Ride on: Paved trails connect communities throughout Utah
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- A group of bikers enjoy a ride on the Murdock Canal Trail on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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- Bikers pass each other while enjoying a ride on the Murdock Canal Trail on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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- A biker enjoys a ride on the Murdock Canal Trail on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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- A pair of bikers enjoy a ride on the Murdock Canal Trail on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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- Bikers enjoy a ride on the Murdock Canal Trail in Orem on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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- A pair of bikers enjoy a ride on the Murdock Canal Trail on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
When Shauna Mecham took her new job with the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG) eight years ago, her predecessor encouraged her to get on her bike and take a ride.
So Mecham put her 3-month old child in a bike trailer and started riding on various trails around the Utah Valley.
“I got lost in Highland Glen,” Mecham admitted. “I hadn’t done much biking but this was a great opportunity to exercise as a family and that was wonderful. Seeing all the trails on the Jordan River, the Murdock Canal Trail, in Provo, Spanish Fork, Hobble Creek … it was great just being outside and doing something purposeful with my family.”
Mecham is a Community Planner and Air Quality Specialist with MAG, but she also is the resident trail expert.
“I’m a practical person,” Mecham said. “I don’t just bike recreationally. I bike to go to the store, or to go on the train or to visit family members. Our family is now a one-car household because I use the trails to get places. Three kids, just one vehicle.”
Mecham and MAG have loads of data on bike trails around the valley (at magutah.gov/at-counts) detailing usage for the major bike trails in the Utah Valley. The Murdock Canal Trail in Lindon, for example, supported 241,255 bike trips in 2024 and on summer days totals can reach over 1,000. The Pleasant Grove/Wade Springs section of the trail had more than 350,000 bike trips in 2024.
The studies also details numbers for hourly, daily and monthly usage along with maps of the trail.
“Sections of the Murdock Trail are very recreationally based but people also take the trails to work,” Mecham said. “There’s lots of activity on Saturdays and in the afternoon.”
Mecham and MAG conduct trail surveys to find out what residents are experiencing on a day-to-day basis. Riders can submit suggestions on how to make the trails better and safer.
Safe speeds are an important topic on the bike trails, especially with the growing popularity of e-bikes. While signs posted declare a 15 miles-per-hour limit, bikers often exceed that speed. Mecham said she attended a seminar recently where a study of bike-related injuries was discussed. While the number of people riding e-bikes is increasing, the injury rate was not significantly higher, Mecham said.
The Murdock Canal Trail project took 18 years from start to finish and was completed in 2013, with seven cities (Orem, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Cedar Hills, American Fork, Highland and Lehi) participating. It takes years to extend sections of bike trails in the valley, sometimes due to litigation. One project that has been delayed is a three-mile stretch to connect the trail in Provo Canyon from Vivian Park to Deer Creek Reservoir.
“We were fully on board with the project about two years ago,” Utah Department of Transportation Communications Manager Wyatt Woodley said. “After we started the project one of the property owners north of Vivian Park said the bike trail would impede on his property right of way and decided to litigate us.”
Woodley said UDOT accounts for walking and bike trails in all of its highway and road projects.
“However you want to get around, trails are part of that process,” he said. “The goal of the Utah Trail Network is to provide safe, separate bike trails and to provide 12-foot wide paved paths. Another goal is for the trails to wrap around Utah Lake.”
That will take a number of years to accomplish but recently Saratoga Springs is trying to fast-track its bike trails that will eventually reach the Provo Airport. In Vineyard, a trail now connects to Lindon Harbor alongside the lake.
The Provo Delta area near Utah Lake has been expanded with bird viewing stations and boat access, as well as a bike rack shaped like a fish that was provided by the Provo High School welding class. A new 1.2 mile trail connects the Provo River Trail to the Delta area and Delta Gateway Park opened in June.
The Golden Spoke Ride began eight years ago as a way to celebrate the over 170 miles of safe, separated and connected multi-use trails linking Ogden and Provo. There are four different starting locations and the ride, which is held in May, ended at the new Skippers Bay Trailhead at the Provo River Delta.
The network includes the Provo River Parkway, Murdock Canal Trail, Jordan River Trail, Legacy Trail, Denver and Rio Grande Western Rail Trail, Weber River Parkway Trail, West Haven River Parkway Trail and Ogden River Parkway linking communities across Utah, Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties.
Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox commented on the MAG website: “Utah’s great quality of life keeps generations of families here and attracts many new residents every year. Careful, collaborative transportation planning is key to ensuring safe, efficient, and comfortable travel for all Utahns. Community health, economic vibrance, and livability are closely linked to travel choices-from walking and biking to riding transit to driving. We’re committed to giving Utahns options and building a system that supports individuals, families, and communities throughout our great state.”
