Mill Creek Canyon Shuttle
The updated Mill Creek Shuttle Feasibility Study is now available. This updated study examines a Mill Creek Canyon shuttle as a transit solution after it was identified as a potential option in the 2012 Mill Creek Canyon Transportation Feasibility Study and in 2015 by Mountain Accord. The final report concludes that a Mill Creek Canyon shuttle is, in fact, a feasible transit option for the canyon, offering a solution to the pressures of an ever-growing populous and mounting parking congestion.
To determine the feasibility of a Mill Creek Canyon Shuttle, the following analyses were performed:
- Review of past studies and existing conditions.
- Calculations of parking demand.
- Scoping of possible staging areas for shuttle operation.
- Shuttle operations’ impact on recreation fees.
- Estimation of operation costs and the creation of a proposed shuttle service plan.
In October of 2025, a two week comment period was opened up for a draft of the feasibility study. The CWC received 82 comments with the majority voicing support for a potential shuttle service in the canyon. Notably, 30% of comments requested the shuttle additionally run in the winter months. It should be noted that this particular study did not assess winter feasibility and rather focused only on the summer months. This final report takes into consideration these comments.
The study outlines the feasibility of two potential summer shuttle service plans, operating from June through October with 10 hours of service on Fridays through Sundays. The shuttle service concepts, developed by Salt Lake City-based transportation planning firm Fehr & Peers, consider a range of parking locations, staging areas, and fare models. Proposed routes include up to seven stops throughout the entire canyon, with each shuttle carrying up to 25 passengers.
If a plan moves forward to pursue a shuttle, the CWC would oversee the operational contract with the shuttle provider and secure the necessary permits. To launch the shuttle service, CWC would need to obtain approvals from UDOT, Millcreek, and the U.S. Forest Service. In addition, CWC would be required to complete a NEPA analysis to evaluate any potential environmental impacts the shuttle may have on Mill Creek Canyon. The locations served within the canyon would depend on the completion of construction in Upper Mill Creek Canyon, which is estimated to be finished in the summer of 2027.
The Mill Creek Canyon Shuttle History
From the dawn of the Mountain Accord, the signers have envisioned a Millcreek Canyon shuttle. A shuttle would help maintain a quality user experience and preserve vegetation and wildlife through a reduction of canyon vehicular presence—so that the four systems (environment, transportation, recreation, and economy) identified in the Mountain Accord remain in balance.
Salt Lake County’s 2012 Regional Transportation Plan included the 2012 Millcreek Canyon Transportation Feasibility Study conducted by Fehr & Peers. The study sought to address the primary issues in the canyon: full parking lots at popular trailheads, illegal parking on the roadway, pedestrians walking long distances on the main road to reach popular trailheads, and watershed degradation, loss of vegetation, and erosion caused by overflow parking. The project team looked into parking management concepts, transit concepts, and bicycle and pedestrian concepts.
For the transit concept, the study looked into a winter shuttle, a summer all-canyon shuttle, and a summer upper canyon shuttle outfitted with capabilities for hauling bikes, skis, dogs, and more. Ten years later, the CWC completed a Visitor Use Study, providing valuable information for an updated shuttle feasibility study. With populations along the Wasatch Front trending upward and the desire to spend time in this stunning canyon only increasing, an updated study was found to be warranted.
Because Upper Millcreek Canyon has been closed for construction from summer 2025 through summer 2027—resulting in a temporary loss of many parking spaces—the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (UWCNF) began considering a shuttle program to service the lower canyon. In 2023 UWCNF approached the CWC to research and develop a proposal to assess the current feasibility of a shuttle program that could begin service during FLAP construction and adapt as construction continues in the canyon.
This updated study sought to address the UWCNF‘s outstanding questions about the shuttle option: cost and parking locations. Beginning in June, 2025, Fehr & Peers, a Salt Lake City-based transportation planning firm conducted the update to the study.
During the scoping phase in the summer of 2025, the CWC opened a 30-day comment period and received 375 responses. Patrons of the canyon weighed in with their shuttle preferences: convenience, bike, ski, dog, and picnicking accommodations, year-round availability, and short wait times, among other things. The information gathered from these comments has been incorporated into the report draft, where feasible. View the comments and our responses here.
In October of 2025, a two week comment period was opened up for a draft of the feasibility study. The CWC received 82 comments with the majority voicing support for a potential shuttle service in the canyon. Additionally, 30% of these 82 comments cited desires for a winter shuttle as well. View the comments and our responses here.
In January of 2026, the final report was published after taking into consideration a total of 457 public comments over the course of 2025. Ultimately the final report deemed a Mill Creek Canyon Shuttle as a feasible transit solution to one of the Wasatch’s most loved canyons.
Implementation of a Mill Creek Canyon Shuttle Program
We will update this page as the project progresses and more information becomes available. Stay tuned.