Parleys Historic Nature Park - Parleys Trail

Parleys Trail is a long trail that will eventually go from the the mouth of Parleys Canyon down to the Jordan River. There is a great paved 1 mile section that runs along the northern rim of Parleys Historic Nature Park. There are also a couple great historical sites on the path that I have been wanting to check out for a while now. After a long day walking around Lagoon yesterday, I was looking for something a little easier to do today.

Old sandstone wall and aqueduct.

Great fall color along Parleys Creek from the trails below.

Quick Details:

Length: 1 Mile one way
Difficulty: DR2 it is paved.
Elevation Gain: ~200 feet or so.
Restroom: In Tanner Park (where the trailhead is).
Dogs? Yes, leashed for this section. Can be off leash on the trails below.
Other Info: Parleys Historic Park is a very popular off-leash dog park. You will start at the top, and go down, and need to return uphill.
Also: I don’t know if it is permanent but they put a fence in between the 2 trails. So to access the lower trails from Tanner Park you will need to access it from the cul du sac east of Tanner Park.

To get here, take I80 to 2300 east exit. Immediately at the top of the exit there is now a roundabout. Take the 2nd exit (the 3rd will put you back on the freeway). Take a slight left, and continue until you see Tanner Park. The trail is on the back NE corner. You are looking for the paved bike path.

This can also be accessed from the other side on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

On to the adventure:

The beginning of the trail. I guess it’s not so much a trail as a walking path.

You make a rapid descent down right off the bat. Also, as you can see, the trail is close to I80 for almost the entire time. So, it’s not quite the escape from civilization that I usually enjoy.

However pretty quickly you get a nice view. The park below looks like the color are at about peak. This made us decide to go back that way.

Parleys Creek.

With the mountains above.

The paved bike path.

Some more great color.

Grandeur Peak. I had to look that one up, even though I have hiked it.

Mount Olympus looks different from this angle.

More color below.

At about 6/10 of a mile you come to the first historical structure.

A sandstone wall supporting an old aqueduct, with a nice archway to allow runoff to flow through. This is all that remains of an old (1891) aqueduct. they built the wall and the arch over a small gulley. Somehow, even though it is right off the trail, it has survived and is in relatively good condition.

Closer view of the arch.

The back side is not as nice.

They have a pipe for the drainage now.

Better shot of the back side.

And the top. Looks like the old aqueduct has been filled in.

Panoramic of the view below with Mount Olympus to the left.

Flowering sage.

Yea, the back side is definitely not as nice as the front.

Front side again.

Information plaque.

Not far away we come to the next historic site.

An old wine cellar.

Locked up tight.

It was kind of hard to get a shot of the inside with the gate. I’m not sure if this is old graffiti or if people are still managing to get inside. Aside from that, it is kind of neat.

Information plaques'. Joseph Dudler was one one the first people to settle the area, in 1864, building his house which he opened as an Inn, then he added a brewery, and the still existing wine cellar in 1870. Unfortunately, the inn and brewery burnt down and all that remains is the wine cellar.

And I think this is the spring they used for drinking water.

Some excellent color below.

Grandeur Peak, and end of the line for us. The trail continues up a little further, eventually crossing I80 to connect with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail next to Suicide Rock. I originally planned on reaching the freeway, but was more interested in locating more historical stuff.

Some of the old trees look pretty gnarly.

The wine cellar and the aqueduct.

We decided to follow a trail down into the hollow where all the color was.

Some great color.

I noticed some cement through a hole in this patch of trees. Wonder what it might have been.

Old structure in some old trees.

WHOA! What the heck is with the thorny tree?

We learned it was a Honey Locust and fairly common. I can’t recall ever seeing this before.

Some more color.

The off leash trail in the park is nice and wide. We’ve done the lower central trail below before, on the way to the East Loop, it eventually leads to a nice little pool for dogs to wade in.

Parleys Creek.

We decided to check out the West Loop. We’ve never done that before.

Large tree limb hanging low to the ground.

 

The creek.

And again a little further down.

This trail is a little thinner here but still nice.

And the creek again.

Reflections in the creek.

Interesting hole in the trees.

The loop ends with a power station… not particularly nice. Oh, you can see the Parleys Trail we just came down above.

But, it loops back around and goes back to being nice again.

Some color with Grandeur Peak above.

And back on the main trail heading up out of the gulch.

Nice above view.

Little bit of sunset color.

Another above view.

And again. I think I like this one best.

Well, that is just sad.

And back to the parking lot.

Well that was a good adventure for some sore old bones today. Some fascinating historical sites, and some great fall color. I am pleased with the trail choice today. So we kind of did 2 trails. The first, Parleys Trail was super easy and kind of blah except for the awesome historical sites. 9 out of 10 squirrels.

The second, West Loop of Parleys Historical Nature Park was more natural and lovely. Lots of people and some random off-leash dogs underfoot. 9 out of 10 squirrels there as well.

Between the 2 trails and some random exploring, we did 2.27 miles and about 300 feet of elevation gain.

As for difficulty, Parleys trails is paved and has some up and down but was easy peasy. DR2. The east loop was a wide, hard packed dirt path, but included climbing back up out of the hollow. DR3 for that.

Dogs are allowed on both trails. Leashed for Parleys, and can be unleashed for the Middle and East Loop. Please clean up after your furry friends!