The west edge West Bountiful
A subdivision on the flat northwest edge of West Bountiful
Birnam Woods, a West Bountiful neighborhood on the valley floor
Birnam Woods is a small subdivision out near the western edge of West Bountiful, on the flat valley floor rather than the Wasatch bench. Its streets end at the Legacy Parkway, a pocket park and a paved regional trail sit right behind the houses, and the 2,225 acres of protected wetland just west are closed to the public for good. Here is where it is, what living on this edge of town is like, and what the address does and does not come with.
By Scott Buehler, Moving Utah
Updated October 2026
The short answer
Birnam Woods is a small residential subdivision on the flat northwest edge of West Bountiful, reached from 830 West just north of Porter Lane. It sits on the valley floor, not the bench, and its western streets end where the Legacy Parkway went through and turned them into cul-de-sacs. Behind the houses are a pocket park and a paved regional trail, and just beyond the trail is 2,225 acres of protected wetland that will never be built on and that nobody may walk into. It is a quiet corner with a clear bargain: a trail and open sky at the door, in exchange for fewer through streets and nothing much within walking distance. The homes, the streets and what is on the market live on the West Bountiful city guide.
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Living on this edge
What the Birnam Woods neighborhood is like
Start with the ground, because that is what sets this corner apart from the rest of West Bountiful. This is the flat. West Bountiful sits on the valley floor between Interstate 15 and the Great Salt Lake, a low shelf at roughly 4,225 feet, and Birnam Woods is out near the western end of it, well away from the Wasatch bench that the cities to the east climb into. The land is level, the horizon is wide, and the loudest thing out here is the parkway itself. If you are picturing a hillside with a view down the valley, this is the other kind of West Bountiful address: quiet, low and open, with the mountains held at arm's length across the whole width of town.
The next thing to understand is why the streets on this side end the way they do. When the Legacy Parkway was built along the west edge, it cut across the street grid, and the city's General Plan is plain about the result: several of the west-side trailheads sit at points where roads were converted to cul-de-sacs or realigned to make room for the highway. So the streets nearest the parkway stop rather than carry on, and where a through street used to run there is now a dead end with a trail door at the finish. It is a tidy trade if you like a quiet street, and a real limit if you were counting on a quick way across town.
That limit is worth naming honestly, because it is the flip side of the calm. West Bountiful has only two north-to-south routes on the whole west side of the freeway, and that shortage is the town's main traffic pinch point. Getting from the northwest corner where Birnam Woods sits to the southeast side of the city is a longer trip than a glance at the map suggests, because the grid does not connect the way a grid usually does. For a daily commute onto I-15 it is a short hop out to exit 317; for crossing town, add a few minutes.
And this is a residential pocket, not a village. There is no shop, no cafe and no bus stop within walking distance, and no water at the trailhead behind the houses. What the address does come with is the thing most streets in the valley cannot offer: a paved regional trail and a small park right behind the block, and a permanently open horizon to the west that is never going to fill in with more houses. For what the homes here cost, how the streets sit, and what is currently for sale, the West Bountiful city guide is the place to look.
A quiet street that ends at a trail, on the flat where the valley runs out and the wetland begins.
Finding it
How to get to Birnam Woods
From City Hall at 550 North 800 West, go north on 800 West to Porter Lane, turn west to 830 West, then north into the subdivision; the park and the trail door sit behind the houses at the end. Coming off the freeway, take exit 317 at 400 North and work north and west through the grid. The park and the trailhead share the same ground, so from one spot behind the block you can reach a playground and get onto a paved regional trail, which is the single best thing about this corner of the city.
The orientation
At the door
The park, the trail door and two quieter trails
The park behind the houses is small and honest about it. Birnam Woods Park is a four tenths of an acre pocket park, with one open lawn, four picnic tables, one playground and one play structure, and it has no restroom and no lighting. The city's 2018 parks plan drew a much larger version for the same ground, and none of that larger version has been built, so treat the little park as what is there and check the city's current parks page before you count on anything more.
Next to it is the reason a lot of people know the name at all: the Birnam Woods Trailhead onto the paved Legacy Parkway Trail. It is a flat, paved regional corridor with parking at the door but no water and no restroom, at this trailhead or at the next two north, and it is not consistently cleared after snow, so carry your own water and plan around the weather. North of here is the longest gap between doors on the whole corridor, which makes this a good place to start and turn back. The Legacy Parkway Trail page walks the whole route in order, with the doors that do have water and toilets.
Two quieter trails do most of the everyday work of getting around West Bountiful on foot, and together with the Legacy corridor they make up the city's 3.9 miles of regional trail. The Prospector Trail runs north to south on the old Denver and Rio Grande Railroad grade; it is among the most-used public facilities in town and the only recreation amenity the south end of the city has. The Onion Parkway Trail runs east to west along a canal bank, built with Davis County in 2010 from 800 West out to the Legacy trail. Neither is famous, and both are more useful day to day than the parkway trail is.
For cyclists, Pages Lane carries a designated bike lane between the freeway and the Prospector Trail, the handiest connection from this corner. Riders tend to avoid 500 South, which is the same street that carries the freeway interchange and the industrial traffic.
