Cheap Ways to Work Out in Utah: The $125 State Parks Pass, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Free Rec Center Passes for Kids

Utah’s best gym is outside: foothill trails above Salt Lake City and the state park system. You can use a lot of it for free, and one annual pass covers a whole carload at nearly every state park. The catch is winter, when inversions can make the air worse than staying in.

The Utah State Parks annual pass

If you’ll visit state parks more than a handful of times a year, the annual pass is the cheapest way in. For Utah residents it costs $125, or $65 for residents 65 and older [1]. It’s good for 12 months from the day you buy it, and it covers day use at Utah State Parks for the pass holder and up to seven guests traveling together in the same private vehicle [1]. Two parks don’t accept it: Jordan River OHV State Park and This Is the Place Heritage Park [1]. Camping isn’t included [1].

A few parks have charges the pass doesn’t cover. At Antelope Island, for example, the $2 Davis County causeway fee is separate [2].

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail follows the old shoreline of Lake Bonneville, an Ice Age lake that once covered about 20,000 square miles of Utah, Nevada and Idaho and was roughly 1,000 feet deep [3].

Salt Lake City describes its portion as a 13.5-mile trail from North Salt Lake to Parley’s Canyon, used for hiking, biking, bird watching and nature study [3]. It has many trailhead access points, so you can pick a short out-and-back from your own neighborhood [3].

The Emigration Trailhead, at 2699 E. Sunnyside Ave. in Salt Lake City, is generally treated as the trail’s start [4]. It’s an access point for trails around Mount Wire, Red Butte and Wagner Peak, and parking is limited to a small dirt lot [4].

Salt Lake County recreation centers

Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation runs recreation centers across the valley [5]:

• Kids ride free. The My County Rec Pass is a free recreation center pass for Salt Lake County youth ages 0 to 18. Sign up online or at any facility [5].
• Income-based rates. The county offers income-based discount rates for individuals and families [5]. Ask at the front desk what’s required to qualify.
• Daily, monthly and annual passes are sold in person at any recreation center front desk [5].

Rec centers are the easy answer on cold, icy or smoggy days, when an outdoor workout isn’t worth it.

Winter in Utah: inversions and air quality

Utah’s health department notes that fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) rises in winter, often because of inversions, and suggests working out indoors when levels are high, or keeping outdoor exercise light, like walking [7].

The Utah Division of Air Quality’s guidance by air quality level [6]:

• Moderate: sensitive people should consider cutting back on long or strenuous outdoor exertion.
• Unhealthy for sensitive groups: sensitive people should take more breaks and do less intense activities.
• Unhealthy: sensitive groups should move activities indoors or reschedule; everyone else should reduce long or strenuous exertion and take more breaks.
• Very unhealthy: sensitive groups should avoid all outdoor physical activity.

Check the day’s forecast at air.utah.gov before a run, and save the hard efforts for clear days [6].

How much to aim for

The federal Physical Activity Guidelines call for adults to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, such as brisk walking, plus muscle-strengthening activity at least 2 days a week [8]. A few foothill walks a week, plus two strength sessions at a rec center, would get you there.

Gear that helps

You don’t need equipment for any of the workouts above. If you want a little help, these are inexpensive and widely used. We chose them from the makers’ listings; we haven’t tested them ourselves.