- Utah Trail Network's masterplan lays out plans for 3,100 miles of paved trails across the state.
- These trails are meant to help provide more transportation options for Utahns.
- It will take years for the network to come together piece by piece.
Seventy-three-year-old Christina Gulla wants to live for 20 more years.
To help her achieve this desired longevity, the Sugar House woman hops on her bike three times a week to complete a loop that typically takes her 90 minutes to finish.
“I live alone. I want to live 20 more years and I’m like, I cannot just sit on my couch. I have to do something,” she said.
Gulla did her research before purchasing her tricycle, which she jokingly said “looks kind of like a rickshaw.”
“I get so many compliments when I go out there. I love it. I love it,” Gulla said.
“Utah builds for the future. We’re moving from vision to action with a statewide trail network plan so Utahns age 8 to 80 can walk, bike or roll between the places they live, learn, and work.”
— Utah Gov. Spencer Cox
Soon, thanks to the newly proposed Utah Trail Network master plan, there will be even more paved trails around the state for Gulla to ride on.
On Oct. 28, the Utah Department of Transportation released a master plan map for the Utah Trail Network, which outlines 3,100 miles of paved trails reaching all around the state. It includes 2,600 miles of new paved trails connecting with 500 miles of existing trails.
The master plan map can be viewed at the Utah Trail Network website.
This master plan was announced by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox along with UDOT.
“Utah builds for the future. We’re moving from vision to action with a statewide trail network plan so Utahns age 8 to 80 can walk, bike or roll between the places they live, learn, and work,” wrote Cox in a post on X.
When the network is complete, 95% of all Utahns will live within 1 mile of the trails. But, the full network won’t be complete anytime soon; the master plan is a major undertaking that will take years to come together.
This statewide paved trail system will eventually connect 208 Utah towns and cities, 33 universities and community colleges, six national parks and 25 state parks.
Stephanie Tomlin, UDOT’s trails division director, emphasized that very few other places have networks like this. “This is definitely unique, and we are kind of pioneering something in the state of Utah that is unlike anything I’ve seen across the country, and this is going to be really incredible.”
These trails are meant for any nonmotorized forms of transportation, including running, biking, walking and e-bikes.
“Basically, if the human is the primary source of propulsion, it’s probably allowed on these trails,” said Tomlin, who oversees the Utah Trail Network.
How the Utah Trail Network aims to move people
Since the network is being put together by UDOT, the main purpose is to improve transportation by nonmotorized methods. Increased recreation opportunities is a secondary purpose of the network.
“We’re moving people,” Tomlin said. “We’re moving them in more ways because we’re going to have to; as you know, the population in Utah continues to grow. We can’t keep building lane miles to accommodate that growth. We have to emphasize other modes of transportation.”
Tomlin shared how these trails can hopefully help decrease traffic congestion because it is difficult to continuing widening roads.
“If more people would choose to walk or bike, that’s one less car on the road,” Tomlin said. “This is absolutely an initiative to help people have more transportation, you know, choices and options.”
Tristan Gale and her husband Jon Geisler like to bike together, and they are both excited by the idea of the Utah Trail Network.
Gale said she believes that “as soon as you make biking safe, people choose to bike.”
“I think one of the biggest hindrances to more people biking is that we don’t have infrastructure built for this,” she added. “So when you do add this, yeah, it’s going to be used. It will take cars off the road. You will see people on it,” Gale said.
These trails will provide safer road biking and walking routes for Utahns. Geisler said that he has switched to mountain biking more because there aren’t very many safe places to road bike.
Geisler also plans to use to the trails to bike all the way from Salt Lake City to St. George.
“It looks so exciting,” Gale said about the master plan.
Putting the trails together is an extensive process
In 2024, the state Legislature allocated $45 million in funding for the Utah Trail Network. The project will continue to receive $45 million each year.
The first 19 projects for the network were funded in 2024, and ground will be broken for those in spring 2026.
The trail network master plan is not something that will come together quickly — Tomlin said the map represents “decades and decades of work.”
She shared that there is so much that goes on behind the scenes with putting together a trail network like this and many people might wonder why it takes so long.
“Right now, we have some lines on a map, which is a really fantastic starting point, but we will need to look in a lot of detail for each one of these projects in order to see them, you know, potentially coming to life,” she said.
UDOT will be working through the plan in segments and will start with a feasibility study for each piece to flush out the details of the individual project. Then there will be a final design created for each segment before breaking ground and starting construction.
Tomlin said they will start funding more projects off the map as early as spring 2026.
“So we’re putting this to work right away,” she said.
Because this network will take years to complete, it is likely that the communities these trails will go through will see some changes. Tomlin said that is something the department will be keeping an eye on as they go.
“All good plans will have to change and adapt, right?”
The department will update the master plan as existing transportation plans are updated every four years.
To put together the plan map, UDOT worked with different communities around the state to incorporate their plans for trails into the Utah Trail Network master plan.
She added that as they worked with the different communities, it became clear that Utahns want more trails like this.
The Utah Trail Network aims to get more people outside
Tomlin emphasized that having people choose to bike and walk places instead of driving can have incredible health benefits.
“We’re getting some exercise in our day without having to, like, go to the gym. We’re getting exercise right while we’re traveling,” she said.
The majority of trips Utahns take are under 3 miles, so it’s feasible that people can walk or bike to places they need to go.
Gulla said she thinks the trail network is a great idea because it would help people go outside more.
“Everybody would use it. It’s a positive message and I’m so happy they’re doing it. People will buy more bikes and go out there,” she added.
Tomlin said that getting people out on trails together will help with socialization.
“You’re not kind of in a steel box traveling 80 miles an hour down a road, like, you’re out there on a trail, getting to pass people and say hi, helping kind of with that social isolation component,” she said.
Cox also emphasized the goal of getting more Utahns outside and on trails.
“We need to spend more time outside, more time connecting with people and more time exercising, and the way we do that is through our trail system,” Cox said, according to a release from UDOT. “The Utah Trail Network helps every Utahn commute, recreate and enjoy Utah. It’s a great way to build for future generations.”
Though this can bring many benefits, not everyone is happy about it.
Tomlin said that some people have concerns about this bringing more construction and others are worried about paving over so many areas to make these trails.