Birnam Woods Park
The open ground
The protected wetland to the west, and the horses
The wide open space west of Birnam Woods is the Legacy Nature Preserve, and it is the most stable neighbor a house can have. It runs to 2,225 acres, the state highway department owns it as Clean Water Act mitigation for the parkway, and it is not open to the public. You can see it from the trail and the parkway pullouts, mudflat and wet meadow and open channel that hold Pacific Flyway birds in spring and fall, but the trail is as far west as anyone goes. If the appeal of a west-edge address is walking out into the marsh behind the house, that part is not on offer. What is on offer is the certainty: that ground is permanently protected, permanently closed, and never going to fill in with more houses, which is a good deal more dependable than a field waiting on a builder. The county birding page covers the flyway and the wetlands that are open to walk.
Closer in, animal keeping is a genuine land use on this side of town rather than a decoration. West Bountiful's own plan records that the ground west of 1100 West tends to hold the properties with animals on them, and the Legacy corridor carries an equestrian trail alongside the paved one. Whether a particular lot allows horses is a question for the city's municipal code, which holds the animal-keeping rules; that code, not this page, is where to read exactly what a given address permits.
The land west of the trail is closed, and the trail is the boundary. The preserve is wetland the highway department manages, with no public entry, so plan your walking and riding on the paved corridor and the city's other trails, not out into the marsh. It is a view, not a park.
Room to grow
Where the city's remaining land is
One last thing worth knowing about this edge of town, because it cuts both ways. The west side is where most of West Bountiful's remaining open land sits, the acreage named in the city's west-side plan and its General Plan annexation areas. That is the reverse of the certainty across the trail: the wetland to the west will not change, but the near side, your side of the trail, is exactly where the city has room left to add. It does not make Birnam Woods any less quiet today, but it does mean the field you look at on the street side could look different in a few years in a way the protected ground never will.
What is proposed, where, and on how many acres is a moving target better answered by someone tracking it. The West Bountiful mover page lays out the west-side plan and the numbers, and if you tell me which streets you are looking at, I can put you in touch with a Davis County partner agent who can tell you what is on the table next door.
Quick answers
Birnam Woods, answered
Birnam Woods sits on the flat northwest edge of West Bountiful, reached from 830 West just north of Porter Lane, which is the 2200 North line. It is about 1.2 miles north-northwest of City Hall at 550 North 800 West, roughly a four minute drive. Its western streets end at the Legacy Parkway, and a small city park and a paved regional trail sit right behind the houses.
On the flat. West Bountiful sits on the valley floor, the low ground between Interstate 15 and the Great Salt Lake, at roughly 4,225 feet, and Birnam Woods is out near the western edge of that flat rather than up against the Wasatch bench to the east. The ground stays level here, and the open wetland begins a short walk to the west.
Because the highway cut them. The West Bountiful General Plan explains that several trailheads serve the west side at points where roads were converted to cul de sacs or realigned to build the Legacy Parkway. Every street on this edge of town that stops at the corridor stops because the parkway went through, and the trailhead at the end is what the city has there instead of a through road.
A four tenths of an acre pocket park behind the Birnam Woods subdivision, reached from 830 West north of Porter Lane, with one open lawn, four picnic tables, one playground and one play structure. It has no restroom and no lighting. The city's 2018 parks master plan drew a much larger park for the site, and none of that larger version is built, so check the city's current parks page before you count on any facility there.
Yes. The Birnam Woods Trailhead onto the paved Legacy Parkway Trail sits behind the houses, next to the park. There is parking but no water and no restroom, at this door or at the next two north. The corridor is a flat, paved regional trail, and it is not consistently cleared after snow, so fill your bottles at home and plan around the weather.
The Legacy Nature Preserve, 2,225 acres of wetland owned by the state highway department as Clean Water Act mitigation for the parkway. It is not open to the public. You can see it from the trail and the parkway pullouts, mudflat and wet meadow that hold Pacific Flyway birds in spring and fall, but the trail is as far west as the public goes.
Animal keeping is a real land use on this side of town. West Bountiful's own plan records that the ground west of 1100 West tends to hold the properties with animals, and the Legacy corridor carries an equestrian trail alongside the paved one. The rules live in the city's municipal code, which is the place to read exactly what a given lot allows.
From City Hall, go north on 800 West to Porter Lane, west to 830 West, then north into the subdivision; the park and the trailhead sit behind the houses at the end. From Interstate 15, take exit 317 at 400 North and work north and west through the grid. There is no bus and no shop out here, so a car is how most people reach it.
The preserve on the far side of the trail cannot; it is permanently protected wetland the highway department manages for birds. The near side is a different story, because the west edge is where West Bountiful's remaining developable land is, so the view on your side of the trail could still change even though the view across it will not. The mover page carries the west side plan and the acreage.
A trail door, a small park and a horizon that is not going to change
The west edge of West Bountiful is a straightforward bargain and it is worth understanding before you commit to it. Paved regional trail from the doorstep, a playground behind the houses, a permanently protected wetland across the fence, and in exchange no water at the trailhead, more cul de sacs than the grid suggests, and the city's last developable ground on the near side of you. That last one is the variable. Tell me which streets you are looking at and I will introduce you to a Davis County partner agent who can tell you what is proposed next door.
Or call Scott: (435) 357-4345or send Scott a message
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