Church of Dirt is closed. It stopped hosting weddings in November 2023, when Park City moved to demolish the site to help protect the Bonanza Flat land around it, and there is nothing there to book now.
If what drew you was getting married outdoors in the mountains for close to nothing, the two places to look are Storm Mountain Amphitheater and Spruces Campground, both up Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Storm Mountain is a Forest Service amphitheater with stone seating and a creek nearby, which is the closest thing in Utah to a set of benches in the trees with no operator standing over it. Spruces is a group campsite you reserve yourself and carry everything into, which is exactly how a Church of Dirt wedding worked.
Both sit on Forest Service ground rather than at a venue with a sales office, and both cost a fraction of what a wedding building costs.
What follows is what the venue was, kept as a record.
Church of Dirt Wedding Quick Facts
Status — Church of Dirt closed in November 2023, when Park City moved to demolish the site to help protect the Bonanza Flat land around it.
Location — Church of Dirt sat on Bonanza Flat, above Park City near Guardsman Pass, in Wasatch County, the same ground people locally describe as being near Empire Pass. It’s a short drive, under 20 minutes, from Park City itself, and about an hour from Salt Lake City International Airport.
Capacity — Church of Dirt worked for about 20 to 25 guests, and I wouldn’t have advised planning on more than that.
Cost — There was never a fee. Church of Dirt was free to use, first come, for as long as it operated.
Season — Weddings at Church of Dirt generally ran June through October, in step with Guardsman Pass, which closes for winter and doesn’t reopen until spring.
Catering — There was no caterer and no kitchen at Church of Dirt. Couples brought everything in themselves.
Lodging — Church of Dirt never had lodging on site, though Park City and Heber are both close and have dozens of options between them.
Coordinator — There was no in-house coordinator at Church of Dirt. Every wedding there was self-run.
Accessibility — No formal accessibility statement was ever published for Church of Dirt. It was reached by a path, and I have seen people in wheelchairs get there, but that’s what I watched happen rather than a policy anyone posted.
Pets — Leashed animals were allowed at Church of Dirt, and dogs turned up in plenty of the ceremonies.
Church of Dirt Wedding Info
Church of Dirt was never a business. It was a spot on public land that couples found, used, and left for the next couple, with no sales office, no rate card and no operator of any kind.
Ceremony Sites at Church of Dirt
The ceremony site was a small arbor built from aspen boughs, with roughly a dozen wooden benches set out in front of it. Couples reserved a date by leaving a marker at the site, a laminated card or a rock with their names on it, because there was never a booking system to reserve through. More than one wedding could happen there in a day, and often did.
Reception Spaces at Church of Dirt
There was no reception space. Couples who wanted one held it somewhere else. Donny and Lena moved theirs to 350 Main after the ceremony.
Getting Ready, Lodging & Guest Logistics
There was no bridal suite and no getting-ready room. There was no cell service at the site either, which mattered if you were trying to reach a guest who was running late.
Parking was the real constraint, and it still is: there are 175 spaces across the 3 trailheads and the Guardsman Pass overlook, and cars left on the road itself can be ticketed or towed.
Catering & Vendors at Church of Dirt
There was no caterer and no vendor relationship of any kind. Every wedding at Church of Dirt was bring your own everything, from the chairs to the water.
Church of Dirt Wedding Cost
Church of Dirt never charged anything. It was free for as long as it ran, and couples covered their own decor, food, drinks and anything else they wanted on the day, because none of it came with the site.
There’s no published dollar figure for it; the city quotes a service estimate case by case. The permit process doesn’t name weddings anywhere or set a group-size threshold, so read it as the general rule for events on public land rather than a wedding package.
A Photographer’s Take on Church of Dirt
I photographed a lot of weddings at Church of Dirt. Park City decided in 2023 to remove the site, and that’s the end of it.
The rest of what I know about Church of Dirt is what I used to tell couples while it was still standing. Keep it to 20 or 25 people. Expect to carry in everything you want at the ceremony and carry it back out. Don’t count on your phone working. And know that somebody else may well be getting married on the same benches an hour after you.
Real Weddings at Church of Dirt
See Donny and Lena’s Church of Dirt wedding.
See Maggie and Doug’s Church of Dirt elopement.
See Justine and Eric’s Church of Dirt wedding.
Church of Dirt Wedding FAQ
How much did a wedding at Church of Dirt cost?
Nothing. The site was free and first come for as long as it operated, and there was never anyone to pay. It closed in November 2023, so this is history rather than something you can book now.
How many guests could Church of Dirt hold?
About 20 to 25. The benches seated roughly a dozen and everyone else stood, which is why I steered couples away from bigger guest lists there.
Could you bring a dog to a Church of Dirt wedding?
Yes, leashed. Dogs were common at ceremonies there, and one elopement had the couple’s dog standing in as the attendant. The site has been closed since 2023, so it’s no longer a live question.
Was Church of Dirt ADA accessible?
Nobody ever published an accessibility statement for it. The site was reached by a path and I have seen people in wheelchairs make it there, but that’s an observation from before the closure and not a policy.
Did Church of Dirt have an in-house wedding coordinator?
No, and there was never an operator to have one. Everything, including setup, timing and cleanup, was planned and run by the couple.
Where can you get married outdoors near Park City now?
Storm Mountain Amphitheater and Spruces Campground, both in Big Cottonwood Canyon, are the closest substitutes: outdoor, inexpensive, and run by the Forest Service rather than by a sales office.
Church of Dirt Contact Info
There’s no contact for Church of Dirt, and there never was one, even while couples were getting married there. Anything involving the land now goes through Park City’s Trails & Open Space office, at 445 Marsac Avenue, PO Box 1480, Park City, UT 84060. Call 435-615-5000 or email trails@parkcity.gov.
Details verified against Park City Municipal’s published Bonanza Flat, Trails & Open Space and special-event materials, and against Salt Lake Tribune and KPCW reporting on the closure, on August 7, 2026. Church of Dirt itself never had a website or a booking contact, so Park City Municipal is named here as the closest thing to a current source. Terms change between seasons and land-use rules can shift, so confirm current permit requirements and any other detail here with Park City before you plan anything around it.
Similar Wedding Venues
Storm Mountain Amphitheater is a Forest Service amphitheater in Big Cottonwood Canyon, with stone seating, a creek nearby and older trees that hold shade and dappled light through most of the day. Weddings there run on a Forest Service permit and a set window to set up, marry and pack out. Storm Mountain Amphitheater wedding info and cost
Spruces Campground, also in Big Cottonwood Canyon, is a campground wedding in the literal sense: reserve the group site, bring everything, get married among old aspens and open meadow. Spruces Campground wedding info and cost
Soldier Hollow Nordic Center sits above the Heber Valley on the 2002 Olympic cross-country venue, with rolling meadows, a lodge, and views out toward Mt. Timpanogos. It’s outdoors and unfussy, with the infrastructure that undeveloped public land doesn’t have. Soldier Hollow wedding info and cost
The venues Austen actually recommends are all in one place: The Best Utah Wedding Venues: A Photographer’s Guide.
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