2016 Backyard Trail Updates

FIRE MITIGATION PROJECT, Toll Canyon – Visitors to Toll Canyon Open Space have likely noticed a change in the vegetation along the Toll Road trail, the paved access to the canyon from St Moritz Terrace.  This summer the Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (“FFSL”) partnered with Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (“Basin Recreation”) and Utah Open Lands (“UOL”) to mitigate the risk and hazard of wildfire in the Toll Canyon Open Space and to secure an emergency egress for Summit Park and Pinebrook neighborhoods.

The project, which will be completed this October, is treating an 80-foot corridor of forested open space along the emergency escape route between the two neighborhoods. The FFSL Hot Shot Fire Crews are working as time allows between forest fires, clearing brush and hazardous trees and installing fire “breakaway” gates on either end of the escape route. This project has been funded by a FFSL Summit County Fire Mitigation Grant and aims to reduce the homeowner’s exposure to wildfire and the potential for fires to start in the treated areas.

Firewood rounds will be stacked on the road for a community collection, of which many Summit Parkers have taken advantage of… creating backyard furniture and filling wood sheds for winter burning.  More wood will be available in October, email Jess Kirby at jessica@basinrecreation.org for details on how to collect the free firewood.

TOLL CANYON to SUMMIT PARK Multi-Use Connection – Basin Recreation is currently working with habitat consultants, Logan Simpson, to locate a suitable alignment for the Toll Canyon to Summit Park (Road to WOS) multi-use connection trail. The hope is that approval and construction will begin in the fall of 2016. Careful consideration of wildlife habitat and a sustainable and low impact trail alignment will be key components in the final alignment decision. Basin Recreation is anticipating that this connection will provide neighborhood access for trail users of Summit Park, Timberline, and Pinebrook and will reduce traffic on the narrow streets of Summit Park and limited parking areas in Summit Park.

MOOSE CAMP, New Hiking Only Trail in Toll Canyon – COMPLETED – Utah Conservation Corps spent five weeks this summer hand building the newest addition to Toll Canyon’s Hiking Only trail system. The four-person crew constructed “Moose Camp,” a 0.8 mile hiking trail that winds through the shaded forest of Toll Canyon’s backcountry. Moose Camp, when combined with the existing trail network, creates several loops that are approximately 3.5 miles long. Trail access is restricted to hiking only in this part of Toll Canyon. No bikes are allowed on this trial.

TRAIL MAINTENANCE – Have you noticed cracks, holes, sloping and dusty trails this summer? We have too! These trail conditions warrant repair, but due to continual dry conditions and lack of rain, the trail crew has held off fixing our dirt trails. Until significant rainfall occurs, trying to fix the problems will only create bigger ones.  Please have confidence that the District will repair the trails when conditions allow or as soon as it becomes a safety hazard.  For now, use caution and report damaged areas to trails@basinrecreation.org or call our Trailside office at (435) 649-1564.  Please do not attempt to fix the problem yourself!

“MY GARAGE IS MY TRAILHEAD” – With rising congestion at trailheads and increasing pressure on narrow neighborhood streets, Basin Recreation is looking to join the “My Garage is My Trailhead” movement.  The District is actively brainstorming ideas on how to make trail connections, trail entrance points and walkable/bikable links that would allow residents to access trails from their homes instead of driving.  The District hopes to coordinate with Summit Park HOA and other neighboring HOA’s to come up with ideas. If you have suggestions, send them to jessica@basinrecreation.org