The Cabriolet made its last run on March 29. The open-air lift had carried skiers from the parking lots up to the Canyons Village base for nearly three decades. Its replacement already turns. In late October, TownLift filmed the new Canyons Village Skyway running test laps with enclosed 10-person cabins, floor-to-ceiling windows and a new mid-village stop. It wasn't open to the public yet.
The gondola is half of what Park City Mountain calls a reimagined arrival at Canyons Village. The other half is the five-level Canyons Village Parking Structure, and the two are not set to open together. The Skyway is on the schedule from opening day. The garage is due in "early December." Village restaurants come online in steps that run nearly to Christmas.
For a Colony household planning Thanksgiving or holiday guests, that staggered opening is the most useful thing to know about this winter. The weeks before the garage opens look like the easiest time all season for guests to drive in, park and ride up to the Forum. The catch is that the village is only partly open then.
What the Skyway changes, and what it doesn't
Like the Cabriolet, the Skyway will be free to ride. The difference is the cabin and the route. Riders are enclosed instead of exposed, and the new mid-station gives homeowners and lodging guests in the middle of the village direct gondola access for the first time, TownLift reported. The resort says the line runs from the garage straight to the Canyons Village Forum and pairs it with covered parking and better drop-off areas.
Park City Mountain's winter operating schedule runs the Skyway daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., November 20, 2026 through April 19, 2027, and notes that hours may change during special events. Lifts run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. That leaves two hours on each end. A guest staying for dinner in the village can still ride back down to the car after the lifts stop, and an early arrival can be at the Forum well before first chair. Every date on that page depends on weather and conditions.
Nov. 20 to early December: the gondola runs, the lots are free
Park City Mountain's opening target is Friday, Nov. 20, the week before Thanksgiving, KPCW reported when the date was set in August. The resort's 2026-27 guide still lists the same date, subject to weather and conditions. The Skyway is scheduled to start that same day.
The garage stays closed for the first couple of weeks, and the resort's Getting Here page says that until the structure opens, Surface Lots 2, 3 and 4 will be free, with shuttle or walking routes to the upper village. During those weeks, the new gondola runs while arrival costs the same as it did under the Cabriolet.
This window covers Thanksgiving week and the 10th Annual Canyons Village Tree Lighting on Friday, Nov. 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Forum. According to the event listing from NowPlayingUtah:
- ArtSound Players perform live music.
- Park City Mountain ornaments and Orange Bubble Bites are handed out while supplies last.
- Iceworks runs an ice carving demonstration until 5:30 p.m.
- Santa photos run from 4 to 5:45 p.m.
- The tree lights at 5:59 p.m., and fireworks follow at 6 p.m.
Fireworks at 6 p.m. are also when the Skyway's published hours end, and the resort notes those hours can change during special events. Guests parked in the surface lots for the tree lighting should check the evening schedule before counting on a ride down.
The thinner village of those first weeks
Free parking comes with a partly open village. On the mountain, Red Pine Lodge at the top of the Red Pine Gondola is scheduled to open with the season on 11/20. In the base area, the early weeks are lighter, according to the resort's dining schedule.
| Venue | Location | Before December | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murdock's Cafe & Pizzeria | Canyons Village base | Fri–Sun, 7 a.m.–1 p.m. | Daily 7 a.m.–5 p.m. from 12/4 |
| Umbrella Bar | Canyons Village base | Fri–Sun, 11:30 a.m.–5 p.m. | Daily from 12/4 |
| The Farm | Base of Red Pine Gondola | Not yet open | Daily 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. from 12/4; until 10 p.m. 12/19–1/2 |
| Red Tail Grill | Base of the Orange Bubble | Daily 11 a.m.–9 p.m., breakfast 7–11 a.m., bar menu until 11 p.m. | Dinner until 10 p.m. 12/19–1/2 |
| First Tracks Cafe | Grand Summit Hotel lobby | Daily 7 a.m.–2 p.m. | Daily 6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. from 12/11 |
| Red Pine Lodge | Top of Red Pine Gondola | Opens 11/20 | — |
| Tombstone Grill | Base of Tombstone lift | Not yet open | Opens 12/4 |
| Sun Lodge | Base of Sun Peak Express | Not yet open | Opens 12/12 |
| Cloud Dine | Top of Dreamscape and Dreamcatcher | Not yet open | Opens 12/20 |
On a weekday in the opening stretch, the resort's own base-area options come down to Red Tail Grill and First Tracks Cafe. Murdock's and Umbrella Bar are weekend-only, and The Farm hasn't opened. Red Tail is the one base venue with dinner and late bar hours from the start. That makes it the obvious place for an evening meal during Thanksgiving week. The resort's page lists a Thanksgiving closure for Red Tail, though, so call ahead before planning a holiday meal there.
