The canyon Draper
City owned, free to use, and governed by ordinance rather than by etiquette
Corner Canyon, and the rules a city wrote for its own ground.
Draper bought roughly 1,100 acres of canyon and foothill and runs the trail network on it directly, which is why it is this extensive, this well maintained and this strictly governed. No fee, no permit, no parking charge. Instead: no dogs above the watershed line, Class 1 e-bikes only, six one way descents, and car parks that are full by mid morning. Here is all of it.
Southern Utah is my home turf. Draper is not, so these pages are researched rather than lived: checked against city, county and venue sources, and dated so you can see how fresh they are. For the on-the-ground work here I lean on a Salt Lake County partner agent.
Start here
A trail system that a city bought with its own money.
Corner Canyon fills the southeast corner of Draper, roughly 1,100 acres of canyon and foothill climbing from the valley floor onto the Traverse ridge. What makes it unusual is not the terrain, which is good but not unique on this side of the valley. It is the ownership. The City of Draper bought this ground and manages it directly, and a network of this scale under a single municipal owner behaves very differently from one split between a national forest and a county.
The practical consequence shows up everywhere. The signage is consistent because one body put it up. The trails are graded and named on one map. Maintenance decisions get made quickly. And the rules are municipal ordinances with municipal penalties attached, which means a rule here is not a suggestion on a board at a trailhead. Draper publishes 150 plus miles of trail and about 5,000 acres of open space across the whole city, and this canyon is the heart of it.
It is also free. There is no fee station, no permit and no parking charge anywhere in the system, which for a trail network of this quality inside a metropolitan county is genuinely rare. What the canyon asks for instead is that you know four things before you arrive: whether your dog can legally come, which class of e-bike you are riding, which trails are one way and in which direction, and whether the ground is too wet to be on.
Corner Canyon by the numbers
1,100 acres
bought and managed by the city
Class 1
the only e-bike permitted on the trails
6
directional descents in the system
0 dollars
the cost of using any of it
The rule book
One owner, which means one set of rules.
Everything below is Draper City ordinance or published city trail rule rather than a courtesy convention, and it is enforced. The city publishes the current set at draperutah.gov, and anything you read anywhere else, including here, should be checked against that before you rely on it.
| The rule | What it actually says | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Dogs | Prohibited in the Corner Canyon watershed; leashed only on the ground below the boundary line | Watershed above the bench line, and everything below it respectively |
| E-bikes | Class 1 only, meaning pedal assist with no throttle | Every trail in the Corner Canyon system |
| Motorised vehicles | Prohibited, with remote control cars, golf carts, motorised scooters, ATVs and dirt bikes named specifically | All trails and open space |
| Direction of travel | Several named trails are one way, including uphill only climbs and downhill only descents | Six directional descents plus the one way climbs |
| Yielding | Downhill traffic yields to uphill traffic, and bicycles yield to every other user in either direction | All trails |
| Fire and camping | Camping, campfires and open flame prohibited | All city open space |
| Weapons and hunting | Firearms, paintball, airsoft and archery prohibited, with hunting governed separately by the city's own published map | All city open space |
| Vehicle access | Corner Canyon Road is closed to motor vehicles, and the upper gates at Orson Smith have been closed at all times since July 2020 | The canyon road itself |
Rules as published by the City of Draper and checked on 8 August 2026. Municipal trail rules on a heavily used system are revised, and the electric motorcycle question in particular was live in front of the city's Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee in September 2025. Read what is posted at the trailhead on the day.
The rule people break
No dogs above the line, because the canyon is the drinking water.
This is the single most misunderstood thing about Corner Canyon and it is worth reading properly once. Draper City Council voted unanimously to bar dogs from the Corner Canyon watershed, and the reason is not tidiness or wildlife. The canyon is a source of the city's culinary water supply, waste from dogs was measurably contaminating it, and the council closed the watershed to animals rather than keep asking people to clean up after them.
