PARK CITY — During the winter, it's considered a world-class spot for skiers, snowboarders and Sundancers. In the summer, it transforms into a popular vacation destination for mountain bikers, hikers and music/arts festival fans.
But don't expect MTV, E! or the Travel Channel to do one of their "Spring Break" specials in Park City anytime soon.
"Sorry, we're closed" signs are often more visible than tourists here from mid-April to Memorial Day.
Spring — otherwise known as the "mud season" or "shoulder season" by Parkites — is when this place annually transforms from a hopping resort town into a ghost town. It's the one time of year that Park City's often-vibrant Main Street sort of resembles Salt Lake City's often-vacated Main Street.
As soon as the power cord to the ski lifts is unplugged — which officially happened last weekend at Park City-area resorts — visitors scatter quicker than cockroaches do when the kitchen lights flick on in the middle of the night.
The proof is in the empty eating establishments and "vacancy" signs.
About 40 of the 95 restaurants in Park City will close up for at least part of spring this year — some for a week or two, others for a month or longer, a few until next winter. Some owners take advantage of the downtime to make repairs, do remodeling or catch up on bookkeeping. Others simply leave town for long vacations knowing that if they stayed open their waiting lists might account for how much time passes between patrons instead of how long it takes for tables to open up.
"Some stay open, thank goodness," said Hilary Reiter, the communications coordinator for the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. "Someone's gotta eat somewhere."
Choices are limited, but at least reservations wouldn't be very hard to come by. The town's hotel/condominium occupancy rate dropped to a year-low level of 11 percent full this week, Reiter said.
Compare that to lodging levels in the 90-ish-percent-full range during the two weeks of the Sundance Film Festival in January — and it explains why there's a whole lot less black clothing, a whole lot more elbow room and even time to relax around town now.
"They experience really high volumes in the winter, but they get to take a little break in spring," Reiter said. "I think people who live here welcome this slower season."
Mike Sweeney, vice president of the Main Street Business Alliance and an owner of several Town Lift businesses, does. His properties, including the Town Lift Cafe, Seasons Day Spa and the Lower Lift Arcade, will shut down for two weeks for some painting, "sprucing up" and, most of all, so they can all "just kind of unwind" after one of the best ski seasons in years (despite a slow post-Easter week due to melted snow).
"When you're in the destination resort community and go like we do in the winter months, it's really hard on everybody," Sweeney said. "People are working seven days a week for long hours. It's really busy. It just wears on you."
A native New Yorker, Reiter didn't exactly like the offseason when she moved here a few years ago.
"That shoulder season seemed a little quiet at first," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh. All my friends left.' But now I really like it."
And even though locals are now taking a "more leisurely pace," as Reiter puts it, not all of Park City is boarded up for the spring. The Park City Film Series, the Sundance Institute, the Egyptian Theatre and Kimball Arts Center all offer cultural activities. And most retail shops and the factory outlets stay open year-round.
"It's a really good time for visitors to come," she said. "Great mountain biking is already to be had. And you can go hot-air ballooning and do summer-type activities without summer crowds."
It's also the best time of year to find Motel 6 prices at ritzy resorts, Reiter added. The "Hot Deals" on the chamber's Web site, www.parkcityinfo.com, include a deluxe room and continental breakfast at the Stein Eriksen Lodge for $87 per person. The rich-and-famous guests paid more than that for room service during the peak season.
Offering bargain-basement prices and two-for-one discounts are a few ways local businesses are trying to entice people to come while the hills are muddy — a goal of the Main Street Business Alliance and Old Town merchants alike. Sweeney said the alliance has written grant proposals to put billboards up around state entryways to invite visitors up this way while the snow melts. They're engaging in a brochure campaign, too.
They hope to get the word out to Utah residents along the Wasatch Front about reduced lodging rates and recreational opportunities in the Wasatch Back as well. And the business owners are also working with city officials in hopes of attracting conventions of up to 1,000 people during the slower season.
"Spring's a pretty time up here," Sweeney said. "You just don't know if you're going to get corn snow, rain or, in our case in March, get 70-degree weather."
But they do know they'll get mud and plenty of room to move — until summer, at least.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com