Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge

Overview

Where: Sandy, starting from Orson Smith Park

Grown up difficulty: moderate to easy

Five year old difficulty: same

Length and elevation: 2 miles, 450 ft elevation gain

To see: Salt Lake valley, cool bridges, river

Busyness: lightly trafficked to moderately trafficked

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/utah/draper-suspension-bridge

summary

One of my friends recommended this hike to me. The alltrails for it looked amazing, so we made a local event and went! It was a blast. The beginning is switchbacks from a neat little kid centered rock climbing park, until you get to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Then it’s pretty flat to get to the (rather large) suspension bridge. This is a very exposed trail, so dress accordingly.

details

I’ve only ever started at Orson Smith Park which has a couple of covered picnic tables, and a bathroom. To the immediate east is the trail. Several switchbacks have you gain elevation at a pretty good pace. After a few you’ll come to a flat trail. This won’t take you to the bridge-keep going up! The trail continues up more switchbacks until it reaches the Bonneville Shoreline trail.

This trail will take you slightly around the mountain, after passing a sign for Cherry Canyon Logging trail. Stay on the flat trail; don’t go up unless you want a much more intense hike. Pretty soon you’ll start to see glimpses of the bridge. I was stunned when I first saw it because it was much bigger than I expected.

My kids like to give me a heart attack and hop across the bridge. It is fun and a little trippy to walk across the bridge as it sways. We have a good time here and usually have snacks on a bench on the side of the bridge.

Then, we head up to another bridge! This one is just a couple minutes up from the suspension bridge. It’s little and painted red, and right over a small stream my kids like to play in when it’s warm.

When it’s warm out, this is a great shaded place to sit and eat lunch before heading down.

Review

Faves: the suspension bridge! Totally worth the effort to get to it.

Hardest: the switchbacks

Gear: a carrier if your child isn’t ready to hike alone (love my Kinderpack!), hydration pack/water bottles, hiking shoes or tennis shoes, snacks, hats, sunscreen