The ordinance is written as a watershed rule rather than a trail rule, which is why the boundary follows a contour rather than a list of trail names. Above the bench trail that runs across the foothills, no dog, on a lead or off it. Below that line, leashed dogs are permitted: on the bench trail itself and everything under it from the northern city boundary through to the Potato Hill Trail, and on Potato Hill and the trails below it as far as the Ann's Trail junction.
Breaching it is a class B misdemeanour rather than a citation with a fixed penalty, which is a materially different legal category from most trail infringements and is the detail that surprises people. Service dogs trained for and actively assisting a person with a disability are exempt, as are law enforcement and search and rescue dogs working. Nothing else is.
The city did not simply take the ground away. It designated off leash areas elsewhere instead, including a West Bluff area at 1455 East Deer Ridge Drive, Dayland Dog Park and Galena Dog Park, and it publishes a dog friendly areas map. If a legal off leash walk is the point of your morning, those are the answer in this city and the upper canyon is not. The bench trail that forms the boundary is a six city route and the county page on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is where it is described.
Check the boundary on the city's map before you load the car, not at the trailhead. The line is a watershed contour, not a signpost you will notice while parking, and a great many visitors arrive at an upper trailhead with a dog in the back because a trail application told them the trail exists. It does exist. The dog still cannot be on it. Draper publishes both a protected watershed map and a dog friendly areas map, and five minutes with either one before leaving the house settles the question completely.
Direction of travel
Some of these trails only work one way round.
A directional trail is not a preference. On a machine built descent with blind bermed corners, a rider coming the other way is a closing speed problem rather than an inconvenience, and this system carries six directional descents plus one way climbs. Here is the shape of it.
| Trail | Direction | What that means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Clark's | One way uphill only, since 2014 | It is the system's reference climb, and you do not descend it, on foot or on wheels |
| The upper Corner Canyon Trail | One way uphill only | The eastern of the two parallel routes; the other carries the return |
| Rush | Downhill only, from the Peak View trailhead | The flow descent the canyon is known for, roughly three and a half miles of it |
| Levitate, Vertigo and Maple Hollow DH | Downhill only | Part of the six directional descents; treat every one of them as one way by default |
| Everything else | Two way unless signed otherwise | Which is why the signage at the junction matters more here than the map on your phone |
Directional designations as published by the City of Draper and by the trail mapping used locally, checked 8 August 2026. Designations change as the network grows, so read the signage at the junction, and treat a purpose built descent as one way even if your application has not caught up.
The design logic is worth understanding because it makes the whole system easier to read. The climbs are graded gently and run for distance, which suits a rider working uphill and a walker who wants a steady gradient. The descents are shorter, steeper and shaped, which suits a rider coming down at speed and suits nobody at all coming up. Separating them is what allows a canyon this busy to work without constant conflict.
The corollary for anyone on foot is that a purpose built descent is a poor place to walk even where nothing forbids it. Sight lines on a bermed flow trail are engineered for somebody travelling in one direction, and a pedestrian standing in a blind compression is invisible until very late. The climbing trails and the older two way singletrack are the better walking, and they are also the more interesting ground.
Getting in
Several ways in, and all of them are small car parks.
| Trailhead | Where it is | What it opens |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Corner Canyon, at the equestrian centre | Highland Drive, at the canyon mouth | The lower system, and the cycle park immediately west of the car park |
| Orson Smith | The upper end of Highland Drive | The canyon road and the middle of the network; the vehicle gates above it are closed at all times |
| Ghost Falls | Further up Corner Canyon Road | The shortest approach to the waterfall, with toilets on site |
| Coyote Hollow | The end of Coyote Hollow Court, off the Mike Weir Drive side | The bench trails and the northern part of the network |
| Potato Hill | Traverse Mountain Road | The boundary trails, and the ground where leashed dogs are legal |
| Peak View | Canyon Pointe Drive, off Suncrest Drive at the top | The high entry, and the top of the main descent |
| Maple Hollow | From the Suncrest side | The southern descents |
Access points and their approaches as published by the city and by local trail guides, checked 8 August 2026. Every one of these is a modest car park at the end of a residential street rather than a visitor facility, and the residential approach is part of the deal: drive it accordingly.
