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Things to do Woods Cross

Ranked, with a fact block and a season on every entry

The 5 best things to do in Woods Cross.

Woods Cross is a small, flat, built out city on the Davis County valley floor, and its best days out sit at its edges rather than at a town center it does not really have. A pioneer cabin and an 1849 burial ground on one block, a busy little airfield named for the neighbor, miles of paved trail out toward the lake flats, a birding pond on the city line, and a disc golf course tucked between ball fields. Five picks, ranked, each with an address, a season, a cost and a drive time from City Hall.

On this page The short answer The five at a glance Hogan Park Seasons and costs How to spend a day FAQ
By Scott Buehler, Moving Utah Updated August 2026

The short answer

If you have one afternoon in Woods Cross, walk the pioneer cabin and the 1849 burial ground at Hogan Park, drive out to the west side and watch the small planes come and go at Skypark, and pick up the Legacy Parkway Trail toward the lake flats. Those three are the ones that are genuinely Woods Cross, on its own ground. Everything else below is ranked by what holds up on the day, and all of it sits inside the city or right on its line. Bountiful Pond, the birding water at the end of 1600 North, sits on the seam with West Bountiful, and the fuller story of the trail and the pond lives on the regional pages linked where they come up.

Where Five places in and at the edges of Woods Cross, from Hogan Park to the Skypark runway
From City Hall The farthest is the airport at about five minutes; most are inside a few minutes
Season All five run year round; the pond and the fields are best in the warm months
Cost Every one is free to walk into; a fishing license or a disc is all you might buy
Time needed An afternoon for the whole list, a full day if you walk the trail

The five at a glance

  1. 1. Hogan Park and its pioneer ground
  2. 2. The Legacy Parkway Trail from the west side
  3. 3. Skypark Airport and the aviation festival
  4. 4. Bountiful Pond birding and fishing
  5. 5. Mills Park and its disc golf course
Planning sections Times, seasons and costs Before you go How to spend a day Questions, answered

Walk the pioneer ground at Hogan Park

750 W 1500 S Free Year round

Hogan Park reads like a neighborhood ball field park, and it is one, with courts, a playground and open grass a block north of City Hall. But the reason it leads this list is the ground under it. This one block holds two Daughters of Utah Pioneers markers, an 1850s log cabin, and the 1849 burial ground of the settlement that grew into the city.

The first burial here, in the early summer of 1849, was Charles Peter Hogan, the eighteen month old son of a Norwegian settler family, and the cabin the family built later stands nearby, moved twice before it landed in the park in 1978. The markers tell the rest, including the plain, useful detail that the settlers eventually moved the cemetery because the water table rose under these flats. The same block lights the city's Christmas tree each late November.

The full story, the two plaques that disagree on the cabin's year, the cemetery marker and the redesign now on the drawing board, is on the Hogan Park page. This entry is just the visit: park the car, walk the markers and the cabin, and use the courts if you brought a ball.

The details

WhereHogan Park, 750 West 1500 South, at the corner of 800 West and 1500 South
From City HallAbout a tenth of a mile, a three to four minute walk
SeasonYear round
CostFree; a pavilion reservation carries a fee
Time neededHalf an hour for the history, one to two hours for the courts

Getting there

The park is one block north of Woods Cross City Hall, on the corner of 800 West and 1500 South. From I-15, the 2600 South exit and the 500 South interchange both feed 800 West, which runs the length of the city past the park and the rail station.

Before you go

  • The two pioneer markers and the log cabin are the permanent part; the courts and fields around them are being redesigned as part of a city hall and park complex, so confirm the current layout at 801-292-4421.
  • Free to visit; pavilion reservations go through City Hall and carry a fee set by the city.
  • Christmas in the Park brings the tree lighting and a visit from Santa to this block each late November; check the city calendar for the date.
  • The cabin's two plaques give different years, 1857 and 1858, for the same building, which is part of the fun of reading them.

Pick up the Legacy Parkway Trail from the west side

West side of town Free Year round

Woods Cross is a valley floor city with no canyon of its own, so its best long walk faces the other way, west, toward the lake flats. The Legacy Parkway Trail is a paved shared path that runs roughly thirteen miles beside the parkway, and Woods Cross is one of the handful of cities that helps manage it.

