By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahTake a morning at Blackridge Reservoir
15000 S Ashland Ridge Drive Free on weekdays Summer Directions
There is no other municipal sand beach in Salt Lake County, and the reason this one exists is entirely accidental. Blackridge is a secondary irrigation pond of about seven acres, built to feed Herriman's secondary water system and to support pressure in Riverton, and the city wrapped a park of roughly ten acres around it. The result is a piece of open water with a beach, a playground, restrooms, five pavilions and a paved loop, sitting at the top of a residential street with the Oquirrhs directly behind it.
That is also the whole reason this entry needs a page of its own. An amenity that unusual, in a valley of more than a million people, draws more demand than a neighborhood parking lot can hold, and the city has spent a decade building rules around it: charged weekend parking, a permit zone on the surrounding streets, and a capacity notice on busy days. The reservoir page takes every one of those rules in order.
The parking lot is the constraint, not the beach
Almost every complaint about this place is a parking complaint rather than a swimming one. There is one lot, it fills, and when it does the city asks visitors to come back later rather than opening anything else. There is no shuttle and no overflow. Weekday mornings are the version of this reservoir people describe fondly, and a Saturday afternoon in July is the version that ends up in the news.
Check the water before you drive, not after you arrive
Utah DEQ tests this reservoir through the season for E. coli and for harmful algal blooms and posts each result with any advisory. Its record has been good, and a good record is not a guarantee, because conditions in a shallow warm water body change quickly. Look at the state's advisory page the morning of a hot-weather trip rather than trusting a travel listing.
The details
Getting there
West and uphill from the Mountain View Corridor through the Rosecrest neighborhoods. Weekend and holiday parking is card only through the summer, and the surrounding streets are permit parking across the same window, so bring a card and do not park on the neighborhood streets without a permit.
Before you go
- One parking lot, no overflow and no shuttle. Arrive early or accept the risk of being turned away.
- No dogs on the beach or in the water, no glass, no alcohol, no diving and no fishing.
- Non-motorized craft only, and the state's mussel-aware course applies before you launch.
- No lifeguard. This is untreated natural water in a warm shallow basin.
- Weekday parking is free. That alone is the argument for a weekday morning.
Drive Butterfield Canyon Road, in the years it is open
West end of Herriman Main Street Free Summer Directions
This is the one ordinary car route into the Oquirrh range, and it starts at the west end of Herriman Main Street rather than anywhere dramatic. The paved climb runs about 6.6 miles and gains roughly 2,200 feet on a narrow two lane road that pinches in further near the top. Above the pavement a graded dirt spur runs to a rim lot at around nine thousand feet, from which you look straight down into the pit.
That view is the reason people make the drive, and it is also the moment to hand you off, because the mine, its scale and its ticketed visitor experience belong to the county page rather than to this city. What belongs here is the road: the gate dates, the surface, and what the climb asks of a vehicle. The canyon page has all of it.
As of 2026 this is not a drive you can take
A summer 2026 storm over the range washed the road out about 5.5 miles up, and Salt Lake County closed the canyon and gave no reopening date. It stayed closed through the fall. Assume it is shut and check with the county before you plan around it. The county trail park at the foot of the canyon stayed open throughout.
In an ordinary year the gate, not the weather, is the constraint
The road is seasonal and closes from 1 November to 1 June, so for seven months of any year the answer is no regardless of the weather. Anything written without a date attached is describing a summer road as though it were a year round one, and the difference between those two things is most of a winter.
The details
Getting there
Follow Main Street west until the houses stop. Salt Lake County oversees the section that crosses Rio Tinto Kennecott ground, so the county rather than the city is the authority on whether the gate is up.
Before you go
- Check the current status with Salt Lake County before setting out. The 2026 closure had no announced end date.
- The pavement ends before the top. The spur to the rim and the west descent are graded dirt.
- The upper section is narrow with loose rock, and the descent is unpleasant when wet.
- There are no services of any kind once you leave Main Street.
- This is a working mine's ground. Stay on the road and do not improvise side trips.
Ride the county trail park the mine gave back
Butterfield Trailhead Regional Park Free Spring to fall Directions
In 2023 Salt Lake County opened Butterfield Trailhead Regional Park with more than 13 miles of multi-use trail, including a link through to Yellow Fork Canyon, with more mileage planned behind it. The interesting part is not the distance. It is that this is ground that was closed to the public for a century, and it opened through a partnership between the county, Rio Tinto Kennecott and the Bureau of Land Management rather than through a purchase.
The story behind it explains why the Oquirrh side is finally getting trails at all. The county picked up acreage in Butterfield Canyon and leased more from Rio Tinto Kennecott, taking stewardship of ground the company still owns and opening the way to new trail on land that had been off limits, on top of the Rose and Yellow Fork canyon ground the county preserved back in 2007.
It is a trail park, not the same rulebook as a city park
The county runs this as a trail-only facility with a trailhead and a parking lot and nothing else, and organized groups have to reserve rather than simply turn up. Motorized vehicles are prohibited across the whole Southwest Canyons network, mountain biking is permitted only in designated areas rather than everywhere, and dogs are leashed. Read the county's trail map before you assume a route is open to what you are riding.
