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This previous winter I started walking along the Legacy Parkway Trail. It started as a safer alternate on bad hiking days and, well became an obsession that I wanted to complete towards the end. So, now that I have completed it, here is the overview page.
There are 10 official trail heads, towards the south end they are fairly evenly spaced but it starts getting a little erratic towards the northern half. However, there are additional access points. Oddly enough, even though I did not always use the official TH’s, it took me 10 times to complete the trail.
South to North:
South End:
The Sothern end of The Legacy Parkway Trail is at the Davis/Salt Lake county border where it connects to the Jordan River Parkway Trail. You can start from Center Street to shorten the path, but I decided to pick the trail up from the Pony Express RV Resort which only adds 3/10’s of a mile on the JRP. We took this trail to the Center St. Trailhead.
Additional info here: South end
Official TH: South: Yes, Pony Express RV Resort TH, parking is iffy though. North: Yes, Center St TH, which has off street parking.
Length: 2.76 Miles.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Rating: 5 Squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 0.5 and 1.
Cities: Salt Lake and North Salt Lake.
Center St. To 2425 S Segment.
This segment is nice, but it is behind a lot of houses. However, you do have access to the Serpentine Bridge which offers a little bit of a view.
More details here: Center St. To 2425 S Segment,
Official TH: South yes, Center St TH, North, yes 2425 S TH..
Length: 3.5 Out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back, loop option with the Legacy Parkway Nature Trail.
Rating: 4 Squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 1.5, 2, 2.5
Cities: North Salt Lake, Woods Cross
2425 S to 5th south
I liked this section a little bit more, but it might have been because it is starting to warm up some and we started seeing some birds.
Additional details here: 2425 S to 5th south
Official TH: South: Yes, 2425 S TH. North: Yes, 5th S TH.
Length: 3 miles out and back.or 3.2 Mile loop with the Legacy Parkway Nature Trail.
Trail Type: Out and back or loop.
Rating:4 squirrels for the parkway, 5 for the nature trail.
Mile Markers Passed: 3, 3.5 and 4
Cities: Woods Cross
5th S to Mill Creek
This section is the only one I got to see some wildlife, and some more birds so I really liked this section. It also connects to Bountiful Lake.
Additional Details Here: 5th S to Mill Creek
Official TH: South: Yes, 5th S TH, North: Yes Mill Creek TH.
Length: 3.5 out and back or add Bountiful lake with an addition 1.3 mile loop.
Trail Type: Out and Back with Balloon option.
Rating: 6 squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 4.5, 5, 5.5
Cities: Woods Cross, West Bountiful.
Mill Creek TH, Onion Parkway to Rails To Trails loop.
This one we actually did last year, so we skipped it this year, for the most part. It is a short 6/10 of a mile segment along the Legacy Parkway Trail and longer on the other trails, but is a nice little loop around the area.
Additional info here: Mill Creek
Official TH: Yes, Mill Creek TH.
Length: 3 Mile loop.
Trail Type: Loop, out and back option.
Rating:3 squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 6
Cities: West Bountiful
Pages Lane to Birnam Woods loop.
This section is a well, meh. But, did offer some nice bird sightings. Only a mile on the Legacy Parkway Trail and an additional 2 on Rails to Trails and other trails. I now know that I could have continued along to an un-official trailhead on 1270 N and changed the rest of the route, but, eh, maybe next time.
Additional info here: Pages Lane to Birnam Woods loop.
Official TH: Yes, Pages Ln TH.
Length: 3 mile balloon.
Trail Type: Balloon, out and back option.
Rating: 5 for the Legacy Parkway and 4 for the rest.
Mile Markers Passed: 6.5, and 7.
Cities: West Bountiful
Birnam Woods to mile marker 9.5
I really enjoyed this section as I saw quite a few birds and enjoyed the section that was a little further from the highway. However, this is the longest section between trail heads so I pretty much just had to choose a point to turn around on. There is an unofficial trail access with street side parking on 1270 north, and if I were to do it over, I would probably do Birnam Woods to that, and then that to Glovers Ln.
More info here: Birnam Woods to mile marker 9.5
Official TH: South, Yes Birnam Woods TH. North, no, there is no access here, I just turned around due to length,
Length: 5 miles out and back.
Trail Type: Out and Back, with longer loop option.
Rating: 6 Squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, and 9.5
Cities: Centerville
Glovers Ln to mile marker 9.5
I really thought I would enjoy this section as much as I did the previous one, but it was a little noisy and I did not see as many birds as I did on the previous section. Also, due to the long length between trail heads, I had to do this one north to south, or backwards as I have done all of the other sections.
Additional info: Glovers Ln to mile marker 9.5
Official TH: North, No. Street parking on Glovers Ln with direct access. South No. Arbitrary turn around point at a mile marker.
Length: 2.77 miles out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back, with longer loop option,
Rating: 5 squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 9.5, 10, 10.5
Cities: Farmington, Centerville
Glovers Ln to State St.
I found a nice loop here, but it was not the best section. If I had known how short the last section would be, I probably would have combined them instead.
Additional info here: Glovers Ln to State St.
Official TH: South, no. Street parking on Glovers Ln has direct trail access. North: No however as the next section will show there is a nearby TH at Ezra T. Clark Park
Length: 3.02 mile loop. 1.77 miles on the Parkway Trail.
Trail Type: Loop, out and back option.
Rating:5 Squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 11, and 11.5.
Cities: Farmington
State St to Northern End.
This was my least favorite section of the trail. It was pretty much in the heart of downtown Farmington and near major freeway interchanges. But, I wanted to complete the darn thing, so I did.
Additional info: State St to Northern End.
Official TH: Not a Legacy Parkway TH but Yes, Ezra T. Clark Park offers off street parking.
Length: 2.9 Miles out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back with longer loop option.
Rating: 4 Squirrels.
Mile Markers Passed: 12. There should be a 12.5 but I did not see it. The trail is just short of 13 miles, not 14 as most signs state.
Cities: Farmington.
Now that I have done the entire thing, I think I would make a few changes some that I mentioned above. I would probably have done 5th south to Pages Ln. instead of Mill Creek. And then Pages Lane to 1275 N. Then 1275 North to Glovers Ln. Then Glovers Ln to the end. But, I am a happy that I have now walked this entire path from south to north and got to experience it. As you can see from my various ratings it certainly is not my favorite trail system. But, it is a great option during winter, or for people with mobility issues, or even using to commute between cities. One of these days maybe I will bike the whole thing.
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