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Bike through Utah – great trails you should try this summer

Posted at 1:30 PM, May 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-31 15:30:59-04

David Davis the executive director of the Bicycle Collective shared some fun bike trails that are perfect for a Utah summer.

There are amazing multi-use paths and bicycle trails all through Utah, not only for enthusiasts but for the whole family. There is potential for trails in many places where abandoned rail lines are located. Since trains require a nice easy grade and a fairly direct route, they're nice for bicycling, too. An organization called Rails to Trails works on making more trails like this a reality. Utah has great ones in Park City and one from the heart of Richfield to the Big Rock Candy Mountain in central Utah.

Trails can be found on google maps, just switch the map over to the 'bicycling' setting, or on a site like Traillink or Alltrails. All of these maps are from those resources.  It's possible to bike from Ogden to Provo entirely along paved paths that don't have car traffic.

Starting with the Denver Rio Grande Western Trail in Ogden, which is straight as an arrow thanks to being an old rail line. Connecting to the Legacy Parkway in Bountiful and taking that to the Jordan River Parkway all the way to Bluffdale. The Jordan River Trail has two missing pieces: one at North Temple for two blocks and one at 14400 south in Bluffdale, where you have to take Redwood Road. Both sections should be completed in the next two years, the North temple segment with a spectacular bike bridge over the Union Pacific rail lines. From there you can connect to the Jordan River behind Thanksgiving Point and get on the Murdock Canal Trail, a wide and varied trail that's world class, all the way to the mouth of Provo Canyon. The old Provo river trail can take you up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil falls, or you can ride it riverside to Utah Lake, with a number of thrilling underpasses that make you feel like you're in Amsterdam.

The entire trail system is 100 miles, and can be done in sections or in one day if you're ambitious. For more information about bike trails or the Bicycle Collective, visit their website.