1996 GWT ACTIVITIES WRAP UP
May -- In a capital office ceremony, Governor Mike Leavitt signed a proclamation dedicating the GWT, through Utah, as Utah's Centennial Trail. The GWT/Centennial Trail played an important role in Utah's Centennial celebrations, throughout the remainder of 1996 and is expected to continue through the 1997 Utah Pioneer Sesquicentennial.

June 1 -- State Senator Bob Bennett and Representative Bill Orton participated with other state and national officials in a National Trails Day ceremony, celebrating the Great Western Trail and its designation as Utah's Centennial Trail. More than 100 people turned out for the ceremony at the top of Big Mountain Pass, east of Salt Lake City.

This event kicked off the 9th trailbuilding season for the Utah section of The Great Western Trail (GWT), reaching from the Wasatch Crest to Zion National Park. Thousands of volunteers worked along the trail, with the support of the Forest Service and other land agencies. As of December 1996, the GWT in Utah was 95 percent complete.

After the ceremony, Boy Scout Troop #162, whose members are specially challenged, installed a sign at the trail head. Many residents participated in a guided nature walk, later that morning.

September -- The first official GWT maps rolled off of the presses and began selling for $20 each in Utah map outlets and sporting goods stores. These Northern Utah GWT booklets contain 74 pages of detailed elevation maps from the Idaho border to Salina, Utah. Southern Utah GWT books should be available later this Spring.

October -- The U.S. Congress passed and President Clinton signed study legislation to consider the GWT as an additional part of the national trail system. If approved, the GWT will become the fourth national north-south, border-to-border scenic trail.