This is the west bench, so the season is not the Wasatch season
The Oquirrhs are drier, browner and lower than the range across the valley, and they hold snow differently. That makes the shoulder seasons here genuinely useful: spring comes earlier on these slopes than it does at the same elevation on the east bench, and fall holds longer. July afternoons on a south facing Oquirrh slope with no tree cover are the version to avoid.
The details
Getting there
The trailhead and parking lot sit at the western end of the city on the county's ground. Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation keeps the network map, which is what tells you where bikes are permitted and where they are not.
Before you go
- More than 13 miles opened in 2023, with more mileage planned behind it.
- Mountain biking is allowed in select areas only. The county map is the authority, not a trail app.
- Motorized vehicles are prohibited across the whole Southwest Canyons network.
- Dogs are permitted on a leash. The reservoir a few minutes away does not permit them at all.
- There is no water and very little shade. Carry more than the distance suggests.
Skate the ice ribbon at J. Lynn Crane Plaza
13082 S Fort Herriman Parkway Ticketed December to February Directions
An outdoor ice ribbon is a looping skating track rather than a rink, and Herriman runs one beside its own town hall from the first of December to the end of February. The season sells timed sessions: a few one hour slots on weekday evenings, several across a Saturday, and Sunday sessions in December and January only, with the plaza closed on Sundays through February and on the two winter holidays.
The pricing is municipal rather than commercial: modest per session, with skate hire included on the higher tier and bring-your-own a few dollars cheaper, under threes and helmets free, and ice walkers and strollers for hire. Check the current season and prices with the city before you go. The park page carries the full season and the summer half of the same plaza.
Book it, because the sessions are timed and non-refundable
This is not open skating with a gate and a line. Sessions are reserved, they are non-refundable, and rescheduling is done by phone with the events team during business hours. Weekend slots and the extended holiday sessions in late December go first. Treat it like booking a table rather than turning up at a park.
The plaza and the park are two different addresses
This catches people constantly, including mapping apps. J. Lynn Crane Park is at 12998 South Fort Herriman Parkway and J. Lynn Crane Plaza is at 13082 South Fort Herriman Parkway, and the city lists them separately. The ice ribbon and the splash pad are on the plaza side. They sit next to each other, so the mistake costs you a two minute walk rather than a drive, but it is worth knowing which one a listing means.
The details
Getting there
The plaza sits alongside Herriman town hall with its own parking lot and restrooms. Sessions and any weather closures come from the city's events team on 801-446-8658 or at [email protected].
Before you go
- Sessions are timed and reservations are non-refundable. Rescheduling is by phone only.
- Helmets are free, and ice walkers and strollers are available to hire.
- Sundays run in December and January only, and the plaza is closed on Sundays in February.
- Closed on the two winter holidays, with extended hours on the days around them.
- Theme nights and glow skating turn up on the schedule and are worth checking for.
Cool off at the splash pad, from Memorial Day
13082 S Fort Herriman Parkway Free Memorial Day to Labor Day Directions
The same plaza that carries the ice in December carries a splash pad through the summer, running from Memorial Day to Labor Day between nine in the morning and eight at night. It is free, it is unstaffed, and it sits in the middle of a civic square with pergolas, fire pits, picnic tables, restrooms and open grass around it rather than behind a fence at the back of a park.
That siting is the point. The plaza was built as a gathering place next to the town hall rather than a play area bolted onto a field, so a summer evening here has food trucks and a stage in the mix rather than only water. For a city where a very large share of the housing is newer than 2005 and the streets are still filling in, a working town square is a more meaningful amenity than the splash pad itself.
Free and unstaffed means the hours are the only rule
There is no admission, no session and no booking. What there is instead is an operating window, nine in the morning to eight at night through the season, and a city maintenance schedule that can take the water off without notice. If the splash pad is the entire reason for the trip, look at the city's page the morning of rather than assuming.
Pair it with the park next door rather than treating it as the whole visit
J. Lynn Crane Park at 12998 South Fort Herriman Parkway sits immediately alongside and carries the stage, the playground, the pavilion, the tables and the large grass area. The two together are about an hour and a half of a summer evening. Separately, either one is twenty minutes. Almost nobody realizes they are two facilities until they try to book something.
The details
Getting there
Parking, restrooms and open grass are on the plaza itself. The window is 9am to 8pm through the season, and the city posts closures for maintenance and weather.
Before you go
- Free and unstaffed, so the posted hours are the whole of the arrangement.
- The fire pits and pergolas make this a usable evening space rather than a midday one.
- It is the same plaza that carries the ice ribbon from 1 December.
- The park next door is a separate address with the stage, the playground and the pavilion.
- Check the city's page the morning of if the water is the entire reason for the trip.
Take the rodeo at the end of May
W and M Butterfield Park Ticketed Late May Directions
The Fort Herriman PRCA Rodeo runs three nights at the end of May at W and M Butterfield Park, 6212 West Butterfield Park Way, and the 2026 edition ran 28 to 30 May, billed as twenty years of professional rodeo in Herriman. Bull riding, calf roping, barrel racing and bronc riding, on a city owned arena, in a city that had 1,523 residents at the turn of the century.
