14 Free Things to Do in Park City: A Local’s Guide

Park City has a reputation for being a splurge, and if you're only looking at lift tickets and tasting menus, sure. But ask anyone who actually lives here, and they'll tell you the best parts of this town don't cost a thing. Gallery openings with a glass of wine in your hand. Live music six nights a week in the summer. Public art tucked under highway tunnels and standing in the middle of roundabouts. Trails that start right where the sidewalk ends.

At the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County, we've spent years connecting locals and visitors to the arts and culture happening across Summit County, and a surprising amount of it is completely free. Here are 14 of our favorite free things to do in Park City, Utah, whether you're here for a weekend or you've lived here for a decade and need a fresh idea.

1. Gallery Hop Along Historic Main Street

Park City's gallery scene is one of the most underrated free things to do in Park City, and it's open year-round. Walk into any of the galleries lining Historic Main Street, and you'll find rotating exhibitions of contemporary, Western, and regional work, and nobody is going to charge you for looking.

A few local favorites:

• Kimball Art Center offers free admission to its rotating exhibitions, along with artist talks and community programming. It's the anchor of the local art scene and a must-stop.

• Gallery MAR focuses on Western, wildlife, and contemporary work, with bronze sculpture and large-scale paintings inspired by the Mountain West.

• Julie Nester Gallery, Meyer Gallery,Mountain Trails Gallery, and Trove Gallery round out the Main Street circuit, each with a distinct point of view.

Here’s a pro tip for gallery hopping in Park City: give yourself an afternoon and start at the top of Main Street so you're walking downhill. You can also take the free Park City trolley back up to the top of Main for a fun, charming addition to the day. 

2. Visit the CREATE PC Local Artist Collective Gallery

Just off Main Street on Kearns Boulevard, the CREATE PC Local Artist Collective is our programthat supports Summit County artists with studio and exhibition space and sales opportunities. The CREATE PC gallery is free to visit, open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 to 6 PM, and the work rotates constantly.

One visit might turn up hand-thrown pottery, backcountry photography, woodturning, and fiber art all in the same room. You can meet the makers, watch the artistic process up close, and see exactly what Summit County's creative community is producing right now. Locals, this is the answer when you have out-of-town guests and some time to fill.

Where it’s Located: 1500 Kearns Boulevard, Space F110, Park City, UT

3. Join the Last Friday Art Stroll

On the last Friday of every month from 6 to 9 PM, galleries across Historic Main Street and beyond open their doors late for the Park City Gallery Stroll. It's free, it's social, and it's the single best free thing to do in Park City on a Friday night. Look for the white Gallery Association flags outside participating galleries and wander at your own pace—treat yourself to new exhibits, light refreshments, occasional live music, and a real chance to talk to the artists.

Twice a year, the stroll levels up into the Art & Music Gallery Stroll, a partnership between the Park City Gallery Association, the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County, and Mountain Town Music. During the night, live musical performances fill the air as you weave in and out of local galleries, like CREATE PC gallery, and talk to the artists behind the work. It’s truly a special evening you don’t want to miss out on. 

For updated dates, visit our Art & Music Gallery Stroll page.

4.Take a Self-Guided Public Art Tour

Park City's public art isn't hidden behind admission desks. It's on the streets, in the parks, under the tunnels, and in the middle of intersections, with more than 100 installations scattered around town. Build your own walking or biking route and hit:

• Loosey the Moose and Franz the Bear, two beloved sculptures near Main Street that have become genuine Park City icons

• The Future Is Now mural under the SR-224 pedestrian tunnel, created with local youth

• The Miner sculpture at Miner's Park, honoring Park City's silver mining roots

• Murals inside the China Bridge Parking Garage and at the Old Town Transit Center

• The Jeremy Ranch Roundabouts that turn everyday intersections into landmarks

• The Gondola Art Stroll in Canyons Village, where six art pieces are displayed inside retired Red Pine gondola cabins, accessible in the winter

Grab a Summit Bike Share cruiser if you'd rather pedal between stops than walk.

5. Stroll Historic Main Street

Sometimes the move is simply to walk Main Street with no agenda. The five-block stretch is a preserved 19th-century mining district turned walkable downtown, and reading the historic building plaques is its own free tour. Duck into Park City Museum for the free gift shop where kids under 17 and members get free admission, watch the Town Lift load skiers straight off the street in winter, and take in the mountain views from the top of the hill. In December, the Snow Globe Art Stroll fills Main Street with oversized illuminated globes.

6. Attend a Free Arts Festival

Some of the biggest free events in Utah happen right here in Summit County, and two of them are put on by the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County:

• The Latino Arts Festivaltakes over Canyons Village every June with more than 40 visual artists and hundreds of performers from across the Americas. Music, folkloric dance, food, artist markets, and hands-on cultural workshops, all free and built for families.

• The Summit Arts Marketbrings dozens of local artists and makers to Oakley's iconic Red Barn each July for a free, open-air day of art, live demonstrations, food trucks, and music programmed by Mountain Town Music. It's on the east side of Summit County and is worth the scenic drive.

Park City also hosts other festivals year-round, listed on our events calendar.

