Arrow Trail
- Alex Cabrero
- Apr 30, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 5
(Bluffdale) This is a very easy trail that offers some peace and quiet in the middle of a growing area. Personally, this is one of my favorite trails near where I live and a place I have visited dozens of time. I have come here after difficult days at work and challenging times in my life and this trail has always brought me calm and clarity. You can hear birds and see deer all throughout the year, but just listening to the wind pass through the trees is a great experience.
Timber loves this trail, too, and has pretty much grown up here. She has been on this trial more than any other and knows it very well. She knows where the deer usually hang out, where the dead raccoon was she found once years ago, and where someone left a half eaten sandwich. She checks every time. Dogs are supposed to be on leash on this trail, but I let her run when I don't see anyone around. It's fenced on both sides for a majority of the trail. When I see someone, I immediately leash her. A lot of dog owners come here and when you get the friendly wave, that's a sign it's okay for the dogs to run and meet each other.
The parking lot itself is kind of cool. You park between old tires that have been buried in the ground. I can remember coming here when the tires seemed relatively new. Now they're worn down and beat up. There's room for maybe eight cars between the tires, but plenty of room for a lot more cars in the lot. I don't think I have ever seen more than five cars here at a time.
The Arrow Trail is a small branch off of the larger Jordan River Trail. The JRT itself is a large trail that runs north-south along the Jordan River from the Lehi area in Utah County to Salt Lake City. There are many small little trails that branch off the JRT is the Arrow Trail is one of them. The trailhead signs at these trails are excellent. They give a good map and overview of where you are and what's nearby.
The Arrow Trail is about a half mile long one way, flat, and paved the entire distance. It dead ends at the Jordan River Trail. There is an optional horse trail that splits off the paved trail. It's a dirt path that runs parallel to the paved trail. You can take either one. I usually take one on the way out and the other on the way back. I have never seen a horse here, but I see horseshoe prints all the time so it must be used every now and then by horse riders.
If take the horse trail, you'll walk along an old wooden fence that I think is pretty cool and a reminder of this area's past. The wooden fence is collapsed in a lot of places and there is a newer metal link fence in its place. I love the moss growing on the old wooden fence and if you visit here after a rainstorm, the dirt and wood smell so good.
No matter if you take the paved path or the dirt horse trail, you'll come to a little bridge that's worth a stop. A small creek runs underneath it and is a good spot to see ducks and birds taking a break in the water. The sounds of the water running through is just another part of this trail I love.
The marsh near the bridge is thick. Perfect habitat for all sorts of birds. I have never seen a snake in this particular spot, but I'm sure there are some.
As you leave the bridge, you'll come to a road crossing. There's a button to push if you want the yellow lights to flash, but you don't normally see very many cars. This isn't an open road for traffic. It's on property that belongs to the Jordan River Water District, so anybody you see driving through here is either one of their workers or someone doing business with them. There are signs letting you know to stay on the trail because that is the only right of way. This section is where I taught puppy Timber to sit and wait until I give her the signal to cross. She has become very good at knowing she needs permission to be on a road and I believe it's this spot that helped her to learn.
Once you get past the road crossing, you're pretty much at where the Arrow Trail ends at the Jordan River Trail. You can see the end once you cross the road. There is a sign letting you know the Draper an Riverton sections of the Jordan River Trail are to the left and the Springview Farms section of Bluffdale is to the right. It has distances and estimated times walking and on bicycle. If Timber and I are going for a longer walk, we'll head to the right. But when we're just out for a short walk, we'll go to the left so she can go for a quick swim. There's a good access to the river about a hundred feet from this sign.
Once Timber is done swimming, we head back the same way we came.
I normally take the dirt horse trail back. It's a good spot for Timber to run and dry off in the grass after her swim. She likes to roll around upside down when she's wet.
I also like to go back this way because there is a rock and a wood chip I placed on the wooden fence in the summer of 2020. I was covering a lot of the riots for work that summer and it was a very difficult and psychologically trying time for me just to do my job. We were being cursed at and threatened constantly to the point where we started wearing bullet proof vests and taking security for these types of assignments. This trail gave me peace during all of that and I placed this rock and wood chip on the fence as a reminder that there are better days ahead. I still see this every time I go through here. If you take this trail and find it, hopefully it brings you peace as well.
Near the beginning of the trail, there are two picnic tables with a covering to have some lunch. One side doesn't have a bench so those who need a wheelchair can enjoy this spot as well. Just a heads up, there are no garbage cans here or anywhere along the Arrow Trail. It means when Timber leaves behind one of her presents, I have to carry the bag the whole way back to the car. But it also means a lot of dog owners aren't very responsible and they don't pick up their dog poop. It's so frustrating because I love this spot. Sometimes I bring a larger plastic bag and collect all the dog poop to keep this place cleaner. If you bring your pup, please respect this trail. It means a lot to me.
Roundtrip, the Arrow Trail is a little more than a mile long. It really is a good little escape in the growing southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley. There is a sign as soon as you turn into the parking lot letting you know they close and lock the gate at dusk. That doesn't leave a lot of time in the winter if you go after work, but during the other months, this is a quick and easy little trail to get outside for a bit.
ADDRESS:
Arrow Trailhead, Jordan Basin Lane, Bluffdale
40.50016558175438, -111.92790892274542
JORDAN RIVER COMMISSION
UPDATE: I take this trail often and saw it has been repaved with blacktop in June of 2025.
Also, it has been fun to take my new puppy Aspen here. Timber passed away in October of 2024 and this is a place I visited a lot after she died. I can still see her running around chasing birds and deer, but it has been great having Aspen learn and love the same place Timber did. Dogs are awesome.
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