Trail to Membership is Trails Utah’s annual membership campaign, highlighting our current trail projects and planning efforts that need steady support to move forward.
While grants and one-time donations often cover materials and construction costs, your membership powers the long-term work—planning, permitting, coordination, partnerships, etc.—that make trails possible.
Our goal with the Trail to Membership campaign is simple: if any of our trail projects resonates with you, we ask you to consider becoming a member and a part of that trail’s path to completion 👣
From May through October, each month will spotlight a different trail or planning effort to show what it really takes to move projects forward 👇
current trail spotlight
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We’re kicking off our Trail to Membership series with an inside look at a large-scale planning project: the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Strategic Planning Toolkit.
With about 173 miles completed out of a planned 280, the BST is already one of Utah’s most ambitious trail visions. Especially when you consider that moving even a single mile forward requires support from land managers, local government agencies, and neighbors, securing a buildable alignment for the trail, and then get funding commitments in place by writing and winning grants. All of this must come together before we can move into actual trail construction.
This work takes a huge amount of time, access to a wide range of resources, and buy-in from everyone involved to ensure the trail can be completed before hurdles such as private ownership makes future connections more difficult.
Trails Utah is currently leading a planning project designed to support future BST construction by creating a shared inventory and planning resource for Trails Utah, local governments, land managers, and trail partners to complete the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST). To do this, we have teamed up with Trust for Public Land, a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting open spaces for trails and parks, and Kinesava Geographics, a mapping company with an outdoor recreation emphasis, specifically on trails. Brandon Plewe, the mastermind behind Kinesava Geographics, is a passionate advocate for the BST and is responsible for some of the most extensive mapping and data collection on this trail to date.
So far in 2026, the team has conducted outreach to more than 100 stakeholders, connected with dozens of municipalities, and collected hundreds of documents related to the BST. Every map, plan, and legal document we gather is critical to ensuring that the BST remains accessible and well-maintained in perpetuity.
One early result of this work is this interactive map of the BST (map also found at the bottom of the text on this page), where anyone can find access points, official and unofficial stretches of trail, and potential routes where the trail could eventually be built.
Why this planning work matters
While the BST has been widely successful as a concept, getting all 280 miles fully connected and properly established remains challenging. About 173 miles currently exist, but many remaining gaps are complicated by on-the-ground issues like private property constraints, unmaintained easements, and competing uses on parcels that could support future trail sections.
The BST has long been recognized as a major statewide trail vision. It was designated as the State of Utah’s Millennium Legacy Trail in 1999 and has received additional federal recognition through efforts like the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Advancement Act of 2022 and more recent legislation introduced to study the feasibility of designating the BST as a National Scenic Trail. Even with that support, completing the trail still requires detailed, parcel-by-parcel planning.
Through this effort, Trails Utah and its partners are collecting and organizing the data needed to identify remaining trail gaps and prioritize the next steps to close them. This includes analyzing the many conditions that shape future trail connections, including:
Bringing these layers together helps create a clearer picture of where the BST can realistically move forward. Existing legal agreements that currently establish parts of the corridor may also help guide what kinds of agreements could work on remaining parcels. Over time, this can support a more consistent approach to establishing the trail across different cities, counties, land managers, and local organizations working to complete the BST in their own communities.
This map relies on community knowledge. Once it’s live, let us know if we’ve missed any trail sections, access points, or connections.
Thank you to the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation (UDOR) and their ORI grant for making the BST Strategic Planning Toolkit possible!
Trail projects like the BST take years of planning, coordination, and persistence to move forward. Membership helps sustain that long-term work, and as a thank-you, members also receive a few perks along the way.
👉 Interested in our other Trail Spotlights? You’ll find them in our Trail Talk newsletter
Depending on your membership level, you may receive thank-you perks like lunch with our Executive Director, a custom TU ceramic mug, TU hats or socks, annual limited-edition shirts, stickers, and more.
Prefer to give on your own terms? Head over to our donation page, where you can choose the amount and frequency you’d like to give.
Unlike memberships, which include perks, donations are 100% tax-deductible. It’s a simple way to maximize your impact while still fueling Utah’s trails.
If you were a member in years past, you can log in to renew your membership here. If you have never created a login, send us an email and we’ll set you up!
Trails Utah is a nonprofit powered by members like you. Your support builds sustainable trails, protects open space, and creates more opportunities for Utahns to get outside.
Join today and help us build The Greatest Trails on Earth™
