A wagon train of mountain bikers more or less endured some words, some ribbon cutting, before bouncing in turn onto the new Bonanza Loop Trail shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday, excited to try it out.
A Park City born and raised resident stepped out with her dad, also born and raised, for a quick Instagram hike, well pleased.
And finally a writer, seeing the trail empty and clear of embarrassment, took off on a slow, slow test run through brush near Guardsman Pass Road before turning into old growth aspen, part of a wide refuge chock full of wildlife including plenty of moose. Dogs are not permitted here for the very reason.
The ribbon cutting was the culmination of several years’ worth of collaboration on the trail since Park City bought the 1,500 acre Bonanza Flat Conservation Area in 2017 for $38 million, which required a $25 million bond to pass and $13 million more in old-fashioned fundraising.
The collaboration required to work on all this and the trail system would be wagons circled, wise counsel taken. Park City Municipal, Summit County, Wasatch County, Salt Lake County, a baker’s dozen of nonprofits including the trail and land conservation organizations. The cats all fit in the sack, well herded, on the same path, choose your cliché, it has worked out. Congress should run so cooperatively.
The loop goes 5.2 miles, and a network of trails weaves through the area. Another trail will connect to a longer one from Wasatch County in time.
Park City Councilor Tana Toly has worked on the project for at least the past two and a half years, actually longer.
“You know, I run up here a lot,” she said while explaining the work and the collaboration. But the council’s Trails & Open Space liaison said she had never imagined how much went into building a trail, especially a mountain biking trail, getting the grades right and making it all work together.
“There’s a science, there’s an art to building a trail,” she said. “So we definitely relied on our experts in the field, even when it came to council, to make decisions.”
Those experts included Mountain Trails Foundation and Utah Open Lands, whose director of community engagement, Alli Eroh, is another born and raised Park City resident who didn’t miss her chance to join the celebration and take in the wide views from the Bonanza Flat parking lot.
Toly recommended the shuttle from town as a convenient way to come to the area in summer as well as winter.
The hope is for hikers to traverse the loop one way and mountain bikes the other, with some signage to that effect. The early explorers on bike and on foot Wednesday went the same way, though.
For a runner, the trail requires close attention to one’s feet, as mountain trails tend to do, but the grade up and down was as comfortable as that can be, especially pushing up.
“There is no question that a well-built trail improves the recreational experience. What many don’t consider is that a well-built trail also considers other conservation values on the land,” said Wendy Fisher, executive director of Utah Open Lands. “It is always a pleasure to work with the team at Mountain Trails Foundation and their willingness to seek and work with us on the alignment of this trail was incredible.”
She and others spoke of the rich wildlife in the area — moose, deer, bear, mountain lions and birds, lots of birds. Lots of calving and fawns, along with nesting and fledglings, convinced the partners to prohibit dogs here.
