This blog is an excerpt from my book, “Park City Explorer,” with information updated for June 2025.
For working parents in Park City, summer camps provide a reliable solution to keep children engaged and entertained during the summer break from school. The camps Park City offers provide a range of diverse activities, from outdoor adventures to creative workshops. Rest assured that your children are in a safe environment. Some camps, like Woodward, allow registration as early as February, but most start accepting reservations in April. I can’t stress how important it is to register for summer camp early.
When my kids were little, we signed them up for the Deer Valley Summer Resort Camp for the entire summer before switching to the Park City Mountain Resort Little Adventures Camp when they got older. As they became tweens, I enrolled them in a variety of camps based on their interests. These summer camps enabled me to work full time while my kids developed wonderful friendships and social skills, and experienced things they may not have been able to with their city-slicker mom.
Although Park City has grown, it’s still a small town. I ran a 5K on the Fourth of July, 2023. The person who signed me up told me she had taught my daughter to swim at age 3 and was her camp counselor at Park City Mountain’s Little Adventures Camp. She even remembered my daughter’s name. In 2023, my daughter had just turned 22. I loved that her camp counselor remembered her so many years later.
Summer Camps in and Around Park City
YMCA Camp Roger
YMCA Camp Roger is an overnight camp designed for kids ages 5 to 17, with many different options depending on their age, including training camps for older kids who want to become camp counselors. Your kid can attend an over-75-year-old camp in the wilderness that is conveniently located less than an hour away from Park City on the Mirror Lake Highway. Kids sleep in historic wooden bunk cabins and bring their own sleeping items. Each camp is one week long and has a different theme. All camps include activities such as mountain biking, archery, hiking, arts and crafts, cooking, and traditional singing around a campfire. You cannot bring your own food, and electronics are not allowed (yay!) For even more fun, you can add on equestrian activities or a weekend stay.
At the end of the week, your kid will receive a dog tag with the core value they demonstrated in camp. Camp Roger was definitely a rite of passage for my kids and so many others I know. For many, it was their first time being separated from their parents without communication. The cost is a sliding scale based on ability to pay.
YMCA Day Camp
The YMCA Day Camp is also great for working parents as its hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Each week has a different theme, and each day, campers participate in activities including arts and crafts, games, sports, character development time, opening/closing assemblies, and weekly field trips. There are three different camps based on age, from age 2 to age 12.
Basin Recreation Day Camps
For 10 weeks of the summer, Basin Recreation has many different camps for kids 4 years old and up. Some are only a couple of hours, and others are all day. Themes vary around sports, science, and nature.
Park City Recreation
Park City Recreation’s camp is available to children ages 6 to 12. Park City Summer Day Camp is open from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Monday through Friday. While organized activities take place most of the day, the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. are supervised free time and serve as early drop-off and late pickup for working parents.
Campers have the option to register for off-site field trips such as the Park City Municipal Athletic and Recreation Center (MARC) pool and the library; otherwise, they can stay on-site. Available add-on activities include golf lessons, swimming lessons, and skateboarding. Park City Recreation also offers a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) program for teens ages 13 to 15.
Deer Valley Resort Summer Adventure Camp
For kids ages 2 months to 12 years, the Deer Valley Summer Adventure Camp is a wonderful resource. Camp is held from mid-June through mid-August, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kids are separated by age-appropriate groups, after which they participate in creative activities, nature discovery studies, and team-oriented sporting events. Field trips, hiking, mountain biking, swimming, rollerblading, scavenger hunts, water games, and arts and crafts are included. If you ski Deer Valley, you know its reputation for providing quality childcare is unmatched. It was a sad day for my family when my kids outgrew this summer camp.
Woodward Park City
Kids ages 7 to 17 can sign up for one of six disciplines at Woodward’s summer camps: multisport, mountain bike, skateboard, BMX, scooter, and parkour. Camps are on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., June through August. Woodward’s magnificent facilities offer rare opportunities for kids to experience these fun activities in a supervised setting.
Young Riders Youth Cycling
This special camp offers weeklong camps from 9 a.m. to noon for kids ages 7 to 13, separated by age and skill level. There is a pee-wee camp for kids ages 5 to 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. This camp is designed for kids who want to learn or improve their mountain biking skills. Camps are limited to 10 to 12 riders. I recommend you start your kids biking at an early age, as it becomes more difficult to learn to ride a two-wheeler as they get older.