The town has two doors onto it. Mountain View Park, on the west side, is the city's main trail access, with a field, a playground and restrooms. The Valentine Estates Trail, a short concrete walkway at 1875 West and 2290 South, is the quieter second one, and the county's own trail list says it connects to the parkway. From either, you can turn a short stroll into a real ride, with the 2,225 acre Legacy Nature Preserve out along the west edge.

The full trail, its ends, its trailheads up and down the county, and the rule that each city along it sets its own policy on electric bikes, is on the regional Legacy Parkway Trail page. From Woods Cross, treat it as the town's front porch on the flats.

The details

WhereMountain View Park and the Valentine Estates Trail, on the west side of Woods Cross
From City HallTwo to three minutes west to the nearest trailhead
SeasonYear round; the paving holds up in every month
CostFree
Time neededAn hour on foot, half a day by bike

Getting there

Both doors are on the west side, off the city's numbered grid. Mountain View Park sits near 1250 South on the west; the Valentine Estates Trail is at 1875 West and 2290 South. UDOT has been widening Legacy Parkway through 2026, so check for a trail detour before a long ride.

Before you go

  • The path is paved and flat, so it works for strollers, road bikes and winter walks alike.
  • Electric bikes are generally allowed on Utah paved shared paths, but each city along this corridor can set its own rule, so check locally.
  • The Legacy Nature Preserve out west is open space, not a developed park; bring water, because there is little shade on the flats.
  • Bountiful Pond, at number four below, sits at the end of 1600 North and is reachable by a spur that ducks under the parkway.

Watch the small planes at Skypark Airport

1887 S 1800 W Free to visit Year round

Here is the fact that surprises newcomers: a small, busy general aviation airport sits inside Woods Cross, out on the west side, and it is named for the neighbor. The FAA describes Skypark as southwest of Bountiful, but the field, runway and all, is in Woods Cross city limits.

It is a privately owned, public use field with a single asphalt runway and, as of the FAA's September 2023 count, 256 based aircraft and about 234 flights a day, all general aviation. That is a genuinely startling number for a city of about 11,000, and it is the honest reason to know the field is there before you tour a west side street. The fixed base operator runs full service and self service fuel, there is flight training on the field, and most summers the free Skypark Aviation Festival fills the ramp with aircraft, skydivers and vendors.

The deeper story, the name, the ownership, and what a working airfield means for the west side of town, is on the Skypark Airport page. As a thing to do it is simple: park near the fixed base operator, watch the pattern for a while, and time a visit to the festival if you can. Check skyparkutah.com for the year's date.

The details

WhereSkypark Airport, 1887 South 1800 West, on the west side of Woods Cross
From City HallAbout a mile and a half, four to five minutes
SeasonYear round; the festival is a summer event
CostFree to visit the public operator area
Time neededForty five minutes to an hour of watching

Getting there

The field is out on the west flats at 1800 West. Watch the traffic from the fixed base operator's public area, not from the runway or the taxiways, which are active and off limits to visitors.

Before you go

  • It is a working airfield with steady traffic, so keep to the public operator area and off the movement areas.
  • The aviation festival is free and usually runs in summer; confirm the date at skyparkutah.com before planning around it.
  • Discovery flights and flight training operate here, so it is also a place to ask about a first lesson.
  • The airport's own website markets a short drive to downtown Salt Lake City and to Park City; treat those times as its own figures.

Bird and fish at Bountiful Pond

End of 1600 North Free Year round

Out at the end of 1600 North, where the city meets the lake flats, is the best wildlife stop within reach of Woods Cross. Bountiful Pond is a community fishery with an easy loop of about a mile, and it is the second busiest birding hotspot in all of Davis County, a magnet for gulls, terns, waterfowl and migrating songbirds.

The geography is honest and a little tangled. The pond's parking lot is inside Woods Cross, and the pond itself straddles the West Bountiful line, so neither city owns it cleanly. Fishing is open with a two fish daily limit, the trail is part paved and level, and a spur runs under the parkway to reach it. One current caution: Utah DEQ has reported harmful algae mats at the pond, most recently on August 19, 2026, and while wading, paddling and fishing are fine, you should keep dogs and young children away from the water and never touch or swallow the mats.

Because the pond sits on the seam and is managed as a state community fishery rather than by either city, the fuller picture, the fishery rules, the bird counts and the live advisory, lives on the regional Lakeside Parks of Davis County page. Check the current DEQ status before you bring a dog.

