Jordan River Parkway: Germania Park

 It’s starting to warm up, finally, so my friends and I have started our weekly walks again. We have a couple spots we like to go, but we particularly enjoy the section on the Jordan River Parkway between 54th and 48th and will do varying lengths along it. It’s a particularly scenic section that offers quite a few different paths to take.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about 1.57 miles out and back. The full section is about 3 miles out and back or balloon.
Trail Type: Out and back, connector, balloon option.
Difficulty: DR3. Its flat, and you have a paved option, but we prefer the non paved trail.
Elevation Gain: NA its pretty flat.
Restroom: There is one in Germania Park (north), as well as one in Arrowhead Park if you make it that far.
Dogs? Yes, but should remain leashed at all times.
Other Info: Cities: Murray. JRP Mile Markers: 28

To Get Here:

From i15 take exit 300 for 5300 South in Murray. Head west for about a mile, 53rd will curve and become 54th. Turn right on Murray Parkway Ave. Go about go about 70 feet and turn left into Germania Park (South).

The Trail:

This section has a paralleled dirt equestrian path. We generally prefer the dirt path here because it is closer to the river.

This is one of the reasons why. We were treated with a cormorant airing out today.

I love my little walking group. We are all little nature nerds, but some of us have our niche interests. Elise is all about flowers, and she can usually tell us what flowers we see. I’m the bird nerd. So I can generally identify the bird, and sometimes, like now, explain what exactly they are doing.

A little closer.

Cormorants are diving birds. They dive underwater looking for fish to eat. So when they are done doing that they will stand on the shore and extend their wings like this to dry out.

It’s kind of intimidating, honestly.

I almost didn’t bring my telephoto lens today, I am glad that I decided to bring it!

So neat!

Streeeetch!

I like how he keeps looking both directions.

Different angle.

Again.

Its really starting to green up!

The river.

The trees are starting to fill in.

River.

The trail again.

Mountains.

More forest greening up.

Better mountain views.

I think this is a bullocks oriole. They are the birds who create the sock like nests you see along the parkway. I was not very good at describing the sock like appearance of the nest to my friends so I said, I am pretty sure we will see one. We did eventually, luckily.

Bridge over the river. This is roughly about halfway. Between 53rd and 45th.

From the side.

Downstream.

Upstream.

Muskrat! This is the first time I caught one out of the water. I’ve seen them out of the water before, just never caught a decent shot of it.

Foraging.

Wow! I have seen potguts, and pikas gathering plants but this is the first time I caught a muskrat doing it.

Back into the water.

It looked like his intention was to head upstream.

However the river current had other ideas and pushed him downstream.

It was kind of amusing for all of us seeing him apparently struggle against the current,

But after drifting under the bridge we were on he started heading towards the bank.

I think he ended up almost exactly where he intended to. I mean, these guys live in the river and are likely used to navigating it.

Downstream again.

Like I said, the bridge was our destination today so we started back.

Various shots of the river.

Nice forested spot.

Mountains.

Finally I found a sock type nest to show the group. These are the kind of nests bullocks orioles make. This particular example the bird found some blue fiber to weave into her nest.

Thick brush.

Almost full moon.

I am glad we have restarted our walks again. We go a little slower than our regular walks due to different levels of health. However that allows us to slow down and pay more attention to our surroundings. We had a fun wildlife day! It was a little busier than usual today as its one of the first nice days after a long brutal winter, but it wasn’t too bad. 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, we chose to do the non paved horse path. It’s still flat and pretty easy dr3. There is a paved option as well, so DR2 for that.

Dogs are allowed, but should remain leashed at all times.