The Mountains in Bountiful are a treasured space for many in Bountiful—a place where families, dog walkers, hikers and bikers come to enjoy the beauty of nature and connect with the outdoors. However, the increased number of bike trails (80 miles) is becoming excessive for all groups, particularly due to the increased number of bikers visiting our canyons.

Our initial concern was to protect hikers with JUST ONE TRAIL in Mueller Canyon, but as we reviewed the intricate bike system being built in our mountains, and the elimination of hiker trails, we decided we need to focus on protecting our natural spaces for the future generations. 

As residents, we’ve noticed:

• Bikers being too close to children or pets, creating safety concerns, especially as they speed down that main road, by the larger picnic areas, and out of the park. 
• Conflicts when dogs cross paths with fast-moving bikes.
• Risky situations due to high-speed biking on narrow trails.
• Bikers riding on trails that are already designated a no-bike zone - sometimes they don’t realize it’s a no-bike zone.
• Holbrook area is turning into an excessive park for bikes. While the area around the B has become void of trees due to not protecting that space, we want to reduce the impact in Holbrook. 

We believe our park can serve everyone better.  We are not opposed to bike trails if it’s an appropriate amount compared to other users, and it protects open spaces. We urge citizens to take a look at the trail map developed by the city, and recognize the importance of preserving our mountains. There have already been miles of bike trails built. We believe these trails are sufficient and the additional 60+ miles of biker trails is excessive particularly in the Holbrook Area. The $500,000 Utah Outdoor Recreation Grant the city received for this project requires 50 miles of multi-use trails. However, these trails are not hiker trails. They are biker trails. 

It's unfortunate that we, as citizens, have been put in a position to have to fight to preserve our current hiking trails. Our community wanted to expand our trails, not reduce the number of hiking trails. So - we are asking 3 things: 

1. Protect and Preserve the 4 Main Hiking Trails in Bountiful (Ward Canyon, Holbrook Canyon, Kenny Trail, Millcreek Canyon). This means making these trails safe: Fix the bridges and trails on these paths.
2. Reduce the number of trails in Holbrook area: Currently,  the trails being planned for Holbrook mountains create a Racetrack for bikers. We are fine with a trail passing through these mountains, but not creating a place where bikers spend hours and hours racing through the same area of mountains, destroying nature and our landscape. (Please don't let Holbrook look more like the "B".)
3. Truly make the 50 miles of multi-use trails friendly & accessible to hikers: Many of these trails have excessive switchbacks, adding miles to a hiker's experience. And often a hiker can't reach a hiker/biker trail unless they walk through a mountain bike trail. This doesn't make it friendly to a hiker. 

We are calling on our local government to help us achieve this vision. By signing this petition, you can continue to be updated on the progress and stay involved. 

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Update #1 (Jan 6, 2025): We recently learned that the trail committee is working on a 1-mile hiker-only trail starting up by elephant rock. While that is great, most of our hikers stay within 1-2 miles of the picnic area, and this trail isn’t feasible for families, older hikers and most dog-walkers. We really need to find a solution that is closer to the entrance for most hikers including families, the older community and dog-walkers. 

Update #2 (Jan 11, 2025): First Letter to City: We learned our community has 4-5 times more hikers than bikers and we encourage our city’s trail plan to reflect this. Please read the letter we sent to the Bountiful City Council. We are meeting with the city staff to review their current plans, which they say includes more hiker friendly options. We will keep you posted. 

We are collecting stories of your experiences to include in our letter to the council and trail committee. Feel free to send them to angieholzer@gmail.com.

Update #3 (Jan 16, 2025): Second Letter to City: We learned the city included 200 non-resident responses (70% were bikers) in the survey results that they use to support the city trail plan.  Letter to the City Council about our City Staff Meeting(link) and some initial results of the community survey from 2019.

Met with city staff: After meeting with the city staff, we did not find that there were any hiker only trails being planned beyond the trail way up by elephant rock. We also found that the survey results from the community don’t reflect the trail plan being developed. We have a lot more concerns now. 

