Jordan River Parkway

Jordan River Parkway
Jordan River Parkway in Murray
Length	40 mi (64 km)
Location	Utah
Use	Hiking, biking, skating, equestrian
Elevation
Elevation change	294 ft (90 m)
Highest point	4,494 ft (1,370 m)
Lowest point	4,200 ft (1,300 m)
Hiking details
Trail difficulty	Easy
Season	All

The Jordan River Parkway is an approximately 40-mile (64 km) urban park that runs along the Jordan River within the U.S. state of Utah. The parkway follows along the river from Utah Lake in Utah County, through Salt Lake County and onto the Great Salt Lake in Davis County. The majority of a mixed-use trail has been completed with a shared-use path for cyclists, skaters, and joggers. A separate equestrian path runs on the southern portion of the trail. Many trail-heads, city and county parks and golf courses are also located along the parkway.

The parkway was conceived in 1971 primarily as a flood-control measure, but restoration of the floodplain, cleanup of pollution, adding trails and other recreational opportunities were also to be included. Requests for a river master plan included two reservoirs, the Lampton in South Jordan and the Riverton in Riverton and Draper, but plans for the reservoirs were dropped by the State Legislature in 1980. The Utah Legislature approved a bill in 1973 that created the Provo-Jordan River Parkway Authority. The Parkway Authority received $3 million in funds and was charged with constructing the parkway. The Parkway Authority moved slowly through the 1970s, primarily buying land and cleaning up the water, plus other cities were also buying land on the river.

By 1986, $18 million had been spent on the parkway, mostly from state funds. Land had been purchased and trails constructed for the Utah County portion. Much of the work in Salt Lake County had been done from Murray north with the addition of Murray Golf Course, several smaller parks and about 4 miles (6.4 km) of canoe runs and trails. By 2000, two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites were underway to being cleaned up. The Midvale Slag site sat adjacent to 6,800 feet (2,100 m) of the Jordan River. The site was contaminated from old smelter operations. The other Superfund site, Midvale Sharon Steel, sat adjacent to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) of the Jordan River.