It is on this list rather than in a footnote because it is the older half of the city's civic calendar and the half most newcomers miss. Twenty years of a sanctioned rodeo is a longer memory than most of the streets around it have, and it is the one event here that ties the modern city to the farming corner it was before the bench filled in.
It is not the June festival, and locals will tell you so
There are two Fort Herriman events and they are a month apart. The rodeo is late May and the city's largest event of the year is in June, and conflating them is the standard newcomer error. They share a name, a park and a set of volunteers, and they are entirely different evenings. Get the date from the city rather than a listing that has merged them.
Tickets for a three night run go earlier than you expect
A sanctioned rodeo on a city arena with three performances has a fixed amount of seating and a twenty year audience, and tickets have historically gone on sale months ahead, around February for a late May run. If this is the reason for a trip, make a note on the calendar for the winter rather than looking in April.
The details
Getting there
The park sits on the west side of the city with its own arena and parking. Confirm the current year's dates and ticketing with Herriman City on 801-446-5323 or [email protected] rather than a third party listing.
Before you go
- Late May, three nights, and a month before the city's June festival.
- Tickets have gone on sale as early as February for a late May run.
- The 2026 edition was billed as twenty years of pro rodeo in Herriman.
- It shares a park and a name with Towne Days and is a completely separate event.
- Take the dates from the city. Third party calendars for this one disagree with each other.
Spend a day at Fort Herriman Towne Days
W and M Butterfield Park Mostly free June Directions
The city calls this its largest event of the year, and it runs across several days in June at the same Butterfield Park arena and grounds, with a parade, a carnival, stage entertainment, fireworks, food trucks, vendors, a car show and the Herriman Yeti Run. In a city where most of the streets were built after 2010, it is the one occasion on the calendar where the whole place is in the same field at the same time.
There is a practical warning attached, and it is not the usual one. The city has not posted fixed dates for it, and the third party listings that do carry them disagree with each other by more than a week. That is unusually messy for an event this size, and it is exactly the sort of thing that turns a family day out into a wasted drive across the valley.
Get the dates from the city and from nowhere else
Chamber calendars, ticketing aggregators and travel listings for this festival do not agree, and at least two of them cannot both be right. The city runs the event, so the city's events team is the only source worth acting on: 801-446-5323 or [email protected]. This is the single most useful sentence on this entry.
The parade and the carnival are different days and different problems
A parade closes streets and a carnival fills a parking lot, and they ask different things of anyone trying to get across the west side of the city that week. If you live nearby, the answer is to walk. If you are driving in from elsewhere in the valley, arrive early enough that the parking is a choice rather than a search, because Butterfield Park is not on a road network with much slack in it.
The details
Getting there
Park once and walk. The parade takes streets out of service and the carnival occupies the grounds, so anything that involves driving across the west side on those days needs a different route or a different day.
Before you go
- The city has not posted fixed dates on its own festival page. Call or email for them.
- Third party listings for this event disagree by more than a week. Do not act on one.
- It is a separate event from the PRCA rodeo, which runs a month earlier at the same park.
- The parade, the carnival, the car show and the Yeti Run are on different days.
- Bring cash and a card, because vendor payment options vary.
Watch a game at Zions Bank Stadium
14788 S Academy Parkway Ticketed Season dependent Directions
A five thousand seat professional stadium on the bench in a city this size is genuinely unusual, and it sits on the Zions Bank Real Academy campus at 14788 South Academy Parkway. The proposition for a resident is small stadium pricing on professional sport a few minutes from home, in a venue where the back row is closer to the field than the middle tier of a big arena.
The caution is that the tenant list here moves. The Utah Warriors withdrew from the 2026 Major League Rugby season and suspended operations in November 2025, which took a fixture list off this stadium at short notice. Anything you read describing the stadium's occupants needs a date on it, and the campus and its facilities are covered on the city guide rather than here.
Check who is actually playing before you buy anything
A small stadium shared between several leagues is a moving target, and 2026 proved it. Take the current fixture list from the venue and the clubs rather than from a page that lists tenants without saying when it was written. That is a two minute check that has saved people a season ticket in a league that is no longer running.
Five thousand seats changes the economics of an evening
This is the argument for going. A venue this size prices differently from a downtown arena, parking is on site rather than in a structure, and getting out afterward takes minutes rather than an hour. For anyone weighing what living on this side of the valley actually offers, professional sport at that scale within fifteen minutes is a real line item rather than a brochure one.
The details
Getting there
The stadium sits on the Real Academy campus off Academy Parkway with parking on site, a couple of minutes from the corridor. Take the current fixture list from the venue rather than a directory listing.
Before you go
- Five thousand seats, so sightlines are good everywhere and the place empties quickly.
- The tenant list changed in late 2025. Verify who is playing before buying a season plan.
- Parking is on site rather than in a structure, which is most of why the evening works.
- The campus itself and its facilities are covered on the Herriman city guide.
- Fixture lists here follow several different competition calendars rather than one.