Park City with Kids: Best Family Activities Summer 2026

Published May 2, 2026 • 8 min read • Family Summer Guide

The summer question most Park City visitors get wrong is: is this a kids-friendly destination? The answer is an unqualified yes — and the summer activities for families here run deeper than most mountain towns three times its size. This guide focuses on the family-specific activities that make Park City exceptional: Utah Olympic Park, the Alpine Slide, Woodward, Jordanelle, and more. If you are still building your itinerary, we have separate guides covering the best hiking trails from Main Street, the Deer Valley Music Festival, and everything else Park City summer has to offer. This one is specifically for families traveling with kids.

This guide covers the best family activities available in summer 2026 with current opening dates, pricing, and the details you need to plan. None of this requires a car if you are staying in Old Town — the Park City free electric bus system connects Main Street to most major attractions.

Utah Olympic Park: The Family Anchor Activity

Utah Olympic Park is the one activity that earns unanimous approval across every age group in a family. Built as the sliding and ski jumping venue for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games, it has evolved into a year-round adventure park where Olympic history and adrenaline are genuinely the same thing.

2026 season opens May 22. This year brings a meaningful improvement: Gold Passes are now offered as full-day sessions rather than separate two-hour blocks, giving families the flexibility to pace themselves through the day. Tickets use dynamic pricing starting at $80 when booked in advance — book early to lock in the lowest rate. Single activity tickets are $35.

The Alpine Slide is a gravity-powered sled run where each rider controls their own speed on a 3,000-foot track. Kids between 35 and 47 inches must ride with an adult, which makes it a genuinely shared experience rather than a solo one. The Extreme Tubing sends riders down the Nordic ski jump landing hills — exactly as fun as it sounds and significantly more accessible than it looks. The ziplines and ropes course round out the day for older kids and adults.

The signature experience is the Summer Bobsled — a ride on the actual 2002 Olympic sliding track, modified for summer with wheels in place of ice runners. A professional pilot takes up to three passengers and reaches speeds of up to 70 mph. Book online at $75 when added to a Gold Pass; walk-up is $125. Minimum age 13 with health requirements — this is genuinely intense.

The Flying Ace All-Stars Freestyle Show starts June 13 and runs every weekend. Elite ski and snowboard aerialists perform flips and twists up to 60 feet in the air before landing in the Spence Eccles Olympic Freestyle Pool — a half-hour show designed for all ages and one of the more memorable things you will see outdoors in Utah. No extra ticket required during Gold Pass sessions.

The Alf Engen Ski Museum and the Eccles Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum are free — a meaningful stop before or after the outdoor activities, particularly for kids who need context for what they are seeing. The interactive ski jumping simulator is a hit with the 8–12 crowd.

Getting there from Main Street: Utah Olympic Park is a 10-minute drive or a bus ride via the free Park City transit system. The Old Town Transit Center is a 2-minute walk from Summit on Main.

Park City Mountain Resort: Alpine Slide, Mountain Coaster & More

Park City Mountain Resort's summer operations open June 6, 2026, with the Alpine Slide, Mountain Coaster, zipline, and Payday scenic chairlift. The Crescent Chair bike haul, Town Lift, and Red Pine Gondola open June 13.

The Alpine Slide at PCMR is one of the longest in the world — over 3,000 feet of winding track down the mountain face. Each rider controls their speed, making it work well across ages and comfort levels. The Mountain Coaster — a gravity-powered coaster on rails through mountain terrain — is the activity adults will claim was purely for the kids while secretly enjoying more than anyone. The base area also includes a climbing wall, mini golf, a kids' zipline, and a kids' ropes course designed specifically for children aged 30 to 100 pounds.

Getting there: The Town Lift is a 5-minute walk from Summit on Main. Ride it to the Resort and access summer activities from there. No car, no shuttle, no parking.

