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Wasatch County
Heber, Midway and Wasatch County

Developer to Expand Coyote Trail System Above UVU Wasatch Campus in Heber City

Heber City

 
The Coyote trail system above the Utah Valley University Wasatch Campus in Heber City will eventually expand to include additional single track and connector trails. Active transit pathways are also part of the long-range plan for the expansive housing project.

 

Momentum Development received approval from Heber City to annex the 8,000-acre Sorenson property last spring. Eventually, they'll build 5,500 new single-family homes as part of the project. Construction has started on the south end of Coyote Lane, where they're widening and improving the road and the canal crossings in the area. They'll install sewer, water, storm drain infrastructure, and roads. Momentum Utah Director Mike Bradshaw said this phase of the development would cause some disruption for those accessing the area trails.

 

"The existing trailhead that's there will be going away,” he said. “We will be moving it up the hill slightly. We'll be adding more parking, bathrooms, and a pavilion area for a nice overlook there. And then we will also be expanding and redoing some of the trails in that area as well. So, it's fairly significant trail upgrade in that corridor, and it's going to cause a little bit of pain, I know, because so many people use that trailhead."

 

People will still be able to access the UVU Wasatch Campus trailhead.

 

"The UVU trailhead there, realigning and making some of those connections so that you can still get back over to the Coyote Canyon trail and use the upper section of the trail, which then loops and connects to the backside of the mountain as well,” Bradshaw said. 

 

The Coyote Loop is about 24 miles and circumvents the mountain behind the planned development. Momentum has purchased trail equipment and hired a trail builder to be nimble and respond to needed changes as the community builds out.  

 

"Trail-building is a significant part of our project, and the trails are an integral part, we believe, to its success,” Bradshaw said. “We also know that, you know, people just love the trail system, and so we wanted to try and find ways to be able to expand that quickly and readily. We felt it was important to have our own trail-building team on board. We have a lot of trails we need to revise right now with the construction going on Coyote Lane, and so it just seemed to make the most sense to have our own trail building crew there."  

 

Momentum will build multi-use trails along existing canal company easements, ultimately providing active or human-powered transit access through the heart of the North Village developments. He says the routes will flow north and south into the planned village area near the UVU campus.

 

"We've been able to work with the canal companies,” Bradshaw said. “They've been great to work with about allowing us to use the corridors that run north and south along the Timp canal and the Wasatch Canal. One of those trails on one side of the canal will be a paved trail, and the other side will be a dirt trail."

 

Bradshaw said they'll use a wildlife tunnel crossing to connect to the west side of U.S. 40 to the area known as the North Fields. 

 

He said they have no plans for a golf course, but they haven't ruled it out. Bradshaw said they want to make the trail system a benefit to the entire community by integrating multi-use and backcountry trails with the neighborhoods. There are other amenities planned, such as playgrounds, parks, swimming pools, and clubhouses.

KPCW reporter Carolyn Murray covers Summit and Wasatch County School Districts. She also reports on wildlife and environmental stories, along with breaking news. Carolyn has been in town since the mid ‘80s and raised two daughters in Park City.
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