BOUNTIFUL—In the near future, Davis County residents will have even more opportunities for recreation as construction begins on a portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The 280-mile trail runs along the Wasatch Front and stretches from Idaho all the way to Payson with 55 miles of that in Davis County.

“The demand for recreational opportunities has never been higher,” said Jeff Oyler, Davis County Planning Manager. “Many, many people want to get out and recreate. One of the interesting fallouts of the pandemic is there’s a whole new group of people who have discovered the outdoors. Many more people are using our trails. We anticipate that will continue to grow.”

The first phase of construction is a 16-mile stretch in the south end of the county in Mueller Park Canyon, said Oyler. “It will go south over the mountain into North Canyon and back out and tie into where the Salt Lake County section starts in the Ensign Peak area.”

Oyler said the trail is new construction on forest service property and did not previously exist. “But there are a number of trailhead access points at Mueller Park Canyon, North Canyon and Tunnel Springs trailhead in North Salt Lake.”

Bountiful City is currently working on road improvements at the North Canyon Trail. “That will dovetail nicely into the work we’re doing,” he said.

The county is starting with the 16-mile south end project because it’s on U.S. Forest Service property, he said. “There’s no private property to deal with approval which is primarily why we decided to start here.”

Work on the project was set to begin May 12 and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. “We received a $150,000 grant from the Utah Office of Outdoor recreation and the rest is out of our tourism funds,” Oyler said.

This is the most regionally significant trail along the foothills of the Wasatch Front, he said. “We’re trying to provide more trail miles that people can have access to.”