What towns are 'Horse Country' surrounding SLC, UT? (West Valley City, Ogden: house, neighborhoods)

[autumn2006]

I am traveling to SLC next week to look at property (possibilty of relocating). Can anyone tell me where the best (flat to moderately hilly, lots of grass, not a lot of rocks/canyon) horse-keeping country is? An hour radius from SLC would probably be best. Thanks.

[coolcats]

I guess the question is will you be commuting to Salt Lake, or do you just want to live in the area? How many acres do you need?

We have some small horse properties (2-5 acres) near my house in Western Salt Lake County. Those are disappearing quickly as developers come in. Tooele County, the next county to the west of Salt Lake, probably has a lot.

Or you could go north. Brigham City is about an hour north and there is quite a bit of open space up there. Southern Idaho, about 1.5 hours from Salt Lake probably has cheap land.

Going South, you would probably have to get down around Nephi (90 miles from Salt Lake) to find some good areas, maybe a bit closer.

[autumn2006]

Would need at a minimum of 15 acres, and my husband would commute into Salt Lake. Thank you for all the good recommendations, coolcats - I'll check them out. Someone suggested Draper (some bridle trail is there?) - looks like a suburban community instead of a 'rural' community but I could be wrong.

[frogamigo]

Draper is going to be stuffed with tract housing.

One place would be the area West of Lehi (or maybe west of Utah Lake in general). It is quite undeveloped. I have a friend who lives there and a lot of folks out there keep livestock.

I would second the idea to look into Tooele Co.

- Chris

[coolcats]

If your husband has to commute into Salt Lake, I think you should eliminate Brigham City to the north, or down south by Nephi. The traffic on I-15 in both directions can get really bad. The times I quoted are non-rush hour. Your best bets will be west of the city in Tooele or western Utah County.

[Elder_Shawn]

You might look into property in the West Davis County Area (north of Salt Lake). Kaysville is a nice community and has many plots of land west of I-15 that would be suitable for horses. Finding 15 acres on the east side of the valley would be next to impossible.

[autumn2006]

thank you, everyone, for weighing in. sounds like we're pretty limited - I have read some not-so-flattering things about the 'west side' on other threads on this site...is that what we're reduced to? maybe I have misunderstood those threads - I'll check them out again. if so, it might be enough reason for us NOT to move (gotta have my horses! I know...I want my cake, etc...).

[coolcats]

I think when people say disparaging things about the “west side” they have in mind the neighborhoods of Salt Lake and West Valley City that are close to I-15 and I-215, sort of forming an inner-city area. Those areas were built post-WWII to say about 1980 or so.

The West Bench of Salt Lake county, as developers are calling it, are the next big thing. The Daybreak development, while not for me, is Utah-chic. The southwest part of the Salt Lake Valley is red hot for developers. They are building luxury homes in Herriman and South Jordan. The East Side is filled up, so all the significant development is going to be south and west.

I live near the base of the Oquirrh mountains. While it is a West Valley address, it is worlds different from the older parts of West Valley. They are building like crazy, and none of the homes, which the exception of the horse properties I mentioned, are older than 5 years in my neighborhood. My property value jumped about $30,000 overnight when Kennecott Land announced its next planned development, similar to daybreak, will be next door.

Plus once you get into Tooele County, for the most part you are talking about rural lands – not any of this inner city stuff.

[TheOlsenClan]

Not a realtor yet, but I have lived in Utah all my life and I consider myself knowledgeable when it comes to places that I would desire to live. I would definitely take a look at Morgan, East of Ogden, beautiful horse country (quiet and still small town), Midway, Kamas, Heber outer areas are breath taking, some can be pricey, but there is still a lot of area moderately priced. Lehi and Nephi are very nice as well, just nestled more in the city. Best of luck, it's a great place to be...

[autumn2006]

wow - thanks, everyone. found some feasable places NE of Park City which seem 'commutable' to SLD, and will continue the search in Tooele County. thanks very much for putting me on the right track. what a great web site this is. i'm in upstate NY - think i'll 'pay it forward' and see if anyone needs some info on this area in the NY forum.