Parleys Trail
Quick Facts
City: Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake
Cost: $15-20M
Year: 1995
Best Practice: Trails, crossings, access/connection
Length: 8 mi.
The Parleys Trail is an eight-mile paved pathway, connecting Parleys Canyon and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to the Jordan River Trail. It features a ten-foot-wide mixed-use trail, popular among commuters and recreators. Walkers, runners, bikers, rollerbladers, wheelchair riders, skateboarders, and more are seen zooming up and down the corridor.
The trail closely parallels Parleys Creek as it flows on the east-side of Salt Lake City from the mouth of the canyon through Parleys Historic Nature Park, Sugar House Park, and Hidden Hollow. From there, the trail goes down a rail right-of-way paralleling the Utah Transit Authority’s S Line Streetcar and other rail lines on the west-side. The creek goes underground into the stormwater system after Hidden Hollow (surfacing again for a short distance at Intermountain Healthcare’s Memorial Clinic). Funding has been secured for the final stretch of trail between 900 West and the Jordan River Trail. The Parleys Trail is the most complete of the seven greenways.
Numerous soft-surface connector trails weave throughout the trail’s length at the numerous parks and open spaces. For example, Hidden Hollow is a serene, natural oasis within the bustle of the Sugar House neighborhood. Surrounded by tall riparian trees with Parleys Creek flowing through its heart, the park offers a half-mile loop trail connected to Sugar House Park through a pedestrian tunnel under 1300 East called The Draw.
In 1990, a group of elementary kids from Hawthorne Elementary—exploring their neighborhood through Kids Organized to Protect the Environment (KOPE)—stumbled upon this abandoned creek. After removing the debris clogging its channel, they learned this area was slated to become a parking lot for a new shopping mall. The students successfully built support and raised the funds to protect the area. They received the 1991 President’s Environmental Youth Award for their accomplishments. President George H. W. Bush said, “Together they transformed that unsightly trash heap into a nature park, and they gave it a new name, Hidden Hollow. And today, it’s a learning center for other students, a kind of outdoor classroom. And what you’ve done tells other kids that you can make a difference.” In 2000, Salt Lake City permanently protected Hidden Hollow through a conservation easement to Utah Open Lands.