7. Spend a Sunday at Park Silly Sunday Market

On select Sundays from June through September, lower Main Street closes to cars and becomes the must-visit Park Silly Sunday Market: an open-air street festival with local vendors, artists, live music, food, and a genuinely eclectic crowd. It's free and open to the public, and it's the closest thing Park City has to a weekly block party. Ride the free bus in from Richardson Flat or the high school and skip the parking headache entirely.

8. Browse the Park City Farmers Market

The Park City Farmers Market runs Wednesdays through the summer and early fall at Park City Mountain's First Time lot, and it just celebrated its 25th season. Fresh Utah produce, breads, meats, flowers, prepared foods, and local makers, plus live music courtesy of Mountain Town Music. Browsing costs nothing, and the samples don't hurt.

9. Shop the CREATE PC Holiday Makers Market

From late November through early February, our CREATE PC Holiday Makers Market transforms the CREATE PC space at 1500 Kearns Boulevard into a pop-up market of locally made art, jewelry, ceramics, home goods, and gifts. Admission is free; the market is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 to 6 PM, and the opening night celebration from 6 to 9 PM features food, drinks, and live DJ sets.

Visit the CREATE PC Holiday Makers Market page for updated information on dates. 

Even if you're not buying, it's one of the warmest free things to do in Park City in winter—every piece comes with a story from the maker.

10. Catch a Free Outdoor Concert

Mountain Town Music is the reason locals say they came for the winter and stayed for the summer. The nonprofit programs, produces, and supports hundreds of free live music events in Utah, specifically across Summit County every year, on stages at City Park, Canyons Village, Newpark Amphitheater, Deer Valley's Snowpark Amphitheater, the Park City Library patio, Miner's Park, and out in Oakley and Peoa.

In peak summer, you can find free live music somewhere in the county nearly every night of the week. Check their events calendar before you head out.

11.Go to a Free Artist Talk, Reading, or Screening

Beyond the concert stages, Park City's cultural calendar is full of free programming that flies under the radar, including artist talks and opening receptions at Kimball Art Center and Main Street galleries, author events and readings at Dolly's Bookstore and the Park City Library, and community film and cultural programming throughout the year. These are the events locals actually attend, and most are free. Our events calendar is the fastest way to find them.

12. Visit the Free Museums at Utah Olympic Park

Utah Olympic Park is free to enter and walk around, and is home to two museums with free admission year-round: the Alf Engen Ski Museum and the Eccles Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum, both inside the Quinney Welcome Center.

• The Alf Engen Ski Museum traces the history of skiing in the Intermountain West through historic skis, photographs, and interactive exhibits such as the Mountain Sport Simulator. 

• Next door, the 2002 Olympic Museum preserves the Games that put Park City on the world stage, from opening-ceremony props to athlete memorabilia. 

Plan on an hour or two, and stick around the grounds to watch athletes training on the jumps and the sliding track. (The ziplines, alpine slide, and bobsled rides are ticketed, but nobody charges you to watch.)

13.Explore Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter

The Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter protects 1,200 acres of wetland at Kimball Junction, and admission is free with a suggested $5 donation. Walk the 400-foot pier out over the preserve, climb the four-story observation tower to look for moose and sandhill cranes, and explore the interactive exhibits inside Utah's first LEED Platinum certified building. Trails through the preserve are open and free to walk, and the connection between ecology, art, and community here is a genuinely Park City thing.

14.Hit the Trails

Park City sits at the center of more than 350 miles of free public trails, and you can access a lot of them straight from town. A few local favorites:

• Poison Creek Trail is a short, easy paved path connecting Main Street to City Park along the creek. Perfect if you have 30 minutes and a stroller.

• The Rail Trail is a mellow 28-mile former railroad grade running from Park City out to Echo, ideal for walking, running, or biking as far as you feel like going.

• Round Valley is over 30 kilometers of rolling multi-use singletrack just minutes from Main Street, and one of the best places in town for wide-open mountain views.

• McLeod Creek Trail is a shaded, family-friendly path linking Kimball Junction and the Park City Golf Course.

  Check current conditions at Mountain Trails Foundation before you go. In winter, Round Valley's groomed Nordic trails are free to use for skiing and snowshoeing, and Basin Recreation clears Willow Creek Pond for free ice skating when conditions allow. Add in the sledding hills and the free rinks at City Park, and winter in Park City is cheaper than its reputation suggests.

How to Find Free Things to Do in Park City This Weekend

The list above is the year-round foundation, but the calendar changes weekly. If you're looking for free things to do in Park City this weekend specifically, start here:

• Our Park City events this weekend page is updated with what's happening right now, so you can see free events in Utah today or later this week at a glance.

• Our arts and culture events calendar covers the full slate of programs, performances, exhibitions, and festivals across Park City and Summit County, including free events.

• Our Art Adventure Guides are free, self-guided itineraries built for every season, so you can plan a whole day around arts and culture.

Experience Park City Without Spending a Dime

The Arts Council of Park City & Summit County is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting local artists, arts organizations, and creative initiatives across the region. Through programs like CREATE PC, the Latino Arts Festival, the Summit Arts Market, grants, and public art, we work to keep arts and culture accessible, visible, and woven into everyday life here. Browse our events calendar to see what's coming up, and check what's happening in Park City this weekend before you head out the door.