![Bonneville Shoreline Trail marker 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Bonneville_Shoreline_Trail_marker_02.jpg)
The Bonneville Shoreline Trail is a mixed use (biking/hiking) recreation trail in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
that roughly follows the shoreline of the ancient
Lake Bonneville
Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperature ...
, a prehistoric
pluvial lake
A pluvial lake is a body of water that accumulated in a basin because of a greater moisture availability resulting from changes in temperature and/or precipitation. These intervals of greater moisture availability are not always contemporaneous ...
which existed in northern Utah before naturally draining about 14,000 years ago. Some sections of the trail are complete while other parts are still being developed. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail hopes to one day stretch from the
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
border (north of
Logan, Utah
Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin ...
) and run southward all the way to
Nephi, Utah
Nephi ( ) is a city in Juab County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The population was 6,443 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Juab County. It was settled by Mormon pioneers in 1851 as Salt Creek ...
.
While the planned termini are apart, the trail will weave in and out of many canyons of the
Wasatch Mountains
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
, totaling 305+ miles of dirt and paved trails. Passing near the large population centers of the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the north ...
, the planned trail is located within of 80% of the population of
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
.
Although conceptual plans for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail date from 1990 as a way to connect and preserve existing trails in the Wasatch Front, construction has been spurred on by the trail's recognition in 1999 as a Millennium Legacy Trail. As of 2016, several noncontinuous sections of the planned trail had been completed, totaling about 107 miles (172 km); however, there are plans to refurbish some completed areas as they are being connected and the length is extended. Much of the trail's construction is organized by county and city-level groups, through a combination of governmental, public, and private means. The
U.S. Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
also provides management for construction and maintenance of the sections of the trail in the
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
References
External links
* {{official, http://www.bonnevilleshorelinetrail.org
Wasatch Front
Long-distance trails in the United States
Parks in Salt Lake City
Protected areas of Salt Lake County, Utah
Protected areas of Box Elder County, Utah
Protected areas of Cache County, Utah
Protected areas of Davis County, Utah
Protected areas of Juab County, Utah
Protected areas of Utah County, Utah
Protected areas of Weber County, Utah
Wasatch Range
Hiking trails in Utah