Trail system popular for adventure

LINDON — Cub Scouts have found many adventures along the Provo River Trail with den mother Sharon Davey.

"It's kind of our last hurrah," she said of the annual trek, which takes five or six boys from Pack 1211 along the trail between Vivian Park and Bridal Veil Falls in the Provo Canyon on their quest for a Utah County trails patch.

Last year the junior troops found a nest of green water snakes in a rocky bluff along the trail. The 8-year-olds were fascinated by them, she said.

"It was hard to pull them away. It's a boy thing," she said.

Another time the boys saw a beaver in the Provo River. That, too, fascinated them.

To earn the patch, the boys have to hike or bike a certain length of the trail, identify three trees and plants and meet other qualifiers. When the boys found nightshade growing along the river, they learned about the risk of eating the mildly poisonous berries and how to care for someone who ingests the red "fruit."

The patch is available to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and their leaders. Requirements vary to accommodate the different age groups and are detailed on the Utah County Web site at www.utahcountyonline.org.

Trail enthusiasts — bicyclists, walkers, skaters and joggers — now have 412 miles of non-motorized trail to explore in Utah County with 190 more miles planned over the next 25 years, said trail specialist Jim Price of the Mountainland Association of Governments. In the north county, 23 miles are funded, including five major thoroughfare underpasses, to the tune of an estimated $11.5 million, Price said. The money is mostly from federal sources.

Trail underpasses planned are:

• Under U-198 in Payson.

• Under U-73, the Jordan River Parkway trail (a Utah Department of Transportation project).

• Under U-92, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail near the mouth of American Fork Canyon.

• Under U-92, the Dry Creek underpass in Highland.

• The Lindon Heritage Trail underpass, which will go under State Street in Lindon.

Of the trails, 157 miles are mostly paved, including the popular Bonneville Shoreline Trail that isn't always paved, he said.