By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahWalk or ride Corner Canyon
Corner Canyon, southeast Draper Free Spring through autumn, some trails year round Directions
Most trail systems this size belong to a national forest or a county. This one belongs mostly to the city, which owns most of its 1,021 protected acres of canyon and foothill, bought with a voter-approved bond, and has been building tread on it ever since. Salt Lake County holds a conservation easement on it. That ownership is the whole reason the network is as extensive, as well signed and as actively managed as it is, and it is also why the rules here are municipal rules with municipal penalties rather than federal guidance.
The system carries everything from a graded family walk to a machine built descent with a statewide reputation, and it climbs from the valley floor onto the Traverse ridge. It also carries the strictest dog rule in the valley and a Class 1 only e-bike rule, both of which catch visitors out. The canyon page takes the trailheads, the one way trails and the rules in full.
The parking is the constraint, not the terrain
Every principal trailhead here is a modest lot at the end of a residential street, and on a fine Saturday morning in spring or autumn they are gone by mid morning. The trailheads at Orson Smith, Ghost Falls, Coyote Hollow, Potato Hill and the equestrian center on Highland Drive all fill in that pattern. Arriving early is the entire strategy, and a second choice of trailhead in your pocket is worth more than any amount of route planning.
Several of the best known trails run one way only
Clark's Trail is uphill only for bikes and the upper Corner Canyon Trail is the same. Rush, the flow descent that put this canyon on the map, is downhill only from the Peak View trailhead. The system carries six directional descents in total. Riding one of them the wrong way is not a technicality here; it is a head on closing speed problem on a blind machine built corner, and it is the single most common visitor error.
The details
Getting there
The usual approaches are Highland Drive east to the equestrian center or on up to Orson Smith, Traverse Mountain Road for Potato Hill, and Suncrest Drive for the high trailheads. Corner Canyon Road itself is closed to motor vehicles.
Before you go
- Dogs are barred above the bench line. Check the boundary before you load the car.
- Class 1 e-bikes only. Throttle machines and electric motorcycles are prohibited.
- Know which trails are one way, and which direction, before you set off.
- Trailhead lots fill early on fine weekends in both shoulder seasons.
- Check the city's own trail conditions page after rain or a thaw before riding.
Take the aquarium slowly, including the half that opened in 2026
12033 S Lone Peak Parkway Ticketed Indoor, all year Directions
The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium has been the biggest single draw in this city since it moved to Draper in 2014, and in February 2026 it stopped being the building people remember. The Sam and Aline Skaggs Science Learning Center opened on 20 February at 120,000 square feet, which roughly doubles the campus and puts the aquarium fifth largest in the nation. Any itinerary written before that date now covers about half of it.
What sits inside the new wing is a multistory indoor cloud forest called Ford Expedition Asia, an events venue and an education hub with laboratories. The original building still holds the shark tunnel, the penguins and the South American gallery. The aquarium page takes the galleries one by one, the water volumes, and the enormous steel structure standing outside.
The thing in the parking lot was a U2 stage
EECO, the Ecosystem Exploration Craft and Observatory, is a 165 foot four legged steel structure that spent two years touring the world as the stage for U2's 360 degree tour across 110 shows. About 190 tons of its steel were recycled into a permanent installation here, put up in the autumn of 2019 and opened with the surrounding plaza in 2020. People drive past it on the freeway for years without knowing what it is.
Monday evening is the quiet version
Published hours in September 2026 ran Tuesday to Sunday from ten in the morning to six at night, with Mondays open until eight and a reduced admission rate after five. Last entry is an hour before close. That Monday evening window is the least crowded time to walk a building that is now very large, and it is the one worth planning around if the point of the trip is looking rather than queueing. Confirm the current hours before you drive.
The details
Getting there
The building sits beside the interstate on Lone Peak Parkway and is visible from it. Parking is on site and free, and the tall steel structure in the plaza is the landmark to aim at.
Before you go
- Book ahead in school holiday weeks. Walk up is usually fine outside them.
- Budget more time than a pre 2026 guide suggests. The building is much bigger now.
- Monday evenings run later and cheaper. Confirm the current arrangement first.
- If a ticket says Mountain America Event Center, it means the aquarium, not The Point.
- The new wing is indoors and warm, which makes it the strongest bad weather option here.
Ride the jump lines at the Draper Cycle Park
1455 E Highland Drive Free Roughly March into November Directions
At the mouth of Corner Canyon, beside the Andy Ballard Equestrian Center, there is a purpose built cycling park that costs nothing to use and was largely built by volunteers. It opened on 6 June 2015 and it carries four jump lines graded from beginner to expert, a dual pump track, a separate beginner pump track, a strider area for children on pedal-less bikes, a skills course, and a short course cyclocross venue with a custom flyover bridge and a run up staircase.
The park exists because a cycling group and the city each supplied what the other lacked: Draper contributed underused ground at the canyon mouth and the Draper Cycle Park Association raised and built. The whole thing cost under 100,000 dollars to opening day. The cycle park page has the build story, the features and the velodrome that is still a target.
