The Jordan River Parkway- Utah

The Lovely Sharon and I have been walking the Jordan River Parkway trails over the last couple of months. The Jordan River Parkway is located in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley and follows the Jordan River as it flows from the north end of Utah Lake (located in Utah County) to the south end of the Great Salt Lake (located in Salt Lake County, Utah).  The Jordan River Parkway runs almost 40 miles.  It caters to walker, joggers, bicyclists and horse riders.  The Jordan River Parkway was established in 1971 and has grown and been improved over the last 43 years. The Parkway meanders through various Salt Lake Count cites including Draper, Bluffdale, Riverton, South Jordan, Midvale, Salt Lake City and others.  The web site for the Jordan River Parkway is

http://jordanrivercommission.com/jordan-river-parkway-trail-map/

 In 1972, I was a political science student at the University of Utah.  For one of my classes I worked as intern for professor Lowell Bennion.   Dr. Bennion was one of those wonderful people who wanted to make life better for those around him.  Here is a brief Bio from Wikipedia:

Lowell Lindsay Bennion (July 26, 1908 – February 21, 1996) was an American educator and counselor. Early in his career, Bennion focused much of his efforts on fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but he sought to benefit all people in his reach.

Bennion was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of Milton Bennion and Cora Lindsay Bennion. In 1928, Bennion graduated from the University of Utah, married Merle Colton and then left to serve in the Swiss–German Mission of the LDS Church. Bennion spent much of his mission in Zürich, where he served as branch president. After serving two and a half years as a missionary Bennion began studies towards his Ph.D. at the University of Strasbourg. His wife came to France to live with him at about this point.

After earning his Ph.D., Bennion returned to Utah and founded the Institute of Religion adjacent to the University of Utah. Bennion later founded Teton Valley Boys Ranch and served as its director for many years. He served as a bishop in the LDS Church. The first food bank and homeless shelters in Utah were founded by Bennion

During my internship with Dr. Bennion, I attended, on his behalf, a number of meetings dealing with the development of the Jordan River Parkway and the political issues existing between the various cities through which the Jordan River flows.  I became an advocate of the development of the Jordan River Parkway at that time.

Yesterday, the Lovely Sharon and parked our car at the Rotary Park at 12600 South and about 1100 West and we walked north to 10600 South before returning to our car.  It was about a 5.5 mile walk on a beautiful Saturday autumn morning.

Here are some photos I took three or four weeks ago on a walk that went south from 12600 South to the Bangerter Highway:

Looking from the trail across the wetlands to the Oquirrh Mountains on the  west side of the Salt Lake Valley

The Lovely Sharon on the Trail.  The building on the bluff is the EBAY Building

Another photo of the wetlands along the river

 A beautiful Saturday morning view.

The Jordan River

The Jordan River with homes in the background

The Jordan River.  As we took this photo there were several ducks swimming in the river.

More walking by the Lovely Sharon

Looking north

A pretty flower alongside the river.

Take a walk on the Jordan River Parkway, For us in Salt Lake County we are lucky to have this wonderful resource.