The details

WhereBountiful Pond, parking at the end of 1600 North, on the Woods Cross side of the line
From City HallA few minutes west and north
SeasonYear round; birding peaks in spring and fall migration
CostFree
Time neededAn hour for the loop, longer with binoculars

Getting there

Follow 1600 North west toward the Legacy corridor; the main parking lot is at about 1610 West, on the Woods Cross side of the city line. A trail spur ducks under the parkway to reach the water.

Before you go

  • Utah DEQ monitors the pond for harmful algae in the warm months; check deq.utah.gov for the current advisory before you wade or bring a dog.
  • It is a community fishery with a two fish daily limit, and a Utah license applies for anyone old enough to need one.
  • Bring binoculars in April, May, September and October, when the migration traffic is heaviest.
  • The pond is on the city line, so a map may file it under West Bountiful; the parking lot itself is in Woods Cross.

Play the disc golf course at Mills Park

1850 S 1200 W Free Year round

Mills Park is the everyday park most locals actually use, and its draw for a visitor is the twelve hole disc golf course threaded between the ball fields, the playgrounds and the fence lines. It opened in 2015, it is free, and a full round runs a little over an hour across about a mile and a quarter, with restrooms and drinking water on site.

The rest of the park backs it up: two full size soccer fields under lights, baseball diamonds, two playgrounds, tennis, paved walking paths and mature shade trees. It is a working recreation park rather than a destination, which is exactly why it earns the last slot, a genuine hour or two of something to do a couple of minutes from City Hall. The city publishes no per park page, so confirm the current layout at 801-292-4421.

Bring your own discs, because there is no rental on site, and the course reads as easy, which makes it a friendly first round. On a summer evening the lit fields are the busy part, so the disc course and the paths are quietest earlier in the day.

The details

WhereMills Park, 1850 South 1200 West, Woods Cross
From City HallAbout seven tenths of a mile, two to three minutes
SeasonYear round; the fields and disc course are best March through November
CostFree
Time neededAbout an hour for a disc round, longer with the playgrounds

Getting there

The park is on 1200 West at about 1850 South, on the city's east central side, an easy few minutes from City Hall or the rail station.

Before you go

  • The disc golf course is free and reads as easy, a good first round; bring your own discs, because there is no rental.
  • Two of the soccer fields are lit and get busy on summer evenings, so come earlier for a quiet round or a quiet walk.
  • Restrooms may close in the deep winter at Woods Cross parks, so plan for that on a cold weather visit.
  • There is no splash pad here; the nearest one on this side of the county is over the line in North Salt Lake.

The logistics

Drive times, seasons, and what it costs.

Every pick in one place. The drive times run from Woods Cross City Hall in normal traffic and are rounded estimates rather than official numbers, and the seasons note when each one is actually worth the trip.

The pick Where From City Hall Season Cost
Hogan Park750 W 1500 S3 to 4 minute walkYear roundFree
Legacy Parkway TrailMountain View Park, west side2 to 3 minutesYear roundFree
Skypark Airport1887 S 1800 W4 to 5 minutesYear round, festival in summerFree to visit
Bountiful PondEnd of 1600 NorthA few minutesYear round, birds in migrationFree
Mills Park1850 S 1200 W2 to 3 minutesYear round, fields in seasonFree

Best in the warm months

Bountiful Pond's birding peaks in the spring and fall migration, the disc course and lit fields at Mills Park run March through November, and a long ride on the Legacy trail is easiest before the summer heat settles on the open flats.

Open every month

Hogan Park, the Legacy trail, Mills Park and the Skypark grounds all stay open through the year, though the trail and the fields are best when the ground is dry and some park restrooms close in deep winter.

Check before you go

The pond's algae advisory at deq.utah.gov, the aviation festival date at skyparkutah.com, Hogan Park's amenities during the redesign at 801-292-4421, and any Legacy Parkway construction detour on the trail.

Preparation

What to know first, by season.

Woods Cross is a flat, built out valley floor city with no canyon and no town center, so a visit is really a short loop between edges. Two things shape it more than anything: the season, and the transport corridor the whole city is wrapped around.

