18th Avenue (Hilltop Road)
Location: 925 Hilltop Rd, Salt Lake City, UT 84103
The 18th Avenue Trailhead represents the highest elevation access point (5175 ft) with dedicated off-street parking and amenities. The existing footprint is an ungraded dirt lot for 10-12 unmarked spaces with a vehicular gate for Public Utilities access. This trailhead has long served the community as a key access point to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, the Meadow Trail, various user-created trails, and the I-Street Bike Park and has become a popular starting point for the recently-built Foothills Trail System Upper Avenues trails.
The 18th Avenue Trailhead will include:
- paved parking for 17 designated spaces including one designated ADA space
- rope and timber fencing and non-irrigated landscaping
- a welcome plaza with a trailhead information kiosk
- a “Be WILD” care station including dog waste bags, waste receptacles, invasive weed cleaning brush
- 2 bike racks and a bike maintenance station
Note: This location is on a Public Utilities parcel with critical City water infrastructure including a water storage tank and underground pipes. Various concepts have been considered including utilizing the vacant City-owned Public Utilities lot at 681 – 18th Avenue, purchasing or leasing land from the neighboring LDS church, and the graded space north of the tank and east of the bike park. The location of the current conceptual design was determined to be best for protecting the current Public Utilities infrastructure and maximizing necessary improvements for recreational access to the Foothills. Future Public Utilities infrastructure requirements could alter the trailhead layout and location at a future date if deemed necessary.
Existing Conditions
Conceptual Design
These documents are under “100% review” as of June 1, 2023, and will be finalized with input from all City departments by the end of the month. Finalized construction documents will be included in bid documents created by the Engineering Division who will select contractors for the trailhead projects in collaboration with the Public Lands Department. Contractors should be selected and contracts completed this summer so that construction should occur at a TBD timeline from August to December 2023.