions have had a lasting impact on this District, and we wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors.”

Fall is restoration season for the Open Space team, as we move into winter we’re reflecting on the hard work we put into fall projects! Plants grown in the Trailside greenhouse through the spring and summer were ready to be put into the ground right before snowfall. With over 600 plants grown in-house, 270 supplied by the Utah Pollinator Grant, as well as some sourced from local nurseries, we were able to plant natives in areas that were disturbed and provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. With the help from the Trails crew, we completed the construction of the pollinator garden at Matt Knoop park. The garden features a myriad of native plants and is a certified wildlife habitat. Additionally, we planted over 200 more plants in the Knoop pollinator garden and plan to open the garden to the public as an immersive educational space in the spring! Plants from the Utah Pollinator Program, such as blue flax and Utah sweet vetch, were planted at the Discovery trailhead adding biodiversity, improving soil quality, and providing pollinator habitat. Part of the stream bank at Willow Creek was restored this fall, with plants and a coconut mat added to mitigate erosion in a disturbed area near the stream. Some of the plantings included Great Basin wild rye, yarrow, and coyote and peach-leaf willows. A fun and popular project involves creating and tossing seed balls, which are made by mixing together clay, native seeds, and compost. As our friend Juju from Swaner’s Conservation Crew wisely put it, they are “balls of seeds, balls of love.” These seed balls can be thrown into open spaces to help re-seed and spread native plants. This year, over 600 seed balls were made with the help of volunteers and the Swaner conservation campers. Seed ball stations were also set up at several trailheads, encouraging visitors to help spread the love this fall. Thanks to everyone that helped the Open Space team throughout the year to promote beautiful, biodiverse, and resilient open spaces!

The new Lower Run-a-Muk Trailhead features a restroom, 30 parking stalls, and brand-new trail connections to the existing Run-a-Muk trail system.

Here’s what’s happening this week in Basin Recreation’s Trails Department. For an up-to-date list of all trail conditions, please visit the Summer Trails Report Map and click ‘conditions’. Looking for more information on Basin’s Trails and Open Spaces? Subscribe to the Trails and Open Space Newsletter, a monthly bulletin bringing you the latest happenings, volunteer opportunities, and updates for you to connect with our shared trails and open spaces.  October 4, 2024 Crispy mornings, pretty trees, and hazy skies. This week we’ve started to re-mow all of our trail edges and winter Nordic trails (this will continue into next week), helped the Open Space department with a little perimeter trail in their pollinator garden, worked on some drainage in the bike park, and cleared any down trees on the Basin 5k. ~Happy Trails! it’s a great time to be out there September 20, 2024 Happy Friday! This week we’ve been repairing signs and painting more bridges, working on the new Run-A-Muk trail, and enjoying the beautiful fall colors. Trail impacts: Today, Friday Sept. 20th there will be a helicopter flying for a couple of hours in afternoon near where mid mountain trail crosses in front of Red Pine Lodge at Park City Mountain for gondola work. There will be trail guards to ensure trail users can cross the area safely in between flights. Trail users may be asked to wait a few minutes while the helicopter makes trips to and from the area. Should be another great weekend to be outside! ~Happy trails! September 13, 2024 Lots of blue sky days this week, and some of the first fall colors are starting to emerge! As we prep for fall, the Trails team has been busy finishing up some projects. Work has continued on the new Run-A-Muk trail, and the fence around the new RTS bathroom is now complete. Side veg work is done on Preserve Connector, and 24-7 has gotten some love this week. Enjoy some of the cooler temps this weekend and get outside! ~Happy Trails! August 23, 2024 The rain giveth again! This week We started side vegging down Preserve Connector, cleared a bunch more trees on Mid Mountain, and started construction on the new Run-A-Muk trail expansion. These expansion trails will remain closed until the new parking lot is completely finished. Please stay off these closed section as there will be heavy machinery. Trail impacts: just about all of our commuter trails will be in use Saturday for the NAC Summit Challenge, and McLeod Creek trail has Art on the Trails Saturday as well. ~Happy Trails! August 16, 2024 Rain making up for its absence all summer! Trails are running great. We took advantage of the soil moisture to fix some drainage and tread on upper Cobblestone. Also built a new reroute on upper Toll Creek trail around the old boardwalk. There were several tree blow-overs on Mid Mountain, Rob’s, and Moose Puddle that were cleared yesterday. Speaking of Mid Mountain! The Mid Mountain 50k is tomorrow. It starts at 6am from Silver Lake and runs north on Mid Mountain through Deer Valley, Park City, and Canyons resorts, crosses Olympic, down Moose Puddle and Iron Bill. All trails remain open but be aware of, be kind to,

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.