The Orange Bubble Bites tradition carries on daily at 3 p.m. in the Forum. Après at the Airstream adds weekly live music, food, drinks and fireside gatherings in Canyons Village, according to Park City Mountain's 2026-27 winter guide.
Early December: the garage opens, and arrival gets a price
The second stage begins when the Canyons Village Parking Structure opens. The resort has not set a day beyond "early December." Its plan, first laid out in KPCW's report on the 2026-27 parking program, works like this:
- The garage charges $29 a day.
- Parking is free after 12 p.m.
- Vehicles with four or more occupants park free in carpool areas, subject to space.
- A Winter Season Parking Pass covers garage access.
- Limited free, first-come, first-served day-skier parking continues in the surface lot next to the garage.
For Colony hosts, the first three rules matter most. A family of four in one car parks free when carpool space is available. So does a guest who arrives for a long lunch at The Farm, which is open daily from Dec. 4, or for an afternoon at Umbrella Bar. The $29 charge falls mainly on small groups who arrive before noon to ski, and those are often the guests who most need clear directions. Sending a houseguest the carpool and after-noon rules before they leave saves a fee and a phone call.
The garage arrives as the village fills out. On Dec. 4, Murdock's, Umbrella Bar and The Farm all go daily and Tombstone Grill opens. First Tracks Cafe extends its hours on Dec. 11. Sun Lodge follows on Dec. 12. Holiday hours at The Farm and Red Tail Grill start Dec. 19, and Cloud Dine opens Dec. 20. Measured by restaurants, Canyons Village is fully open about a month after the lifts start turning.
The holiday stretch is when everything runs at once
From late December, every piece of the system is running. The garage handles arrivals, the Skyway connects it to the Forum, the base and on-mountain restaurants have opened, and the holiday programs pile up. The resort's guide lists Santa's ride down Town Lift on Dec. 20, the Canyons Village Torchlight Parade on Dec. 24, and a season-long run of music, fireworks, caroling and ice sculptures through New Year's Eve.
Build-A-Bear Workshop is also coming to Canyons Village this winter. The resort hasn't given an opening date, so it may or may not be open when holiday visitors with children arrive.
Above the village, a change aimed at powder mornings
One more piece of new infrastructure could shape this winter on the Canyons side, and it sits well above the base. In June, the Park Record photographed Alpine Infrastructure crews installing two towers with detonation chambers in Limelight Bowl, just west of the Quicksilver Gondola mid-station, with a helicopter flying in materials. The system lets Park City Mountain Ski Patrol set off controlled slides remotely, without sending patrollers onto Pinecone Ridge. According to the Park Record, it is the first remote system of its kind in the Wasatch Back. Snowbasin Resort and Alta Ski Area use similar systems.
Snow safety manager Toph White told the paper the system could also let the Quicksilver gondola run sooner on a powder day. Ski patrol expected it to be working by the start of the 2026-27 season, and the resort's winter guide confirms it was installed this summer. On a storm morning at the start of the season, the towers above Quicksilver could matter as much as the new gondola below. Snow will still set the opening day for Limelight's terrain.
If your guests' holiday visit lands in the free-lot weeks or after the garage opens, Tricia can help plan the timing before they book. Tricia Cohen follows Canyons Village's changes from The Colony's side of the mountain. Schedule a Private Consultation.