Update #4 (Feb 8, 2025): Third Letter to City: We now have serious concerns about the basis of the master trail plan.  Letter: Survey Results & New Requests.  We will be meeting with the Forest Service to discuss our concerns. We requested the original data from the 2019 survey, which is what the community wants from the trail plan, and we can prove that the city misrepresented the interest of the community wanting so many bike trails developed. 

Update #5 (Feb 12, 2025): Met with the Forest Service:  The FS now knows that we want a protected trail for hikers, and that citizens are not happy about the city not representing our community. FS says it’s a great time to get more involved. They suggested another survey be done. We have received a fair amount of push back and opposition for our requests from the city. We believe that it’s best if we ask the city to stop the trail building plan and conduct another survey as the FS suggested. We plan on having a community meeting 7pm, Thursday, Feb 27, 2025, in a local resident’s home where we can get input on what people want to do next. Text for the address. 650-804-2729. 

Update #6: (Feb 22, 2025): Met the City Manager: The Bountiful City Manager came to our Hiker Community of Bountiful meeting on Feb 22, and told us that we are mistaken that the trail plans were based on the community survey from 2019. He informed us that the biker community, who had a “vested interest in the trails”, met with the city years before to help develop the plans. The Master Trail Plan was developed before the community survey was issued. This is even more concerning. Why survey the community if you already had the plans and you weren’t willing to adapt?

Update #7 (Feb 27): Community Meeting and Vote: We met as a community group to discuss & decide next steps. We all agreed that the trail project needs to stop and a community survey done from a 3rd party. You can read the meeting details here. Please email the mayor and all the city council members asking to 1) stop the current trail project, 2) do another community survey, issued by a qualified 3rd party. 

Please email the mayor and city council. Here is an email template you can use that includes the city official emails. 

Update #8 (Mar 5): Trail Project Changes: Bountiful City announced that they won't build a bike trail through Kenny Trail (as was previously planned) but will instead keep that trail & Holbrook Canyon as a hoof & boot trail, as it has always been. THANK YOU!  There will also be a separate trail built for hiker-only in Mueller Canyon. (Update: August 3, 2025 - we are still waiting to hear about this trail. No news yet.)

Please Note: We are mindful that our canyons don't have endless space to build trails (which is what many citizens are concerned about). However, we are glad the city is providing a place for no bikes, making hiking safer for families and vulnerable populations. However, we are still concerned about the demolition of Ward Canyon Hiking Trail and the excessive trails in Holbrook Canyon. 

Update #9: (Mar 7): 3 Final Requests for the Master Trail Plan. Many of you have messaged and voiced concern about the community survey being invalid that the city did, and requesting a new community survey be done. The city officials continue to justify the last survey being only "one data point" they used to develop the plan, which unfortunately was the last data point they collected after they spent years building it. So, in lieu of a new community survey, we request 3 adjustments be made to the current trail plan; 1) Save Ward Canyon Hiking Trail, 2) Reduce the # of bike trails around Holbrook, 3) Make the 50 multi-use trails more accessible to hikers. 

Update #10(April 1): Meeting with Mayor Harris and Gary Hill, city manager. 5 community members met the city to share our concerns and confirm our requests of protecting our safety and make the needed changes to the trail project. 
Read our letter to the city. 

Watch the video we created prior to the meeting that showed our concerns with the current master trail plan. 

Listen to the city meeting. 
Note that minute 1:09 is where we make our requests. 

Update #11 (May 18): Grant Proposal & Update. Many of us attended the city planning meeting last month to ask for funds from the RAP tax to run nature-hike therapy groups to help with mental health in our community. We are waiting on their decision (in June City Council Meeting). We believe this brought broader awareness to city officials about the importance of the large need to maintain safe places in our canyons without bikers. 

In the meantime, this summer, we need to document our experiences in the canyon with bikers. Post your videos on our Facebook Hikers Community of Bountiful Page, or send them to us. 

Update #12 (July15, 2025): City Refused to Fund Grant. The assistant city manager has informed us that they won't fund our grant to help women and girls thrive in our community through Recreation, Arts and Nature because it's "health-related". They had other requirements that supposedly we didn't meet, which they didn't include in their application requirements. We find this unprofessional and potentially retaliatory due to our petition. Please keep sharing the petition in the hopes that they will start listening to the citizens and our interests.