The binding constraint on this entire system is parking, and it is not close. On a fine Saturday or Sunday morning in spring or autumn the principal lots are full by mid morning, and there is no overflow answer worth the name because the approaches are residential streets in neighbourhoods that absorb this every weekend. The only reliable strategy is to arrive early, and the only reliable backup is a second trailhead you are willing to drive to.
It is also why the top entries are worth knowing. Coming in high from the Suncrest side changes the day completely: you start above most of the climbing, the descents are immediately available, and the car parks up there fill differently from the ones at the bottom. It is a longer drive and it is often the difference between riding at nine and driving home at nine.
The cycle park at the canyon mouth deserves a mention here too, because it shares the equestrian centre approach and it is the one part of this ground that never runs out of room. If the lots above are gone, an hour on the jump lines is a genuinely good substitute rather than a consolation, and it is covered on its own page.
The named trails
The ones people actually mean when they say Corner Canyon.
The network runs to well over a hundred named segments once you count spurs and connectors, which is more than any page should list. These are the ones that carry the traffic and the ones a first visit is usually built around.
| Trail | Roughly | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Clark's | 1.6 miles, around 600 to 750 feet of climbing | The system's reference climb, one way uphill, and the yardstick locals measure fitness against |
| Canyon Hollow | 2.3 miles, around 600 feet | The connector most loops are built on, and the usual way into the middle of the network |
| Ghost Falls | 2 miles, around 650 feet | The walking objective, with a small waterfall at the end of it and an early season favourite |
| Jacob's Ladder | 1.2 miles, around 800 feet | The steep one. A short distance carrying a great deal of vertical |
| Ann's Trail | About 6 miles, around 700 feet | The long contouring route, and the reference the dog ordinance uses for its lower junction |
| Peak View | 1.6 miles | A climbing route from the high entry, and the top of the main descent |
| Rush | About 3.5 miles descending | The machine built flow descent that gave this canyon its statewide reputation. Downhill only |
Distances and elevation figures as published by route guides and cross checked on 8 August 2026. Published mileages for the same trail differ between sources by a few tenths, mostly because writers start and finish at different car parks. Take the city's own map as the authority on names and junctions.
The climbs are long and gentle, the descents are short and shaped, and mixing them up is the mistake.
The year on this ground
Mud, heat, hunting season, and a page the city updates.
Wet dirt is the recurring issue. Riding or walking saturated singletrack cuts ruts that set hard and take volunteer hours to repair, and in a valley with a spring thaw that is a real seasonal problem rather than an etiquette point. Draper publishes a trail conditions page for exactly this reason, and checking it after rain or during a thaw is the single most useful habit a regular user of this canyon can have.
There is an all weather answer built into the system. Corner Canyon Road itself is surfaced and open in every condition, and the Aqueduct, Gasline and Rattler trails are usually rideable when the rest is not. Orson Smith, Quail and Sadler are the conventional wet weather choices among the singletrack. That set is what a wet March morning looks like here, and it is a great deal better than nothing.
The other seasonal thing is the hunt. Draper publishes its own hunting map, and extended archery is a real presence on this foothill ground in the autumn, with the city's rules requiring designated parking and Corner Canyon Road closed to motor vehicles throughout. Firearms are prohibited on city open space. It is a well managed arrangement, and it is worth knowing about rather than being surprised by orange in the oak in October.
Class 1 means pedal assist without a throttle, and the enforcement question is live. Draper permits Class 1 e-bikes on Corner Canyon trails and nothing else with a motor in it. The pressure point is the growing population of electric motorcycles, which are not e-bikes in any regulatory sense, and the city's Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee took up their use in September 2025 over trail damage, trailhead parking and user conflict. Expect the position to be refined rather than relaxed, and check the current rule before riding anything with a throttle.
Keep reading
More of Draper on The Local.
Things to do
The top 8, ranked
A canyon the city bought, an aquarium wing that opened this year, and a free jump park.
Read the guideThe Point
Built, and announced
Six hundred acres of former prison ground, and what is actually in the ground today.
Read the guideThe aquarium
Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
The building roughly doubled in February 2026, and a U2 stage stands outside it.
