Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
LAYTON — A ribbon cutting on a drizzly Friday marked the culmination of the Adams Canyon trailhead project, a decadelong effort to build out a parking lot and recreational amenities for one of the most popular trails in the area.
JoEllen Grandy, Layton parks planner, remembers when the trailhead was a gravel lot that fit 20 cars, before the U.S. 89 reconstruction project built new frontage roads and freeway interchanges from Farmington to Layton.
During that project, the Utah Department of Transportation's biggest in a decade, officials at the city and county levels worked with the state to solve the congestion, and the shoulder overflowing with parked cars. At its worst, Grandy counted almost 100 vehicles on the side of the sidewalk-less road leading up to the parking lot.
"This is a gem of Davis County," said Davis County Commissioner Randy Elliott, to a crowd huddled under canopies and umbrellas at the base of the Wasatch range. Elliott said there's nowhere else in the county where beautiful waterfalls and overlooks are so accessible. Now the trailhead truly is accessible, with four flushable restrooms, water filling stations, a bicycle repair station and bike racks and an information kiosk.
Funding came from a $150,000 state grant and Proposition 1 funds of around $385,000 from a tax increase voted on in 2015 — one penny for every $4 spent in Davis County, according to Layton Mayor Joy Petro. UDOT did the hardscaping work for the sidewalks and parking lots.
Years earlier, a landowner and resident near the mouth of Adams Canyon, K Achter, donated land to the trailhead, and a piece that connects to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.
With popularity comes danger, given some of the rocky terrain along the trail. Jared Sano, second vice commander of the Davis County search and rescue, said, "Many of our calls we get throughout the year come from Adam's Canyon." He believes the new access to water and information will help reduce incidents, especially those related to dehydration.
For some, the ribbon cutting felt as heavy as the clouds, full of painful memories and gratitude. The Hipwell family — which helped design and fund benches, a plaque dedicated to the county's search and rescue teams and the rotunda beside the trail — was there to celebrate the memory of their daughter, Alexys "Lexy" Hipwell. In 2016, the 18-year-old went for a hike in the canyon, where detectives believe she slipped on her descent. He body was found by the search and rescue team at the bottom of a 70-foot cliff around midnight, after hours of searching.
Tyrone Hipwell, who spoke at the event, said his daughter struggled with a lot of anxiety and depression toward the end of her life, but found solace in the canyon. "This is a place she went to clear her head, this is a place where the darkness and those struggles in her mind cleared and she found peace," he said. "She found serenity, she found the beauty that she needed to go back home and continue life in a positive direction."
"This means the world to me. This monument was a long time coming," Hipwell said, thanking the volunteer search and rescue teams who "do not get enough credit."
The rotunda features historic information about the canyon, which was used by three bands of the Shoshone for time immemorial, gathering and hunting to prepare for the winter months. Elias Adams is recorded to be the first settler in the foothills of the canyon, though, trappers had been in the area before him. His direct descendant, 94-year-old Elias Harris Adams, who authored a biography about the pioneer was in Layton Friday to help cut the ribbon.
The remnants of the Adams family cabin that is accessible by the trail, is another reminder of tragedy and hope. Their eldest daughter, Mary Ann Adams, suddenly died and was buried a short distance from the home, according to a separate biography, which reads: "The grave became lost in the years that followed and, today, the exact location is unknown."
Hipwell said he hopes his family's tragedy, and that of past generations, will leave a "legacy of love and memory. It's who we are and what we pass on to those who come after."
"I thought it was such a tender experience," Grandy said. "That's what's neat about outdoor spaces, is it brings generations together."
Correction: A previous version misspelled JoEllen Grandy's last name as Brandy.