Wet means closed, and that is not negotiable
Pump tracks and dirt jump lines are shaped surfaces, and riding them wet destroys them in a way that takes volunteers weeks to repair. The park closes its pumps and jumps when they are wet from rain or snowmelt, which in this valley means a real portion of the spring. The working season is roughly March into November and the honest answer after a storm is to go and ride the all weather trails in the canyon instead.
It is a progression park, so use it as one
The lines are graded green, blue, black and a pro double black, and they are nested deliberately so that a rider can move up one step at a time rather than jumping to something they cannot land. That structure is the point of the place and it is what makes it useful to a complete beginner as well as to somebody sessioning the top line. Start lower than you think, and watch a lap before you commit to a line you have not seen.
The details
Getting there
Head east on Highland Drive to the equestrian center parking lot at the base of Corner Canyon. The cycle park lies immediately west of that parking lot, with the canyon trails leaving from the same ground.
Before you go
- Do not ride the pumps or jumps when they are wet. Damage takes volunteers weeks to fix.
- Full face and pads are normal on the upper lines and sensible on the middle ones.
- Weekday evenings are the busiest hours here, not weekend mornings.
- There is no hire on site, so bring the bike you intend to ride.
- It connects straight into the canyon trail system, so plan the two together.
Watch the paragliders work the ridge at the Point of the Mountain
Steep Mountain, north and south sides Free to watch Most flyable evenings Directions
The same mountain gap that squeezes the freeway squeezes the airflow, and the result is ridge lift consistent enough that pilots travel internationally to train on it. On most flyable evenings the sky above the south end of this city carries paragliders and hang gliders in numbers that visitors find genuinely startling, and watching them costs nothing at all.
There are two flight parks and residents keep them straight: a Utah state recreation area dedicated to the sport on the south side, and a Salt Lake County park on the north side at 15300 South Steep Mountain Road. Both date from the arrangement that preserved flying here. Tandem flights are sold by commercial operators if you want the view rather than the spectacle, and the launch sites are worth a visit even on a still evening for the view down two valleys.
Evening is the flying window, and the wind decides everything
This is a wind site, so the schedule is written by the weather rather than by an operator. Late afternoon and early evening are when the ridge usually works and when the launches are busiest, and a still day produces an empty hill. If the trip matters, look at the forecast for the ridge rather than for the valley, and be prepared to go a different evening.
Stand where you are meant to stand
Launch and landing zones are working areas with people committing to a decision at low altitude, and a spectator standing in the wrong place is a genuine hazard rather than an inconvenience. Both parks are laid out with viewing ground that keeps you clear of it. Use it, keep dogs and children close, and do not walk out onto a landing field to get a photograph.
The details
Getting there
The county park sits at 15300 South Steep Mountain Road on the north side of the ridge; the state recreation area is on the south side. Both are signed and both have their own parking.
Before you go
- Go in the late afternoon or early evening. Mornings are usually empty.
- Check the wind rather than the general forecast before committing to a trip.
- Stay clear of launch and landing ground. These are working areas.
- The same wind rakes the freeway below, so allow for gusts on the drive.
- Take a layer. A ridge top at sunset is colder than the valley you left.
Spend a July week at Draper Days
Draper City Park and around the city Mostly free Nine days in July Directions
Draper Days is the city's own celebration and it is unusually long: nine days in 2026, running from 10 to 18 July, spread across the city rather than parked in one field. The shape is a rodeo, a 5K, sports tournaments, film nights, concerts and a parade, and most of the individual pieces cost nothing to attend.
The two anchors are at the end. Concerts ran on both the last Friday and Saturday evenings, with fireworks and, in 2026, a drone show. The parade steps off at nine in the morning sharp on the Saturday, and sharp is the operative word: this is a parade that starts on time and the good curbside spots are taken well before it does.
In 2026 the drone show moved to the Saturday
In 2026 the city moved the drone show to the Saturday, after the fireworks, because of technical difficulties, so the closing night carried both. Plan for a late night if you bring young children. Both are at the park. Take the current program from draperutah.gov rather than a listing site, because a nine day civic calendar is exactly the kind of thing third party listings get half right.
Park once and walk, because the streets around the park fill
A city park hosting a nine day program in the middle of July generates a parking problem that is entirely predictable and entirely avoidable. Residential streets around the park fill early on the concert and parade days. Arriving well before the advertised start and walking the last few minutes is the difference between an easy evening and a long circle, and it is worth doing on the parade morning above all.
The details
Getting there
The park is the center of gravity and most of the headline events happen there. The parade runs on city streets on the closing Saturday morning, so check the published route before choosing where to stand.
Before you go
- Take the schedule from draperutah.gov. Listing sites drift on a program this long.
- The parade starts at nine sharp. Kerbside positions go long before that.
- In 2026 the drone show followed the fireworks on the Saturday. Check the program each year.
- Park once and walk. Streets around the park fill on the concert nights.
- July here is hot into the evening. Water and shade matter more than they look.
