Bonneville Shoreline Trail to expand with new funding

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation is giving Cache County $570,000 to add 2 miles to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The money is part of the division’s Outdoor Recreation Initiative grant program.

The addition will run from Hyde Park to Smithfield Dry Canyon. According to Cache Country Trails Division, also referred to as Trails Cache, construction will happen in three phases, with the first being paid for by the money from the grant. 

They anticipate beginning construction this summer. The expansion is part of a larger goal, as Trails Cache has been planning over 7 miles of additions to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. 

According to David Zook, a Cache County executive, the project is part of a larger goal to connect Green Canyon to Smithfield Canyon with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. 

Securing funding for phase one of Bonneville Shoreline Trail expansion 

A feasibility study helped Cache County secure the funding. It was paid for by RAPZ tax dollars, a tax program the county started in 2002 to pay for expenses related to public recreation facilities. 

“Cache County has been collaborating with local communities for several years now on regional trails projects,” said Zook. “This effort was supported by a $50,000 feasibility study, funded with RAPZ tax funds.” 

The study was finished in December 2024. Zook said it proposed a path for the trail and estimated the cost of construction. 

Trails Cache said they are still working to fund the next two phases of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail expansion. They estimate the cost at $2 million. 

The project could have taken as long as 10 years. However, Trails Cache believes collaboration within Cache County can help them complete the entire project in three to five years. 

Smithfield Mayor Kris Monson called the Bonneville Shoreline Trail project a “huge win for Smithfield, Hyde Park, and North Logan.” 

The announcement of the funding comes just months after another new section of Bonneville Shoreline Trail opened in Hyde Park Canyon in August 2024. 

Bonneville Shoreline Trail connects Utah areas

Bonneville Shoreline Trail runs across the slopes of the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains, sitting on and near the former eastern shoreline of ancient Lake Bonneville. 

The trail was started in the 1990s along the Wasatch Front. It has since expanded, spanning from northern Utah to Utah County. 

Per the Bonneville Shoreline Trail website, as Lake Bonneville slowly receded, it left behind benches. N

owadays, those benches are the locations of many Utah cities. 

Great Salt Lake is the modern-day remnant of Lake Bonneville.