Pioneer Trail Foundation

The Pioneer Trail

Pioneering belongs to all of us.

The Trail

A walking route through historic downtown Salt Lake City that connects the places where Utah was imagined, settled and built. 1.3 miles on foot from Temple Square to City Creek Canyon.

The trail follows the original path, up from the valley floor, through the creek watershed, toward the hills that oriented early settlement. Today it connects museums, monuments, gardens, and public gathering spaces across the densest concentration of Utah history in the state.

Designed to inspire and connect. It is a place to walk, reflect, and consider what pioneering looks like today.

City Creek Park Corner

City Creek Park Interior

State Street

State Street Roundabout

Council Hall

Capitol Grounds

Memory Grove

Memory Grove Overlook

Canyon Road

Aims of the Trail

Beautify Public Space

Revitalize urban green spaces by planting world-class native perennial gardens and improving seating, lighting, and walkways along the Trail and its surrounding public spaces.

Activate Historic Sites

Reimagine underused historic sites along the Trail through new uses, clearer wayfinding, and creative programming to create one of the most activated pedestrian corridors in the state.

III

Celebrate Cultural Values

Install public art along the Trail that explores universal pioneering values such as community, vision, industry, and resilience – values shared by many kinds of pioneers who have shaped, and continue to shape, Utah’s story.

Revitalize urban green spaces by planting world-class native perennial gardens and improving seating, lighting, and walkways along the Trail and its surrounding public spaces.

The Route

Why Now

Utah is changing quickly. Growth is reshaping the state and placing Salt Lake City on a larger stage, bringing new people, new demands, and renewed questions about what we share and why it matters.

The Moment

The Ideas

What’s Next

The Moment

The Ideas

What’s Next

Utah is not like other places. How do we pioneer a way forward that keeps what’s best and improves what comes next?

Team

The Pioneer Trail Foundation began as a grassroots effort led by neighbors on Capitol Hill. It has grown into a serious, volunteer-led organization supported by leaders from across the neighborhood, city, state, cultural, and business communities. Field Operations — the landscape architecture firm behind iconic projects like New York City's High Line, London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and San Francisco's Presidio Tunnel Tops — has been retained by the Pioneer Trail Foundation to design the trail in its entirety.