Read the guideThe cycle park
The Draper Cycle Park
Four jump lines, three pump tracks and a cyclocross flyover, and none of it costs anything.
Read the guideMoving here
The Point of the Mountain commute
Two railheads, one pinch in the mountains, and a light rail line approved but unfunded.
Read the guideThe companion
Draper, the whole picture
The canyon, the aquarium, the cycle park, The Point and the commute, in one place.
Read the pageQuick answers
The canyon, answered.
In the southeast corner of the city, filling roughly 1,100 acres of canyon and foothill that climb from the valley floor onto the Traverse ridge. The usual approaches are Highland Drive east to the equestrian centre and on up to Orson Smith, Traverse Mountain Road for the Potato Hill entry, and Suncrest Drive for the high trailheads. Corner Canyon Road itself runs up through the middle and is closed to motor vehicles.
Not above the watershed boundary, which the ordinance draws at the bench trail contouring across the foothills. Above that line no dog is permitted, on a lead or off it, because the canyon is a source of the city's culinary water and dog waste was contaminating it. Below the line leashed dogs are permitted, from the northern city boundary through to the Potato Hill Trail and on Potato Hill and below to the Ann's Trail junction.
It is a class B misdemeanour under Draper City ordinance rather than a fixed penalty citation, which is a materially heavier legal category than most trail infringements carry. Draper City has the power to ticket and fine. Service dogs trained for and actively assisting a person with a disability are exempt, as are working law enforcement and search and rescue dogs. Nothing else is exempt, including a dog that stays on a lead throughout.
In the areas the city designated for it when it closed the watershed, which include a West Bluff area at 1455 East Deer Ridge Drive, Dayland Dog Park and Galena Dog Park. Draper publishes a dog friendly areas map showing where dogs are permitted and on what terms. That map, and the protected watershed map alongside it, are the two documents worth looking at before any walk that involves a dog and this canyon.
Class 1 only, meaning pedal assist with no throttle. Every other motorised device is prohibited, and the city names remote control cars, golf carts, motorised scooters, ATVs and dirt bikes specifically. Electric motorcycles are the live enforcement question rather than a settled one; Draper's Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee took up their use in September 2025 over trail damage, trailhead parking and user conflict, so check the current rule before riding anything with a throttle.
Clark's has been one way uphill only since 2014, and the upper Corner Canyon Trail is likewise one way uphill. Rush runs downhill only from the Peak View trailhead, and it is one of six directional descents in the system, alongside names including Levitate, Vertigo and Maple Hollow DH. Everything else is two way unless signed otherwise, which is why junction signage matters more here than the map on a phone.
No. There is no fee station, no permit and no parking charge anywhere in the system, which for a trail network of this quality inside a metropolitan county is genuinely unusual. What the canyon asks instead is compliance with a municipal rule book: the watershed dog ban, the Class 1 e-bike limit, the one way designations, and prohibitions on camping, open flame, firearms and motorised vehicles across all city open space.
At whichever trailhead opens the ground you want, and early. The lower entry at the equestrian centre on Highland Drive opens the bottom of the system and the cycle park; Orson Smith opens the canyon road and the middle; Ghost Falls shortens the approach to the waterfall; Coyote Hollow and Potato Hill open the boundary trails; and Peak View and Maple Hollow from the Suncrest side open the top. All of them are modest car parks that fill by mid morning at weekends.
Corner Canyon Road itself is surfaced and open in every condition, and the Aqueduct, Gasline and Rattler trails are usually rideable when the singletrack is not. Orson Smith, Quail and Sadler are the conventional wet weather choices among the dirt. Draper publishes a trail conditions page, and checking it after rain or during a spring thaw is the single most useful habit for anybody who uses this canyon regularly.
A canyon the city owns is a different kind of amenity.
Ten minutes from a front door to a maintained trailhead is worth a great deal, and on this side of the city it is priced in. What is worth understanding before you commit is what a full car park does to your street on a Saturday, what the dog ordinance means for your household specifically, and which streets absorb the weekend and which do not. Tell me what you are weighing and a Salt Lake County partner agent picks up the ground work.
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.