If you come in the warm months

  • Summer is the region's ozone season; watch the state air quality reading on hot, still afternoons
  • The open flats hold heat and offer little shade, so carry water for the trail and the pond loop
  • The pond's algae advisory is a warm season thing; check the current status before you wade
  • Spring and fall bring the migration traffic that makes Bountiful Pond worth the binoculars

If you come in winter

The valley floor draws a winter inversion, the gray lid of cold, hazy air that settles for days at a time. For a cold weather visit:

  • Check the state air quality reading before a long outdoor stretch, and keep an indoor option ready
  • The paved Legacy trail and the parks stay open, but some park restrooms close for the deep winter
  • Hogan Park's markers and cabin read fine in the cold; the Christmas lighting lands in late November
  • For a warm indoor hour, the South Davis Recreation Center is about seven minutes east in Bountiful

The corridor

The whole city wraps around one transport spine, and it shapes where things sit:

  • I-15, US-89 and Beck Street, and the FrontRunner line all run north to south through town
  • The 500 South interchange, exit 316, is a diverging diamond that surprises first time drivers
  • The 2600 South exit, 315, is signed Woods Cross even though the road runs the city line
  • Steady general aviation traffic overhead is part of the west side, near the airfield

The water table, honestly

The west side of Woods Cross is lake flat, roughly fifty to sixty feet above the Great Salt Lake, and the ground can run wet. It is not a warning so much as the reason the place looks the way it does: the bench and the canyons are Bountiful's, and the flats, the trail, the preserve and the pond are the city's own view. The history on this point is unusually blunt. The 1849 settlers moved their burial ground away from what is now Hogan Park because the water table rose under it, and high groundwater and drainage are still ordinary questions on a west side lot today.

Getting here and around

The ways in are I-15 and, as a slower alternate, US-89 and Beck Street on the west. The FrontRunner station at 750 South 800 West is the only one in south Davis County, running Monday through Saturday with no Sunday service, so it is a real option only on the right day and hour. Its connecting service is UTA On Demand, an app booked shuttle zone that runs weekdays until about nine at night, not a fixed bus route. To link the five picks, which are spread from City Hall out to the west flats, plan on a car.

Put it together

An afternoon, a full day, or a plan for the birds.

A few ways to fit the list to the time you have. Most of it is warm weather friendly and open year round, so the plans below assume a fair day and note the indoor swap where it matters.

If you have an afternoon

  • Start at Hogan Park for the pioneer cabin and the markers
  • Drive west to Skypark and watch the pattern for a while
  • Finish with a round on the disc course at Mills Park
  • All three are free and inside a few minutes of each other

If you have a full day

  • Morning: the Legacy trail from Mountain View Park, out toward the preserve
  • Late morning: Bountiful Pond for the birds and the water loop
  • Afternoon: Skypark, then the disc course at Mills Park
  • Save Hogan Park for the cooler end of the day

If you came for the outdoors

  • Start early at Bountiful Pond, best in spring and fall migration
  • Ride the Legacy trail west toward the Legacy Nature Preserve
  • Loop back for a disc round at Mills Park
  • Carry water; the flats are open and short on shade

If the weather says no

  • Woods Cross is thin on indoor stops of its own
  • Cross to the South Davis Recreation Center, about seven minutes east in Bountiful
  • A Woods Cross address earns resident pricing on the pool and year round ice there
  • Save the trail and the pond for a clear day

Keep reading

Seven more doors into the same town.

The oldest ground

Hogan Park

The two pioneer markers, the 1850s cabin moved twice, the 1849 burial ground, and the redesign on the drawing board.

Read the guide

The west side airfield

Skypark Airport

A public use field named for the neighbor, its 234 flights a day, and what a working airport means next door.

Read the guide

The half mile plan

The Station Area Plan

The FrontRunner stop, the refinery inside its circle, and why there is not more housing beside the train.

Read the guide

The parks penny

The RAP Tax

A tenth of a percent sales tax that funds the city's parks, roughly half of it paid by people driving through.

Read the guide

The two refineries

Silver Eagle and the Name

Which refinery is actually in Woods Cross, which one only borrows the name, and how to read the corridor.

Read the guide

The neighbor question

Woods Cross or Bountiful

Two cities that share a border and a lot of names, and how to tell what really belongs to which.

Read the guide

The city guide

Woods Cross homes and neighborhoods

Prices, schools, the west side water table, and current listings for anyone weighing a move to Woods Cross.

Open the city guide

Quick answers

The list, answered.

Hogan Park, at 750 West 1500 South, one block north of City Hall. It looks like a ball field park, but the block holds two Daughters of Utah Pioneers markers, an 1850s log cabin that has been moved twice, and the settlement's 1849 burial ground. It is free, it is open year round, and the history takes about half an hour to walk. The full story is on the Hogan Park page.

