Bountiful Pond

¼ hr T

The Bountiful city landfill lets scouts camp by Bountiful Pond by reservation only. Bountiful Pond is a nice close place to camp with lot of flat space to spread out and run around. You can also fish. It is just south of the Bountiful Landfill. The mosquitoes can be bad and the ground may be wet in the early spring. You do get some noise from the Legacy Highway. It is close to the Legacy Trail, so you could have your boys ride their bikes to camp. On August 1st through the end of the year, Farmington Bay opens up and you could bike home on the dikes from here to Glover Lane. See http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/farm-bay.htm . The access road is just past the pond.

You need to make reservations for one of the six camping spots. Call the Bountiful land fill at 801-298-6169 (then 0 to skip message) to make reservations (preferably a few weeks before). If you get one of the sites on the south (4-6), you can pick up a key to the gate (and a map) before 4:00 at the landfill entrance station (north of the pond) to drive in to unload your gear and then return the key on Saturday. Or you can just carry your gear in. You can't leave vehicles in camp, but unload only and park on the street. I noticed that some scout leaders don't follow the rules and may ruin it for all of us. They usually ask you to do a service project to stay there. They may assign you one when you call to make a reservation. Fires must be in the fire bowl at the site.

Sites one and two are close to the restrooms and a long walk for 4-6. Site 5 is actually incorrect on the map. It is further south in the trees and not by the lake. Site 4 is the one in the photo above. Site one has a small canopy over the tables. It would be nice in case of rain, but closer to other people. Sites 5 & 6 only have one picnic table and the others have two each, but they are in the trees and have less highway noise. Site six has a nicer fire pit with benches.

To get there, take the fifth south exit from I15 or Legacy Highway and head west to the frontage road which turns north.

If biking there from the Legacy Trail, watch for a tunnel (with a sign) under Legacy Highway and then go right on the frontage road.

"Bountiful Pond is a great year-round birding hotspot. Scouts can expect to easily identify five to ten species of birds in a single one-mile hike around the pond. Bountiful Pond is also conveniently adjacent to the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area’s south entrance, see http://wildlife.utah.gov/habitat/farmington_bay.php for dates open to motorized vehicles vs. foot and bicycle traffic."