Attention hikers: SLC opens new trailhead in City Creek Canyon, with more improvements coming to the foothills

Fans of the natural splendor of Salt Lake City’s foothills will now find some of their adventures a little easier to reach.

As runners and dog owners bopped along some of the green-enfolded paths nearby, city officials gathered Wednesday to open a newly improved trailhead along Bonneville Boulevard in City Creek Canyon, on the northwest edge of the Avenues.

The new facilities at 675 N. Bonneville Blvd. boast an inviting roadside plaza and plenty of new paved parking stalls, restrooms, colorful bike racks, kiosks, maps and other signage, a natural plant garden and more — along with, of course, an appealing entree to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and beyond.

The revamped trail amenities are part of a future of expanded recreation to come for several portions of the city’s popular foothills, officials said, after past plans were paused.

Three other trailheads will open later this summer, at Popperton Park, Victory Road and Emigration Canyon, along with new signs and other amenities to be installed at 25 minor trailheads, even as more work is being planned.

The nearly $2 million in improvements at the Bonneville trailhead and the other upgrades are aimed at making residents and visitors to the trails and natural areas feel safe, welcome and ready to have, as one put it, “a world-class outdoors experience without leaving the city.”

“It’s really pretty hard to beat a bike or a run or walk with this incredible view,” said Mayor Erin Mendenhall, “and then when you get up [higher], it’s even better.”

She and other City Hall officials pointed to Wednesday’s unveiling as part of a new phase of renewal and reimagining for recreation across more than 6,000 natural acres between Parleys Canyon and the Davis County line, after many years of public input.

“Today,” Kim Shelley, director of the city’s Public Lands Department, said as scores of public workers looked on, “marks the next step of bringing that vision to life.”

Trailheads to come

Over the summer, runners, hikers, mountain bikers, dog walkers and thousands of other nature enthusiasts will see other new foothills trailheads open at Popperton Park (360 N. Popperton Park Way); Victory Road (670 Victory Road); and Emigration Canyon (2699 E. Sunnyside Ave.) as part of this effort to make trail access more user-friendly.

Nearly 25 smaller trailheads throughout the foothills, meanwhile, are to be newly equipped with welcome stations featuring trail markers, trash cans and dog waste bag dispensers.

New teams of volunteers and folks with the city’s Public Lands Department will collaborate in their focus on trail upkeep and maintenance.

A new trailhead at 18th Avenue and Hilltop Road is now expected to open a year from now, officials said.

In keeping with a 2020 publicly vetted vision for its wider foothills trail system, the city promises to plan and make designs for additional improvements to trails in other foothill areas, such as East City Creek, the upper Avenues, Twin Peaks and Dry Creek Canyon.

The City Council recently allocated money to launch an initial phase of planning and design for East City Creek and Twin Peaks zones of the foothills.

“We’re doing this because the foothill trail system is about so much more than recreation,” Mendenhall said. “It’s also about sustainability. It’s about connectivity and making sure that people can safely and more easily enjoy all of these trails, no matter their experience level.”

New approach to upkeep

Wednesday’s announcement appeared to reenergize plans for new recreation amenities in the foothills that were enacted in 2020 but then put on hold for additional review in 2021 amid a variety of resident concerns.

The city is now working from a rewritten version of a 2020 foothills plan that divides the region into geographic zones with varying needs, and spells out a slower and more nuanced approach to any new construction.

City officials continue to finalize a land co-management agreement covering the areas on the city’s eastern and northern fringes in conjunction with other major landowners in the foothills, including the city’s Public Utilities Department along with the University of Utah, Utah State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service.

Contours of that future pact could guide substantial portions of future trail or amenity planning.

The latest wave of improvements unveiled Wednesday also is undergirded by a new approach to sustaining trails, as per years of hearing public concern about upkeep.

According to Tyler Fonarow, the city’s director of trails and natural lands, adding recreational opportunities and user access points across key areas of the foothills gives residents and visitors more opportunities to help care for natural areas.

With new amenities and strategies in place, Fonarow said, “we are accomplishing our citywide goals of strengthening our urban-nature interface, improving our community’s health and increasing environmental stewardship.”

Along with the new trailheads, signs and support facilities, the city has put in place a foothills stewardship program to supplement efforts by new city trail maintenance crews and restoration ecologists.

“We’re not doing this alone,” the mayor said. “Volunteers are out there helping us plan and maintain and educate and care for these spaces.”