Nearly all of it. All five picks on this list are free to walk into: Hogan Park, the Legacy Parkway Trail from the city's west side, watching general aviation at Skypark Airport, birding and fishing at Bountiful Pond, and the 12-hole disc golf course at Mills Park. A Utah fishing license and a disc are the only things you might pay for, and the aviation festival at Skypark is free to attend.

A Woods Cross city park at 750 West 1500 South that carries the city's oldest ground. It holds Daughters of Utah Pioneers marker number 58, Pioneer Cemetery, erected in 1940, and marker number 404, Hogan Pioneer Cabin, erected in 1976, along with the log cabin itself. The block was the settlement's 1849 burial ground, and the same park hosts the city's Christmas in the Park each late November. The city is redesigning the block as part of a city hall and park complex, so confirm current amenities at 801-292-4421.

Yes, in the sense that it is a privately owned, public use general aviation field, not a city airport. It sits inside Woods Cross city limits at 1887 South 1800 West, with one asphalt runway and, as of the FAA's September 2023 record, 256 based aircraft and about 234 flights a day. There is a full service fixed base operator, flight training on the field, and a free aviation festival most summers. Watch the traffic from the operator area, not from the runway, and check skyparkutah.com for the festival date.

Yes. Woods Cross is one of the cities that helps manage the Legacy Parkway Trail, and it has two doors onto it from the west side of town: Mountain View Park and the Valentine Estates Trail at 1875 West and 2290 South, a short concrete walkway the county says connects to the parkway. The paved trail runs roughly thirteen miles and the Legacy Nature Preserve lies out its west side. UDOT has been widening the parkway through 2026, so check for detours before you go.

No. They are separate cities that share a border, a ZIP code and a lot of names. Skypark Airport is described by the FAA as southwest of Bountiful, and it sits in Woods Cross. The 45,000 barrel refinery that carries the Woods Cross name actually operates in West Bountiful, while the smaller Silver Eagle plant inside Woods Cross runs a waxy Utah crude. Even the freeway sign at the 2600 South exit reads Woods Cross for a road that runs the Bountiful line. The sibling page on Woods Cross or Bountiful sorts out which is which.

You can. Bountiful Pond is a community fishery with a two fish daily limit, free to access, with an easy loop of about a mile and the county's second busiest birding hotspot around it. Its parking lot at the end of 1600 North is in Woods Cross, and the pond itself straddles the West Bountiful line. Utah DEQ reported harmful algae mats present at the pond, most recently on August 19, 2026, and its guidance is that wading, paddling and fishing are fine but you should keep dogs and young children away from the water and never touch or swallow the mats. Check the current advisory at deq.utah.gov before you go.

Yes, at 750 South 800 West, the only FrontRunner station in south Davis County. As of 2026 the trains run Monday through Saturday with no Sunday service, roughly every 30 minutes at peak and every 60 minutes midday, so it is a very different asset from an all day line. The honest story of the station, the half mile plan around it, and why there is not more housing beside it is on the sibling Station Area Plan page. Check rideuta.com for the current schedule.

Half a day covers the whole list, and a full day if you walk the Legacy trail out toward the lake flats. Hogan Park is about half an hour for the history, the disc golf round at Mills Park is about an hour, and Skypark and Bountiful Pond are an hour each. This is a short, honest list rather than a padded one, and the point is that a small valley floor city has more worth doing than its size suggests, most of it at the edges of town.

Scott Buehler, Moving Utah

Five picks, and a small city worth a closer look.

That is the short list for a day in Woods Cross. Whether the city itself fits a move is a different question, and it turns on things a ranked list cannot hold: which side of town sits away from the refinery corridor and the flight path, how the west side water table behaves in a wet spring, and what a given street actually costs. Tell me what you are weighing and I will introduce you to a Davis County partner agent who knows these blocks, and stay on the file for the research and the financing side.

Browse Woods Cross homes Talk to Scott

Referral disclosure. Outside Southern Utah, I connect home sellers and buyers with partner agents I trust in their area. If you choose to work with an agent I refer, that agent's brokerage pays my brokerage (Real Broker, LLC) a referral fee. The fee comes out of the agent's compensation; it is not an added cost to you. You are always free to choose any agent you wish, and using a referred agent is never required.