Jordan River Parkway: Spring View Farms To Arrow Junction

 It was an absolutely beautiful day today so I decided to get another section of The Jordan River Parkway. This particular section is pretty wild and quite lovely. There is one short spot near Bangerter Highway that is a little noisy, but other than that, and 1 street crossing its lovely.

Quick Details:

Length: 2.4 Miles out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back, connector, with option to add a balloon.
Difficulty: DR2
Elevation Gain: About 30 ft.
Restroom: Yes.
Dogs? Yes, Leashed.
Other Info: JRP Mile Markers: 14. Cities: Bluffdale

To Get Here:

Take i15 to 14600 S. Go west approximately 2 miles and you will see the trailhead on the right.

The Trail:

At first I thought this was a pair of turkey vultures. But, in hindsight, I think it was probably the same 2 ravens I saw on the way back (and get better pictures of).

The lovely area we will be walking through.

Trailhead kiosk.

Lovely mountain views through here.

Mount Jordan and Corner Canyon.

I’ve always just referred to this as Point Of The Mountain. And, well, I guess that is just the point of it. The mountain is called Steep Mountain. One of the cool things about it is it very clearly shows the Bonneville Shoreline bench.

Neat old water tower. Looks very similar to the one up by Alien Tower.

Some kind of hawk soaring way above.

While I had the telephoto lens out I got a little closer view of the water tower.

Marshland.

You can do a super short loop here by hanging right. Or go left to stay on the parkway.

This is one of the nicer bridges I have seen along the parkway.

Little stream.

Very short section through a neighborhood.

And 1 street crossing.

A lovely little pond. If it is named, I can’t find it.

The geese seem to like it.

Duckies too.

Not to be confused with the Madison River in Yellowstone. Actually, as far as I can tell there is no Madison River here. The river still refers to the Jordan River, and the trail is just named for someone. Doesn’t seem to be a whole lot to it.

 

This is more like the bridges I am used to seeing along the parkway. Although the stone benches on the end are unique to this one.

Looking west.

East.

Nice open field.

Mile Marker 14.

Mountains to the west.

Forest.

Another little bridge.

Over a tiny little creek.

Steep Mountain again.

Little glimpse of the river and some mountains.

Little better view of the river.

As we approach Bangerter Highway the noise of it starts to make itself known. Oddly enough, it was only on this side of it. I didn’t notice it on the other side.

Wetlands.

I am normally a big rule follower, however, I know for a fact the river is actually pretty low right now. If the trail was covered with water, I definitely would have turned around. But it was not. I think they forgot to take the sign down from last spring when the water was super high.

Crossing under Bangerter Highway.

The river under it.

There were a couple of pigeons hanging out under it.

Cliff swallow nests.

The river.

The mountains mostly obscured by the bluffs here.

I made it to the arrow junction, which is where I left off from the next section. Left will lead you to the Arrow Trail Head after a half mile. Forward will take you into the Galena Preserve.

So, having reached my goal for the day, I decided to turn back.

Heading back under Bangerter Highway.

Pipe draining into the river.

We are able to see the mountains a little better now.

The river below.

Pedestrian bridge, and an equestrian bridge next to it.

Back to the forested part.

Oquirrh Mountains.

Kennecott.

Back to mile marker 14.

The bridge over the river.

The river and the mountains.

A couple of American coots.

Back to the little pond with some ducks.

Geese!

The full pond.

The old water tower.

More forest.

Mount Jordan and Box Elder Peak.

Tree pulled a huge boulder up when it fell.

Floodplain and the bluff.

Another hawk. Not the best pictures.

.More of the floodplain.

Steep Mountain.

Mount Jordan, Box Elder Peak, and Steep Mountain.

The final bridge.

Duckies!

Based on the tail shape, I am going with ravens. Crows have a flat edge tail.

Back to the parking lot.

Twin Peaks, Mount Jordan, and Box Elder Peak.

Twin Peaks and Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Corner Canyon with Box Elder Peak above and the old water tower.

Oh, there is another old water tower to the west.

As I was pulling out to leave something caught my eye. Luckily I was able to just pull back in, park, and switch to the telephoto lens.

This is definitely a red-tailed hawk.

The first thing to consider: Red-tailed hawks are the most common hawks in the southwest, so, unless you can rule it out completely, there is a very good chance that is the hawk you are seeing.

Then of course the red tail. However, that is not always present, or even visible, so if you don’t see a red tail, don’t necessarily rule it out.

Next, look for the dark spot on the underside of the wings about 1/3 of the way between the head and the tip.

Finally, look for a belly band. This may not always be present either. Hawks are really hard! But I am slowly learning.

Here you can see the red tail better. But even if I had not seen that, I would still have been fairly confidant that it was a red-tailed hawk.

I really enjoyed this segment as well! This south end of the trail is quite lovely, and I think due to the fact that is was not developed until more recently, that considered leaving some natural space around it, which means more wildlife! particularly hawks! I had a great day enjoying the hawks. It was one of the warmest weekend days so far, so of course more people are getting out to get some nature in, but it still wasn’t too crazy. 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it is fairly flat and paved. DR2.

Dogs are allowed, but must be leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.