Check the season at Cowabunga Bay
12047 S State Street Ticketed Summer only Directions
The valley's south end water park sits at 12047 S State Street, beside the freeway. Its own page now shows only that it is closed for 2026, so check it before you plan a day around it.
In past seasons it sold tickets by session, a morning block and an afternoon block, rather than by the day. I could not confirm session times, parking, reservations or season passes for any coming season, so ask the park before you drive.
If it reopens, the morning block has been the easier one
In past seasons the morning block started on a park that had been cleaned overnight, with shorter queues and cooler ground underfoot, and the afternoon block met the heat and the crowd. That is a past pattern, not a promise for any coming season.
Weather closes attractions individually, not the park
Severe weather can shut individual slides and towers for periods without the park closing, which means a thundery afternoon can leave you inside the gate with half the attractions unavailable. That is normal for an outdoor water park and it is worth knowing before you buy a session on a forecast that looks marginal. Hours are published as subject to change without notice.
The details
Getting there
The park sits on State Street beside the freeway. Ask the park about parking before you go.
Before you go
- Check the park's page first. It shows the park closed for 2026.
- If it reopens, confirm session times and whether tickets are sold by session.
- Ask about parking and reservations. I could not confirm them.
- Severe weather closes individual attractions without closing the park.
- Ask about season passes before you buy one.
Take an evening at Boondocks
75 E Southfork Drive Pay per attraction All year Directions
Eight acres beside the freeway carrying a bowling alley, two go-kart circuits, a 38 foot ropes course with a zip line, two 18 hole miniature golf courses, bumper boats, multi level laser tag, an immersive dark ride and an arcade of well over a hundred games. It is an unusual roster for a city this size and it is the reliable wet weather answer at the south end of the valley.
The go-karts run a road track and a rookie track, so there is a version for drivers too small for the fast circuit, and the ropes course is the outdoor piece that people underestimate at 38 feet. Attractions are bought individually or on a bundle, and the arithmetic changes sharply depending on which you pick, so decide what you are actually going to do before you reach the desk.
Decide the plan before you buy the wristband
A venue with this many separate attractions prices them individually and also sells bundles, and the two do not cost the same for the same evening. A group that will genuinely ride everything is better on a bundle; a group that came to bowl and eat is not. Five minutes of honesty about what you will actually do saves a surprising amount, and it also prevents the trailing hour of people wandering an arcade because they paid for it.
The outdoor half is seasonal even though the venue is not
Bowling, laser tag and the arcade run all year. The bumper boats, the ropes course and the outdoor karting are weather dependent, and a January visit is a substantially different venue from a July one. If a specific attraction is the reason for the trip, call ahead rather than assuming that an all year venue means all year attractions.
The details
Getting there
Southfork Drive runs off the frontage road on the west side of the interstate, and the site is signed from the interchange with its own parking.
Before you go
- Work out which attractions you want before buying. Bundles are not always cheaper.
- Outdoor attractions are seasonal and weather dependent. Ring ahead in winter.
- The rookie kart track exists for drivers too small for the road course.
- Weekend evenings are the busiest, and the karts queue hardest.
- It is the strongest wet weather option at this end of the valley besides the aquarium.
Ride the Porter Rockwell Trail across the flat side of the city
West and central Draper Free Year round Directions
Not everything in this city climbs. The Porter Rockwell Trail is a paved rail trail running across the western and central part of Draper, connecting on into Sandy at one end and running south toward Bluffdale at the other. It is commute grade pavement rather than singletrack, which makes it the piece of Draper's trail network that works with a stroller, a road bike, a scooter or a set of skates.
It passes Galena Hills Park, which carries a paved loop of its own, and it links the residential middle of the city to the western edge without touching a canyon or a parking lot queue. At the western boundary the valley wide parkway takes over, which is a county subject rather than a Draper one and lives on the Jordan River Parkway page.
It is the answer when the canyon lots are full
On the mornings when every trailhead above Highland Drive is parked out, this is the trail that still has room, because it is linear, it has multiple access points and nobody drives to it. That makes it worth knowing about as a fallback rather than only as a destination. It is also the flattest sustained riding in a city that is otherwise defined by gradient.
Paved does not mean uninteresting
A rail trail follows a grade laid down for a railway, which means long consistent angles and a route through parts of the city that roads do not take. It is genuinely useful as transport as well as recreation, connecting neighborhoods and parks on the flat side of Draper, and it carries a steady stream of people using it to get somewhere rather than to exercise.
The details
Getting there
The trail is picked up from several city streets and from Galena Hills Park. It continues into Sandy to the north and toward Bluffdale to the south, so plan it as a corridor rather than a loop.
Before you go
- Multiple access points mean you can start anywhere. Park at a city park, not a trailhead.
- It is paved and open all year, which is not true of the canyon jump lines.
- It links north into Sandy and south toward Bluffdale for a longer ride.
- The valley wide parkway on the western boundary is a county subject, not a Draper one.
- Good option when every canyon trailhead is full, which is most fine weekends.