Parleys Historic Nature Park

More commonly referred to as Tanner Park. I was honestly surprised to not find Tanner Park on the list of off leash parks, only to learn that Tanner Park is only actually the park above this area.

Anyway, I wanted to get the dog out for a bit, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been here so I decided it would be a fun adventure.

Quick Details:

Length I forgot to turn my pedometer on but I think it’s a little under a mile to the far pond.
Difficulty: DR3.
Elevation Gain: Unknown. not too bad though
Pets: Yes. Leashed in Tanner Park, Off-leash in the nature park.
Restroom: Yes, in Tanner Park.

To get here take I 80 east bound from i15. Take the 2300 east exit, once you crest the hill from the exit, immediately turn left onto Clayborn ave. which will immediately curve to the left. Turn right on Heritage way. Follow that to 2695 East Heritage Way on the left. This is Tanner Park. Head towards the NE corner near the playground and the main park trail is below that.

The signs are really clear this is an off-leash area.

Park Map. I wish I had noticed the Historic Section while we were there because apparently there is some pretty neat stuff in there including an old wine cellar and some remains from an aqueduct. Oh well, next time.

Here you can see most of the park below Parleys Canyon.

Nice wide hard packed trail. There is even a hand rail for most of the slope section.

First wading area.

The sign even lets you know it’s okay. They have made a lot of changes to this area since the last time I was here (more then 10 years ago). Most of which made the trail easier, but some of which removed a lot of access to the creek. There are now only 2 dog wading spots.

The water is nice and clear.

Wide trail, fenced in away from the creek.

Sunflower.

Thistle.

A couple places allow a view of the creek.

Nice view of the peak above. Parleys Canyon is to the left of it.

And we made it to the far wading area. It is pretty crowded.

Little cascade down the rock dam.

This tunnel takes Parleys Creek from the Suicide Rock area, under the freeway to here. When we did that hike Monica informed me people sometimes tube down this. At the time I thought she was spreading an urban legend…. And then we started hearing some whoops and hollers coming from within…

Holy crap people actually do go tubing down this thing! It seems kind of fun, but I am a little too claustrophobic to try it.

The little waterfall became a little torrent.

I kind of expected this, as I knew that in order to tube down you have to dam the water first and build up a larger flow, but uh, this was a bit more than I expected. The little rock I was standing on was not sufficient. After some scrambling I made it to higher ground without incident.

A bunch more people now.

And the creek returns to normal. Still a lot of people and dogs. Well, we had fun, and it was pretty cool to see the crazy tubers come down, but it was time to head on back.

Roxy meeting a friend. I was really happy that all of the dogs were very friendly today. Some of them a little too friendly, but I’d rather that than aggressive.

Heading on back.

More sunflowers.

We kept speculating on why most of the creek access had been removed via fence. I thought possibly causing too much erosion, Monica thought perhaps private property.  it is kind of sad, but for the most part the trail is great and there are 2 great wading areas so can’t complain too much.

I did a little research and I was closest. It was to control erosion and restore and protect riparian areas.

Another shot of the creek.

And now starts the uphill climb. It’s pretty easy though.

The mountain. The rocky ridge looks like a giant seahorse from a little further down.

Bike path that goes around the north ridge, another section of Parleys Trail. This path goes around the north east edge of the park, cross the freeway and connects to the Suicide Rock area. The plan is to eventually connect the trail following the creek all the way down to the Jordan River into one long trail called Parleys Trail.

Once we reached Tanners Park Roxy guided us to the shade and proceeded to plop right down. Guess it was a little too warm for her today. She had plenty of water and stops in the shade, I am a little paranoid taking her out on hot days as I know a few people who have unfortunately lost their dogs on trails in the high heat. She is super tuckered out but doing just fine right now.

Interesting amphitheater here.

Wild Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade. I recently learned this grows all over the place in Utah. Luckily I know better than to eat random berries I find in the woods.

And one tuckered out dog! I was a bit worried about her and kept a close eye on her. She seemed more stiff than overheated. She is getting on in age, we’ll keep taking her as long as she is willing, but her hiking days may be coming to an end.

Well that was a nice little walk. It is a shame they have fenced off most of the creek, but I do enjoy that we still have a great off leash trail and I understand why they fenced it off. It really is a shame some bad seeds don’t follow the rules and leave garbage and fail to clean up after their dogs. otherwise it is a great little trail! Removing 1 squirrel for the crowd, 1 for the limited access, and 1 for the garbage. 7 out of 10.

It’s not too difficult, aside from being one of those trails that starts at the top. Meaning you go down, and return back up. However the slope up is not bad at all is wide, flat, and even has a railing. Going with a DR3.

Pets are welcome! Please do your part in showing that we deserve more dog parks by cleaning up after your furry friend! Come on people, it really isn’t that hard! Particularly when they provide bags and so many garbage cans!