Park City Olympic Park Bobsled and Comet Bobsled Experience: Is It Worth It for Kids?

Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, and I may earn a commission from Booking.com, Mavely, and CJ partner links at no extra cost to you.

I drove past the Utah Olympic Park bobsled track at least 50 times before I finally booked the Comet for my husband's 40th birthday. We brought our older nieces along (Hazel and Owen are still too small for this one). They are still talking about it. So is the bruise on my husband's shoulder. Listen, here is the honest mom-tested rundown of whether the Comet is worth it for your family - and what nobody tells you before you book.

The Quick Answer

If your kid is 13 or older and curious about Olympic sports, the Comet is a yes. If you have younger kids, take them to the Olympic Park as a museum-and-zipline visit and save the bobsled for when they are bigger. The age and weight minimums are real and not negotiable.

Summer vs Winter Comet Bobsled

The track operates year-round but the experience is different across seasons:

Summer Bobsled Experience (June through October, weather permitting)

• Cost: Plan-ahead pricing starts around $80; walk-up is $125
• Age: Riders under 18 need a parent or guardian to sign the waiver. Confirm minimum age at booking.
• Speed: Up to about 70 mph
• Duration: Less than a minute
• Surface: Wheeled bobsled on the concrete track
• Ride feel: Sharp, vibrating, surprisingly intense - more rollercoaster than scenic ride

Winter Bobsled Experience (December through February)

• Cost: Around $225
• Age and weight: 13 years minimum, 100 pounds minimum
• Speed: Up to about 80 mph
• Duration: About 60 seconds
• Surface: Real ice track with steel runners
• Ride feel: 4-5 G's of force, bone-rattling, the actual Olympic sled feel - this is not a tourist ride, it is a closely supervised version of a competitive run

If you want the Olympic experience, the winter ride is the real one. If you want a fun adrenaline thing, summer is the move.

Booking Reality

The 2026 ski season had a rough early start with low snow, and the bobsled saw a bump in public ride bookings - skiers needed something else to do. Translation: book in advance. Online preregistration is required and weekend slots routinely sell out 4-6 weeks ahead during peak summer and winter weeks.

Visit utaholympiclegacy.org. Pick a date. Book the time slot. Print or screenshot the confirmation. Show up 30 minutes early.

If you book and weather forces a closure (high winds in summer, track conditions in winter), they reschedule you for free. Heads up - weather closures happen more often than the website implies. There is a saying around here: if you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes. It is real.

What to Expect on Ride Day

You arrive at the visitor center, check in at the bobsled office, sign multiple waivers, and head to the equipment building. A pro driver gives you a 10-minute briefing about how to sit, how to brace, what to expect. Helmet on. Cushioned sled in summer. Real bobsled in winter.

You ride in a four-person sled with a professional driver in front and a brakeman in back, leaving you and possibly one other paying rider in the middle two seats. The ride is screamingly short - 50 to 60 seconds total. Yes, you absolutely have time to feel scared.

Summer leaves your back, neck, and shoulders feeling like you went two rounds with a vibrating chair. Winter leaves you feeling like a rag doll. In a good way.

What to Wear and Pack

For the summer bobsled:

• Tight-fitting layers. Loose clothing flaps in the wind.
• Closed-toe athletic shoes. No sandals.
• Sunglasses. The track is open and reflective.
• An insulated travel mug with coffee or hot tea. Mornings at the park can be chilly even in July.
• A waterproof phone pouch. Photos from the track railing are part of the experience and you'll be doing other Olympic Park activities like the splash pad.

For the winter bobsled:

• Tight-fitting cold-weather layers. No bulky parkas - they restrict movement in the sled.
• Real winter boots. The walk to the start house is on packed snow.
• Slip-on traction cleats like Yaktrax over your boots for the icy walk back.
• Hand warmers. The track is COLD. We pack extra disposable hand warmers when going to the Olympic Park in winter.
• A neck gaiter. The wind on the slide down is brutal at 80 mph and 25 degrees.
• Packing cubes for the gear bag - these live in our SUV trunk to keep wet from dry.

Also - I cannot stress this enough - lotion and lip balm. The dryness up here will destroy your face inside two hours of standing on a windy track.

Things to Do at Utah Olympic Park If the Bobsled Is Too Much

The full park is the better family destination if your kids are under 13. Day pass includes:

• Drop tower / Quicksilver Alpine Slide - kids 3+ with a parent
• Three different ziplines at varying lengths and heights - height and weight requirements vary
• Discovery zipline ropes course for kids 7+
• Olympic museum with the actual gold-medal bobsled from Salt Lake 2002
• Freestyle aerial pool - in summer, you can sometimes watch elite freestyle skiers training and landing in the pool, which Hazel thinks is the coolest thing on earth
• Discovery Tubing Park in winter - a regular tubing hill with handle tow
• Cross country trails in winter, free

Honest Pros and Cons

Pros

• Genuinely one-of-a-kind. Only one of two operating bobsled tracks in the country.
• The Olympic legacy element is meaningful - real venue from Salt Lake 2002
• Kids of the right age remember the day forever
• Plan-ahead summer pricing is reasonable for the unique factor

Cons

• Very short ride for the price
• Real risk of bumps, bruises, and rattled necks - this is a contact-sport-adjacent activity
• Age and weight minimums exclude the youngest kids
• Books out fast in peak weeks
• Weather closures are real

The Mom Verdict

Worth it for kids 13 and up who are excited about it. Skippable for kids under 10 - they get more out of the ziplines and museum. Worth it for moms with anxious-but-curious teens because the ride is so short that even if it is intense, it is over in less than a minute. Worth it for husbands turning 40 who want to feel something. Y'all, definitely worth it for anyone whose kids have been raised on Cool Runnings (still the best bobsled movie ever made).

Book at utaholympiclegacy.org, show up 30 minutes early, bring hand warmers for everyone, even your husband. Especially your husband.