We lived in the hills, which made it impossible for my kids to learn to ride two-wheeled bikes from home. We hauled the bikes to a flat area for them to practice. Both of my kids eventually learned to ride two-wheelers, and we sent my son to Young Riders Camp when he was in middle school. Every day, he came home more and more scraped up, and I sent him back with words of love and encouragement—until the fourth day of camp, on a Thursday, when I received a call from one of the counselors. My son broke his arm, and I was to rendezvous with the group off of the Lost Prospector Trail to pick him up.
The counselors had crafted a sling out of a tire inner tube. Luckily, Park City Hospital was less than five minutes away, and my son was seen by an outstanding orthopedic specialist. That was the end of his mountain biking, and to this day, he hates biking. But I would say his experience was not typical of Park City kids. Many of them become enthusiastic and excellent mountain bikers. There is even a mountain biking team at Park City High School. The lesson here is to start your kids on two-wheelers at a young age.
Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter
Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter offers popular weeklong camps with both half and full-day options from mid-June through mid-August. Camps are offered for kids in kindergarten through eighth grade, with a Counselors-In-Training program for kids in grades 9 through 12. Some of the weekly themes include “Alpine Adventure,” “Patterns of the Planet,” “Nitty Gritty Nature,” “Creature Feature,” and “Earth’s Elements.”
Kimball Art Center
The Kimball Art Center is a treasured local resource that offers summer camp classes from mid-June through mid-August for kids ages 6 to 12. Classes are generally taught by professional practicing artists with teaching experience in a variety of mediums and themes. Activities include pottery, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and much more.
EATS Summer Camps
“Eat Awesome Things at School” is a Park City nonprofit with a mission to improve the health and well-being of the Park City community. EATS offers camps for students each summer. Kids learn how to cook, write their own recipes, plant a garden, and learn kitchen skills.
Park City Mountain Little Adventures Center
Little Adventures Children’s Center camps are designed for kids 6 weeks to 6 years of age. The center is a state-licensed childcare facility and has fun activities for different age groups. You can choose a half or full-day session with activities such as nature hikes, arts and crafts, indoor and outdoor games, and field trips. The camp is located at Canyons Village.
Utah Olympic Park Sport Camp
The FUNdamentals Sport Camp at Utah Olympic Park is an incredible multisport experience made for kids ages 7 to 10 years old. Each week of the camp introduces a new sport, and there is always a physical education class beforehand to warm up. The sports taught include sailing, water polo, golf, gymnastics, and more. They even teach an art class! Your kid will love the chance to try freestyle skiing skills into the Spence Eccles Olympic Freestyle Pool. There are also specialized camps for kids wanting to increase their skills in freestyle and ski jumping. I still have the video of my daughter ski jumping into the pool.
Egyptian YouTheatre
The mission of the Egyptian Theatre YouTheatre program is to provide an opportunity for every child to participate in an arts program free of charge. Drama classes build social and interpersonal skills and promote self-confidence. The Egyptian YouTheatre offers an array of camps, workshops, and productions for kids to learn about theater. With camp options like Puppetry, Silly Shakespeare, Improv, Radio Drama, Musical Theatre, Play Productions, and everything in between, there is something for every child in grades kindergarten and up!
National Ability Center
The National Ability Center has many options for camps for people with developmental, physical, and emotional disabilities. People with or without disabilities can enjoy many outdoor activities like archery, hiking, water sports, and climbing. The camps are for kids 8 and older, and scholarships are available.
Equellness Center
For any child who is a horse lover, this summer camp for kids 8 to 12 will teach them horse riding while building emotional intelligence and social skills. This camp helps children slow down from digital distractions and reconnect with nature. The week-long camps are offered from mid-June to mid-August from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Summer Camps in Park City
These camps are truly special experiences for kids and allow them to take advantage of the natural landscape and recreational opportunities offered by our town. The camps vary from year to year, so be sure to check each website for current hours, details, and registration. Most camps allow registration by the week, so even if you are a visitor planning to spend one week or one month in Park City, your kids can get the locals’ experience by participating. To be a kid in Park City in the summer is a truly extraordinary experience.