100 Miles of Trails
Did you know that prior to the construction of new trails by the Salt Lake City Public Lands Department in 2020 and 2021, Salt Lake City’s Foothills already had a network of 100 miles of trails?
In 2020-2021, Salt Lake City added 15 miles of new trails through lower City Creek Canyon and above the Avenues (Phase 1 of the Foothills Trails System Plan). The original plan was to build an additional 50 to 60 miles of trails, many adjacent to existing legacy trails that have been used for decades (see map below), crowding an already dense Foothills trail network.
Responding to concerns from Save Our Foothills and the wider community Salt Lake City Mayor Mendenhall paused all further trail construction, in late 2021, to allow for a review of the Trails System Plan.
Following the completion of a general environmental study of the Foothills in 2023, Salt Lake City hired the SE Group, a resort development consulting firm, to review the Foothills Trail System Plan. The final SE Group report outlined a number of key recommendations, including: preparing an inventory of existing Foothills trails; preparing a Foothills land use management plan; collecting detailed environmental and user data; and establishing a citizens stakeholder group. To date, none of these key recommendations has been implemented. Nonetheless, Public Lands intends to move forward on the 2020 Trails System Plan, with trail construction beginning in early 2025.
Please contact the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office and the City Council to voice your concerns. Why is Public Lands moving forward on new trail construction in the Foothills when the 100 miles of existing trails have still not been inventoried, and basic land — use and recreation management plans have not been prepared for the Salt Lake City Foothills?
Map 1 showing pre-existing (blue), originally planned (red), and recently constructed (purple) Foothills trails
Trail Density in SLC Foothills Relative to Comparable Areas in Western USA
Trail density describes the miles of trails within a specified area. Generally, higher trail density results in greater ecological impacts, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Salt Lake City Foothills.
The chart below compares the Salt Lake City Trails System to three well-regarded trail systems in the Western US. Presently, Salt Lake City’s trail density is more than six times that of the Boulder, CO mountain parks, four times that of Boise, ID, and two and a half times that of Jefferson County, CO. If Salt Lake City adds another sixty miles of Foothills trails the density will increase to nearly thirteen times that of Boulder, eight times that of Boise, and five times that of Jefferson County.
With a trail density in the Salt Lake City Foothills that is already 2.5 to 6.5 times that of comparable mountain areas do the Foothills need more trails? Or is it management of the existing system that is needed?
Notes: *Data from SE Group ** Since the mid-1980s Mountain Bikes have been excluded from the Foothills of Boulder, CO
*** Numbers provided by SLC Public Lands
Environmental Impact of Trail Construction in the SLC Foothills
(two minute video)
What Will Our Legacy Be?
An iconic backdrop to Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake City Foothills are renowned for providing exceptional ready access to nature and diverse recreational opportunities. This proximity, however, threatens these precious and vulnerable lands. Urban pressure is spawning heavy-handed development, causing the spread of non-native invasive plants, interference with essential riparian areas, fragmentation and destruction of vital wildlife habitats, and jeopardizing our drinking water source. The Foothills need protection. We must preserve, conserve and restore the Foothills natural lands as we respectfully recreate today, to ensure that the Foothills ecosystems — and the biodiverse flora and fauna — are here tomorrow.
A Conservation Vision
Salt Lake City residents deserve a trail system that ensures environmental protection for the Foothills, and that is designed, built and maintained to the highest standards for the enjoyment of all. With a conservation vision — based on sound scientific research — this is possible. Let us all come together and improve recreational opportunities while protecting the environment.
One of the goals of Save Our Foothills is to ensure that appropriate scientific research is done BEFORE trails are constructed in the Foothills.
Erosion, January 2021
SLC did not tell the environmental survey team their plan to trench the ridgeline. Their plan stated it would be signed and fenced to route users to a new trail.
The Trail plan says trail building is “unsuitable” on slopes that exceed a slope of 20%, yet many slopes in the foothills exceed 55%, such as this one, which results in huge sidewalls, and a high likelihood of landslides and trail washouts.
Gully cutting across the trail below Bonneville Blvd was deepened and widened during the rainstorm, August 1, 2021.
After a rainstorm, Oct 25, 2021, this gully undercut Bonneville Blvd causing extensive damage to the road bed, requiring major repairs by the SLC Road Department.