West Valley City • Courtney Custer usually gets around on her adaptive bike, but on Thursday, she opted for a paddle.
Her kayak glided along the stretch of the Jordan River that slices through the newly opened Pioneer Crossing Regional Park, and although onlookers gazed as she moved from the water to an adaptive boat launch, then to her wheelchair, for her, the experience proved serene.
It was the first time Custer was able to transition from enjoying the water to strolling on land without any help, and the first time a Salt Lake County park facilitated anyone’s ability to do so.
“I couldn’t be happier about that,” she said. “That’s all I like. It’s independence.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Courtney Custer kayaks near the adaptive boat launch on the Jordan River at Pioneer Crossing Regional Park in West Valley City on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
The new boat launch joins a list of about 15 other access points along the water trail from Saratoga Springs to North Salt Lake, and is one of the main amenities of the new park just east of the Utah Cultural Celebration Center and north of 3300 South.
Half of Pioneer Crossing Regional Park is now open for visitors to enjoy walking paths, benches, small playgrounds, an accessible fishing pier and other recreational spaces.
When completed, the park will occupy 25 acres.
“As we continue to go farther north, there’ll be more of what you see here: more walking paths, more trees, more shade along the river,” Salt Lake County parks director Martin Jensen said. “It’s what we call a ‘passive recreation park.’ There are not any programs, sports or activities; it’s really just a place for people to come and recreate.”
A safer area
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People gather for the opening of Pioneer Crossing Regional Park in West Valley City on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
The opening comes after years of efforts to clean up an area once populated by homeless camps and littered with garbage, Jensen said. Now, Salt Lake County workers will monitor the park daily, and the area will be home to a building for West Valley City police.
Jensen recalled a time about seven years ago when he toured the site with former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and had to be escorted by the police. Things are different now.
“We’ve created a safe, welcoming place that is now wonderful, which not only provides access to the Jordan River itself, but more importantly, to our wonderful Jordan River Trail,” he said. “This will be a key launching point for both adventures on the water and on foot.”
The park was funded by the county’s Zoo, Arts and Parks program in 2016. Construction started in spring of 2022.
For the Jordan River Commission, which partnered with the county to build the park, the space was also a way of keeping the organization’s goal of restoring some of the critical natural functions of the river, according to Soren Simonsen, executive director of the commission.
“This park is the perfect example of some of those natural river functions being restored,” he said, “and opening up opportunities for great recreation [options] that maybe are different than the active kinds of recreation that we participate in, [like] organized sports and other things.”
A historic spot
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Officials mark the opening of Pioneer Crossing Regional Park in West Valley City with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
Early pioneers first crossed west of the Jordan River at the site of the park, a fact that Salt Lake County Deputy Mayor Erin Litvack celebrated during the park’s grand opening Thursday.
While the site of the park may be notable for its past, it holds a future of improved recreational opportunities.
“The design of the park maintains the [area’s] natural character,” Litvack said, “while providing gathering spots, play elements along the trail playgrounds, multiuse trails, recreation and better access to the river.”
West Valley City Mayor Karen Lang, meanwhile, is eager to take advantage of the improved access to the Jordan River. She is looking forward to paddling the waterway with her family.
“We haven’t really had a close place to do so,” she said.
Alixel Cabrera is a Report for America corps member and writes about the status of communities on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.