Hang onto your helmets, folks. Because over the past few years, Daybreak has gone from a very nice place to ride your bike to an honest-to-goodness destination for the pedal-obsessed.
It begins with the Daybreak trail network, an amenity that has now expanded to over 50 miles. And with the emergence of Daybreak’s Upper Villages west of the Mountain View Corridor, Daybreak’s approach to trail-building has shifted to a whole new sprocket. One of the big attractions of the Upper Villages is the Loop, an ever-growing system of trails that are designed specifically to be biker friendly. It even includes bicycle highways — long, wide pathways that let you pedal fast and nonstop.
Then there’s The Spoke
Technically, The Spoke is part of the Loop. But in reality it is unlike any trail feature in Daybreak … or anywhere else, for that matter. Being built along a half-mile stretch of the Loop, it’s a long linear adventure park for bikers, boarders and skaters of all ability levels.
The first phase of The Spoke is already complete. It features a flow trail that sweeps and bumps and jumps through a series of basins. Another section of The Spoke will follow Holly Springs Drive right past the front door of Aspen Elementary School. (Biking to school is about to get a lot more interesting.)
We even caught up with a few neighborhood kids who shared their love of the new amenity.
But the pièce de résistance of the whole thing is a world-class pump track designed and built by none other than Velosolutions of Switzerland — that would be the same Velosolutions that co-created the Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships.
As with the rest of The Spoke, the truly astounding thing about the pump track is that it is just as thrilling and rideable for a four-year-old on a Strider bike as it is for a 16-year-old on a BMX. And Velosolutions designs their pump tracks to create a great ride for anything with wheels … even wheelchairs.
So grab your helmet, come to Daybreak, and enjoy a little slice of bicycle heaven.
Hankering for more?
If Daybreak’s 50-plus miles of trails, including bike highways and a dynamite pump track, aren’t enough for you, this part of the Salt Lake Valley has plenty more in store for you …
- Mountain View Corridor Trail
Directly accessible from the Daybreak trail network, the paved multi-use path along Mountain View Corridor gives you about 20 miles of smooth, fast riding completely separate from the highway itself and another few miles of dedicated bike lane next to the highway.
- Bingham Creek Trailhead
Part of the Bingham Creek bed creates a natural open space on the north side of Daybreak. Here you’ll find a web of single-track trails that are fun for mountain and BMX bikes. And if you follow the creek to the east, you’ll hook up with the official paved portion of the Bingham Creek Trail.
- Butterfield Canyon
Just a few miles southwest of Daybreak and climbing from the Valley floor at an elevation of 5,500 feet to a 9,200-foot-high overlook in the Oquirrhs, the Butterfield Canyon Road offers a 20-mile round trip that will leave you tired and inspired. (Which is kinda what biking is all about, right?)
- Jordan River Parkway Trail
It’s the longest paved urban trail in the country. It’s in a beautiful tree-lined setting next to the Jordan River. And it will let you ride uninterrupted for 60 miles — all the way from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake.
- Bonneville Shoreline Trail
This trail belongs in the category of “work in progress.” And it is one magnificent work. Following the shoreline of the ancient Lake Bonneville, this trail will eventually stretch from the Idaho border to Nephi, UT. Today you can ride more than 100 miles of the BST, much of it in the form of picturesque and highly entertaining single-track.