Woodward Park City: Mountain Biking & Action Sports

Woodward Park City operates year-round as a 70,000-square-foot indoor action sports facility — trampolines, foam pits, skateboarding, parkour, scooters, and progressive training tools — and adds lift-served mountain biking outdoors in summer. The Hot Laps lift opens June 21 for the 2026 season, serving Woodward's mountain bike park. Youth summer camps begin in June for ages 4 and up, with separate sessions for ages 4–6 and 7–12.

For families with kids in the 8–15 range who have any interest in action sports, skating, or mountain biking, Woodward is a genuinely impressive facility. Drop-in sessions, lessons, and structured camps are all available. The indoor facility means a rainy Park City afternoon is not a lost day.

Jordanelle State Park: Water Activities 20 Minutes Away

Jordanelle Reservoir sits 20 minutes from Main Street and is the outdoor water destination for Park City families in summer. Stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and swimming in a calm, mountain-ringed setting. Rentals are available at the park. The water temperature in July and August is warm enough for extended swimming, and the elevation keeps the heat manageable even on the hottest days. For families with younger children, the calm water and gradual entry make this more approachable than river activities. A car or rideshare is needed for this one.

Park City Museum: Free & Right on Main Street

The Park City Museum sits directly on Historic Main Street — a 2-minute walk from Summit on Main — and offers one of the most genuinely engaging small-town history museums in the Mountain West. The exhibits cover Park City's silver mining boom, the progression from mining camp to world-class resort town, and the colorful characters who built Old Town. There is an authentic territorial jail that kids can walk through, interactive mining exhibits, and enough depth to hold adult interest. Admission is modest and it pairs naturally with breakfast on Main Street before heading to the mountain for the afternoon.

The MARC Pool: Reopening Summer 2026

The Park City Municipal Athletic and Recreation Center's outdoor aquatic facility has been under a $6 million renovation and is planned to reopen for summer 2026 with newly renovated outdoor spaces — including a water slide, zero-depth entry wading pool, and outdoor amenities that make it a local favorite on warm afternoons. It is accessible by free Park City bus from downtown. Check the Park City MARC website for confirmed opening dates as summer approaches.

Kimball Art Center: Creative Activity for All Ages

The Kimball Art Center on Main Street offers drop-in classes in ceramics, painting, drawing, and kid-centered crafts. For a traveling family, it is the right answer to a rainy afternoon or a change of pace from outdoor activity. Finished pieces can be shipped home. The gallery itself is worth a walk-through even without a class — and it is steps from Main Street.

Why Summit on Main Works for Families

Most Park City vacation rentals are built for couples or small groups. Summit on Main is legitimately configured for a family trip at scale. Five bedrooms means grandparents, parents, and kids each have their own space. Five private en-suite bathrooms means no morning bathroom queue. The Wolf kitchen means real meals together rather than three restaurant dinners a day — a meaningful difference when traveling with children who have food preferences and schedules.

The private movie room has a quality screen setup for rainy evenings or early-to-bed nights when the adults want the rooftop. The Peloton gives parents who wake early a quiet option before the day starts. And the rooftop hot tub — the part the kids will talk about long after the trip — is an exclusively private space that runs through the full summer season.

The location on Main Street means the Park City Museum is a 2-minute walk, Java Cow for ice cream is steps from the front door, and the free bus to Utah Olympic Park is a 2-minute walk to the transit center. A family of 10 can go the entire trip without a car if they choose to — genuinely unusual for a mountain town.

Planning Your Family Week from Main Street

A well-structured family week in Park City: acclimatize on day one with Main Street and the Museum, Utah Olympic Park on day two, Park City Mountain Resort activities on day three, a water day at Jordanelle mid-week, Woodward as a weather backup or dedicated day for older kids, and the Deer Valley Music Festival (July 17 – August 15) as an evening event the whole family can enjoy via the free bus. Book Utah Olympic Park tickets well in advance — dynamic pricing means the earlier you purchase, the lower the rate, and summer weekends at peak season sell out.

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