Salt Lake City foothills trails closed as Bonneville Fire grows

Salt Lake City’s foothill trail network was still off-limits Tuesday as the Bonneville Fire held at about 494 to 500 acres and 5% containment above the University of Utah and Red Butte Garden. The closures cut off Bonneville Shoreline, City Creek, Dry Gulch and Red Butte trails, shutting down one of the city’s fastest-access hiking zones for anyone passing through on a Wasatch trip.

The fire started Saturday, June 20, 2026, in the foothills near the base of Red Butte Canyon and spread as it crested Mount Van Cott and moved toward the back side of the mountain. Fire managers said the main concern was heat rekindling hotspots, and aerial firefighting crews were used as the incident pushed through the slope country above the east bench. Officials said the fire had not jumped north of Dry Creek.

Arlington Hills residents were placed on Ready status under Salt Lake City’s Ready, Set, Go system, but no evacuation order was issued. The University of Utah campus and nearby hospitals were reported not impacted, and the shelter-in-place order for campus had been lifted. For visitors, that meant the immediate danger stayed focused on the foothills, but the recreation footprint stayed sharply reduced.

The disruption reached beyond boots on dirt. A Federal Aviation Administration hazard temporary flight restriction remained active over the Salt Lake City fire area through Sunday, July 5, 2026 UTC, keeping aircraft and drones out of the incident zone. Stage 1 fire restrictions also took effect June 19 at 12:01 a.m. on Bureau of Land Management land in Salt Lake County and other Utah counties, banning open fires, smoking outside enclosed areas, grinding, cutting and welding, and engines without spark arresters.

Salt Lake City’s portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail runs 13.5 miles from North Salt Lake to Parley’s Canyon and normally serves hikers, bikers, bird watchers and nature study along the ancient Lake Bonneville shoreline. Right now, that whole foothills run is the wrong bet for a same-day plan, and anyone using Salt Lake as a gateway stop needs to treat the closure map, the TFR and the fire restrictions as the trip.