For the last two years, several groups worked on making the Highline Trail — a trail at the mouth of the north side of Logan Canyon — available for public use. They saw the completion of their efforts as the trail officially opened on Thursday.
Key players included Cache County, Logan city, the Cache Highline Water Association and the Logan-Ogden Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service. It was a cooperative effort, Cache County Trails Planner Dayton Crites said.
“Everyone worked together: The Forest Service maintained the scenic vistas they wanted from the road and from the trail, the canal company got the improvements to maintain water supply to their users and the county and the city reached an agreement to build and maintain the trail moving forward,” Crites said.
Representatives from each group stood together to designate the trail. Logan Mayor Craig Petersen said he believes this is going to be one of the most popular trails in the valley.
“I think this trail provides a little different experience than some of the other trails," Petersen said. "The (Logan) River Trail kind of goes down along the river there — it’s kind of a secluded trail. This one is up high so you have vistas, it’s in the sunshine which means it will be dry longer, and so it provides a little bit different type of experience than the River Trail does."
But designating the trail required rigorous efforts of all parties involved, because multiple jurisdictions own parts of the land. The area also has a history of vandalism, said Keith Meikle, the association president of the Cache Highline Water Association. Many people have spray-painted the concrete structures and rock formations along the trail. Last summer was a summer of heavy enforcement, Meikle said.
“We really want to project to the citizens that use it to please self-police this system," Meikle said. "We plead with you to please make this a beacon as to what could happen to put in an entire connection through the corridors of this valley upon the canals just as Provo and Utah County and Salt Lake County have done with their systems."
The opening of the Highline Trail is a major step in linking trails to each other and creating connections throughout the valley.
