Find the top rated hiking trails in Utah, whether you're looking for an easy short hiking trail or a long hiking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hiking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Been regularly cycling this path since its opening years ago. Within recent years however, bike etiquette, safety, and general behavior has deteriorated: "Utah moms" allow their out-of-control kids to wander-ride all over the path ignoring bike / jogger traffic both directions ... they do not care. Dogs must be on a leash, but many owners attitude is, "I'll do what I want, it's my pet"... again safety of others is undermined by this kind of activity.
Cyclists in the "left [opposite] lane" often have music blasting away via ear-buds so yelling, "On Your Left" to signal your presence, literally falls on deaf ears.
It's getting to the point where riding the open road with vehicles is actually safer than the designated bike path.
Works nicely for inline skating. I've gone end-to-end over two trips. Pretty flat, straight, and smooth. Friendly people in some parts (with dog leashes and kids) so be prepared to slow down at times. Averaged 14 mph though.
The worst part about this trail is the gates which some municipalities keep in semi-closed position at road crossings. "All hail the powerful automobile" - they are not trail priority intersections for the most part and sometimes there are even signs commanding you to use a nearby intersection instead of just crossing the street. Oh well.
I rode this from Route 89 to the Murdock Trail. It is very nice to have trails without vehicles where bikers and walkers can get around. Only reason for four stars is that there is no major attraction along the way, such as a river or above average views. I'm still very grateful for this trail.
Taking advice of other reviewers, we started in Elsinore and rode to Candy Mountain Resort, and we were glad we did! A stiff wind and an uphill ride out, made for a nice ride back.
This is a very worthy trail to do, either on its own or a way to connect up to other trails/areas. The scenery is outstanding. One could skip the short, boring section that delves into north Moab town, unless you want the extra mile or so on your odometer. A good bit of the remainder is along highway but still mostly pleasant (especially the section along the river) depending on the amount of traffic. After you pass Arches NP bearing north and start up the healthy climb, it gets further and further from the road and its noise until you connect again to it around Gemini Bridges road.
The path itself is wide, in excellent shape, and amazingly smooth... especially for asphalt (they apply some sort of black sealant/coating to it). Unlike concrete, there are no expansion joints or other cracks. It is like having a perfect country road all to yourself. Heavy rains and/or winds could deposit sand and other things on the path. There are 2 cattle guards to be wary of that come up fast on the ripping downhill section... but I guess those help keep you closer to the 20 mph posted speed limit! ;-)
As to when do this path, this is the wide open desert on a very black surface; summer time would be blazing hot. To me, mid-late fall and early-mid spring and nice winter stretches are the time to be in the Utah desert.
I rode this from the trailhead at 4000 N and 2000 W on a full-suspension mountain bike, to the last gate after which the trail is not graded but is just piles of ballast, about 8 miles one way. Beyond there, I could see railcars sitting on the tracks. There are several gates of varying construction and difficulty in negotiating that must be opened and closed as you travel. The trail surface varies from hard-packed sand to very course and loose rocks. I would not recommend skinny tires on this one. I encountered no thorns or goatheads. Lots of little snakes basking on the trail, take care not to run over them. Very quiet and isolated place. Might consider a fatbike ride when the snow comes.
I rode the Weber River Parkway just about daily when I lived in Ogden. It's not perfect. There are sections with tight corners and poor visibility. Several underpasses flood in the spring when runoff is high. There is also some crime and homeless campsites along the river. I've never been hassled though and I never felt unsafe. The plusses? Incredible views, lots of wildlife and just a fun urban trail riding experience. Combine this trail with the Ogden River Parkway and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for a 30 mile loop of Ogden. If you do, it's best to tackle it on a mountain bike as the BST is quite rugged in spots.
I was surprised to see a review saying there wasn't much of a hill(s). There is a 1.3 mile 7% grade and much of the way heading south it is downhill. It was certainly a challenge going back up! However - it was awesome and I am so happy it was here! The surface as of September 2017 was superb, and at one of the southern spots to get on the trail the county was out making sure they had removed sand from the trail which had washed in on it during some rains. Looks like lots of mountain bike trails which branch off from the Moab Canyon pathway. The views are grand and it is was just a blast!!
I thought the scenery on the canyon section of the ride to be pretty jaw-dropping, Bridal Veil Falls and Vivian Park a site to behold. I thought the lower section of the trail near Utah Lake to be rather nice but the middle section through town to be quite skippable. It seems that roots have grown under the asphalt and pushed the trail up making for some slow cycling (about 6mph) due to how uneven the surfaces was. I didn't like squeezing down skinny sidewalk sections through town, I didn't like stopping at cross-walks. I would recommend the Provo Canyon section of the trail only.
It was a nice little trail skirting along a river and although the underpasses had issues with water pooling up for deep puddles the trail was pretty nice... except for the part where the Ogden River Parkway crosses a bridge west into Weber River Parkway. As soon as you cross that bridge west past the treatment plant into the industrial zone the trail gets a whole new vibe. Apparently locals don't ride that section much; debris, dust, twigs and such are littered across the trail whereas on the Ogden River section the debris seems to get scattered off the trail from usage. The Weber River section had grafitti sprayed on fences, beer cans, trash bags, papers, garbage spread everywhere. Homeless people, although seemingly friendly, not doing anything necessarily hostile were approaching me as I biked down the trail and ultimately I was just wierded completely when I came across a human turd someone flopped on the side of the trail. Someone had used a picnic bench as their toilet (TP spread everywhere) and that was it, I spun it around and got the heck out of there at that point. The other section of the Weber River was fine (the gravel section).
I got a kick out of the crazy signs posted along the trail
-no paintball allowed (is this really so much of an issue that it needs a sign)
-no lighting fires and shooting fireworks west of the river (I guess east of the river is totally fine though)
-no discharging of firearms into the city pond. (lol, really Ogden!)
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