Jordan River Parkway: 90th South to Midvale

 This is a nice section along the Jordan River Parkway that is fairly wild, well, except for the overhead power lines. This section features a little pond (that you can't get to just yet, but can see it). It also mostly follows a canal, instead of the river. You might even see some wildlife!

Landis is out of town for the weekend so it’s just me today. So I thought I would do the Jordan River Trail and see how the Big Bend Preserve is coming along. Plus the added bonus of covering the ~10th of a mile I technically had not done before today. It doesn't really matter to anybody but me. I think I could still say I did the entire trail even if I did not come back and do this.

Quick Details:

Length: The trail between 90th and 78th is about 3.2 miles out and back. However there was a closure today so I did 2.5 out and back.
Trail Type: Connector, Out and Back, awkward loop option.
Difficulty: DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Not at either end. You need to find a gas station.
Dogs? Yes, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take i15 to the 90th south exit, head west for about 8/10ths of a mile and turn left into the River Oaks Driving Range. Park. This is honestly the only place to access the trail from 90th, and there are no signs barring you from parking here. However it is not an official trailhead, so I’m not saying you are good to park here, but I’ve done it twice now without any problems. If you are concerned about it, park at the other end on 78th South.

The Trail:

The Driving Range parking lot, and the trail heading west for a minute. I always park in the first parking lot, which is furthest from the driving range building, I leave the closer lot for people using the range.

The driving range.

Some pretty red flowers.

Bench provided by the S.L. Valley Rotary Club.

Tunnel under 90th, where the trail swings back to the north.

There, that covers the bit I skipped last time.

Construction notice. But uh, it’s June? This says through April.

An Islamic Center.

Big group of geese.

There is a big power station here.

Red-winded blackbird. I actually caught the red wings today!

More geese in the North Jordan Canal.

Mile marker 23.

Its a little dusty today. Yuck.

Power lines. Yes, you can hear them buzzing.

The Big Bend Habitat Restoration sign. Sadly they don’t seem to have target date in mind.

It looks like they plan to restore some floodplain here. That would be awesome.

The little pond. Honestly, there does not seem to be a whole lot of progress on the restoration since the last time I came through here. At this rate it is going to be years before it opens up.

I found a cormorant! Man, this really has been the year of the cormorant for me. I went from seeing them occasionally, to quite a few sightings this year.

I’m not sure exactly what it is sitting on, but he and I am sure some other birds have uh.. definitely left their mark.

Really neat birds! They are like if you crossed a pelican with a kingfisher.

The pond and the mountains. Once this area opens, and they get rid of the darn fence it will have some great views I think.

Poking through the fence.

The Great Salt Lake is a major stop for migrating birds, and these small restoration projects assist in creating more habitat for these migrating birds.

Panoramic.

The area they seem to be doing maintenance on.

It still just blows my mind that we have deer this far down in the valley.

Continuing along.

Hill top farm.

Bridge.

Power lines.

Downstream.

Upstream.

Whelp, I guess that the end of the line for me today.

I am not sure why it is closed, probably due to the construction, which appears to be re doing the sewer line through here. Anyway, when it is not closed, left will take you to 7800 S, and right will take you by Valence Pond, and you can make it an awkward loop by walking along 7th west and 90th south back to the trailhead.

Crossing the river puts you into Midvale.

Looking back at the bridge.

The river again.

Crossing back over the river puts us back into West Jordan.

The trail.

Whoa, random garbage bin that is a bit away from roads. I wonder if West Jordan regularly empties it? It does not appear to be overflowing, so it would appear so. That is pretty cool.

Faint mountains through the dust.

My cormorant friend is still hanging out.

The pond and mountains again.

Artificial stream bed heading towards the pond.

Back to mile 23.

Killdeer.

The power station again.

Back to the gaggle of geese.

Then the tunnel under 90th.

Some thistle by the parking lot.

All and all not a bad day out on the river. It wasn’t my first choice, but when it is just me I do prefer busier inner city trails. Plus I really wanted to see how the preserve was coming along because I can’t wait to visit it. With the closure on the other end it was not terribly busy today. Going with 7 squirrels today.

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

Dogs are allowed, but must remain leashed at all times. Please clean up after your furry friends.