A new trail is currently being planned that will run parallel to the entire length of the Sandy-Draper Canal (from about 12000 South and 1000 East to 10600 South). Sandy City and Draper City have come to an agreement about how to handle the trail’s construction, since Draper was the original owner of the land.

Draper is giving Sandy the land, and Sandy will finish the Draper section of the trail for $90,000, in lieu of payment for the canal corridor, said Sandy City Parks and Recreation Director Scott Earl.

The entire canal corridor is about 12,000 feet. The trail, which is being partially funded by the National Park Service (which partnered with Sandy City for this project and provided it with a grant), will go from the Sandy-Draper border near Eastridge Park to Dimple Dell Park. As it gets closer to Dimple Dell, Salt Lake County will pay to build a section of the trail.

Earl said that there’s more property than there seems to be at first glance because of how wide some of the sections are.

“The cool thing about it is that it’s 12,000 feet, and in most sections, it’s 40 or 50 feet wide,” he said. “If you do the math, it’s about 10 acres of property.”

The connection the trail will make to Dimple Dell Park is going to make traveling in the area without vehicles even easier, thanks to another trail that’s already there.

“This trail will run north and south through the city, and Dimple Dell Park has a trail that runs east and west through the city,” Earl said. “Eventually, we’ll have that go all the way down into the city center, and it’ll connect to South Jordan.”

Earl described the trail as an off-road, multipurpose trail, which will be safe for biking, walking and commuting. Traffic will be a non-issue, except where there will be specifically-marked crosswalks, including a user-controlled crossing at 11400 South.

The Sandy-Draper Canal Trail will fit in with Sandy’s “Mountain Meets Urban” style, and Earl described the connection to Dimple Dell Park as “huge.”

“The philosophy is to connect people to shopping centers and mass transit without having to use a car. [The trail] is right in line with that philosophy,” he said. “We’ll also have some big boulders, some picnic tables and some native grasses throughout.”

The trail is planned to be split into two sections: paved asphalt and soft-surface mulch. Native landscape, like boulders and trees, will be on either side.

The short-term goal is to complete the section between 11400 South and 11000 South by this fall.