SANDY — Dan Medina remembers when Sandy leaders realized that a new light rail service still in its development stages could provide a "golden opportunity" for a multiuse trail to run adjacent to it through the heart of the city.

It was 1997, two years before the Utah Transit Authority formally opened its TRAX lines. The impending operation sparked all sorts of alternative travel ideas for the southeast quadrant of Salt Lake County, recalls Medina, the city's parks and recreation director.

This is the origin of the Porter Rockwell Trail, a pathway that has morphed over the past 25 years into a popular route from Sandy that continues south until it links up with a trail that takes users into Lehi, in Utah County. Monday marked the final component on Sandy's end, as the city opened a section that extends the trail's previous northern terminus at Pioneer Avenue slightly north to Sandy's northern border with Midvale.

It's a small section that's perhaps more symbolic for city leaders than noticeable for any of its trail users today — at least for now. The pathway could extend into Midvale in the future.

"It feels great (because) it's the final piece of the puzzle," Medina told KSL.com, moments after Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski cut a ribbon to celebrate the trail's final addition in Sandy. "It's a sense of completion. It's a really good feeling."

The Porter Rockwell Trail now spans 4.8 miles in Sandy with the new addition. The route already features connections with all three of Sandy's TRAX stations, as well as the Dewey Bluth, Dimple Dell, Rial Road, Sandy dog and Scott Cowdell parks. It also offers walkable access to Sandy's Historic and Cairns districts, Zoltanski adds.

It's a route residents can take to any of these parks or just use solely for physical activity in a different format than the mountains to the city's east end.

"Not everyone can climb a mountain, (but) people still need to walk and move and get exercise," Medina said. "This gives a nice thing. ... (This) is a place where kids can learn to ride a bike instead of on a busy street."

The trail also serves as a vital connection point with Draper, White City and Lehi through the massive trail system along the Wasatch Front. Two years ago, Draper and Lehi's mayors celebrated the completion of a small path that links the Porter Rockwell Trail with the Murdock Canal Trail in Utah County.

All of this is why Zoltanski says the trail is "essential" for the city, for both recreation and travel. It's also why she likens Sandy's final piece of the Porter Rockwell Trail to Wedding of the Rails at Promontory Summit in 1869 — an iconic moment in Utah history.

"This is our golden spike location," she said. "This is the last connection in Sandy for the Porter Rockwell Trail. ... The completion of this scenic trail moves Sandy closer to its goal of regional connectivity ... that runs north to south and connects our surrounding cities."

Adding more connections

While Sandy is now finished with the Porter Rockwell Trail, the pathway may get extended and have even more connections in the future. Zoltanski hopes that the pathway will eventually be extended farther into Midvale, though she points out that will take planning from UTA, the Wasatch Front Regional Council and Midvale for that to happen.

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Sandy also isn't done planning out future connections with other trails within the vast Golden Spoke trail system across the Wasatch Front. One of those is an extension to the Sandy Canal Trail that would include an extension in White City, Medina said. It already has a connection with the Porter Rockwell Trail in Draper but could have another connection point in the future.

Other connections could enhance the ability to reach the Jordan River Parkway Trail by the west end of Sandy and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail by the city's east end. In essence, it could further expand the reach of the Golden Spoke.

That's something that Salt Lake County would like to see as it continues to seek more trails in and around Sandy, adds Martin Jensen, the director of the Salt Lake County Department of Parks and Recreation.

"Trails make our communities better, for sure, and Salt Lake County has a vision of connecting all of our communities together, to connect all our regional parks together," he said. "These regional trails ... are critical arteries that will our residents to recreate and travel together."

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