When does the splash pad at Bingham Creek Regional Park open? After this fall, the honest answer is that nobody has a date. That's because nobody has the money yet.
On November 3, Salt Lake County voters will decide on a $128 million recreation bond to repair, complete, and build regional parks, trails, and recreation facilities. The county's published schedule names 30 projects at 25 locations. Bingham Creek, the former Welby Pit off 4800 West in South Jordan, is not one of them. So the October crowds at the Halloween run and the Pumpkin Promenade are using the park that exists today. Based on everything in the public record, that's also the park South Jordan will have for a while longer.
Two October weekends, one built-out first phase
The fall calendar uses what Phase I delivered. Construction started in May 2020, and the county held the ribbon cutting and grand opening on June 22, 2023. According to the county's construction details, the park has six full-size competition soccer fields or the equivalent across 20 acres of sports fields. It also has an 18-hole disc golf course, a bike-skills course, 3.12 miles of walking trails, 1.98 miles of bike trails, a 0.53-mile extension of the Bingham Creek Trail, and 401 parking spaces in three lots. A Visit Salt Lake guide published September 28 lists the park's hours as generally dawn to dusk.
Here's how the rest of October and early winter play out around it:
- Saturday, October 10, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The South Jordan Farmers Market wraps its 2026 season on Towne Center Drive by City Hall, with a free button-maker craft on the last day. It's a few miles east of the park and a good warm-up before the park events start.
- Saturday, October 17. The city's SoJo Halloween Fun Run starts the 5K and ruck at 10 a.m. and the kids' run at 10:35 a.m. Entry is $15 for the 5K or ruck and $8 for the kids' run, and every entry comes with a custom medal.
- Monday, October 19, through Thursday, October 22. South Jordan residents and Daybreak residents can pick up free pumpkins, each group at its own location.
- Friday, October 23, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Drop off decorated pumpkins for the display.
- Friday, October 23, 5 to 8 p.m., and Saturday, October 24, 1 to 8 p.m. The Pumpkin Promenade, put on by South Jordan Parks and Recreation with Live Daybreak, is free and needs no registration. Plan on the decorated-pumpkin contest and display, a live DJ, a pumpkin carver, performers, vendor booths, candy, and games. Free donuts with milk or chocolate milk are handed out both days, and free hot chocolate on Friday, while supplies last.
- Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. The SoJo Turkey Run moves across town to East Riverfront Park, 10991 South Riverfront Parkway, with 5K, 10K, ruck, and kids' options.
The two Bingham Creek events fall a week apart. Both rely on the open lawns, paths, and parking that Phase I finished. Neither needs anything still on the drawing board.
What the drawing board actually holds
Bingham Creek was planned in stages from the beginning. South Jordan's facility page calls it a partnership between the city and Salt Lake County, "similar to Sugarhouse Park." The same page says it will be the largest park in Salt Lake County once complete. Phase I cost roughly $16 million. About $13.2 million came from the county's Zoo, Arts, and Parks program, known as ZAP, and $3 million came from the city. Even then, the city listed a destination splash pad, tennis and pickleball courts, and a championship field as future-phase work.
The county updated the Bingham Creek master plan on April 9, 2026, and kept that same list of future amenities. The county also says that putting a project in a master plan is only a first step, and that building it depends on finding future funding.
| Planned at Bingham Creek, April 2026 plan | Named in the November 2026 bond schedule? |
|---|---|
| 12-court pickleball complex with group pavilion, admin building, restrooms | No |
| Eight tennis courts | No |
| Splash zone | No |
| Multi-generational play zone | No |
| Championship field and more multi-purpose fields | No |
| Expanded bike-skills facilities | No |
| Garden zone, basketball, more playgrounds, tree planting | No |
The bond's only line item that mentions splash pads is $300,000 for UV sanitation upgrades at county-operated pools and splash pads countywide. That money maintains existing facilities. It doesn't build new ones.
How the next phase stalled, meeting by meeting
The Bingham Creek Park Authority's public minutes show the next phase moving closer to funding and then stopping.
At its July 21, 2025 meeting, the Authority discussed a Phase II ZAP application it was preparing with an architect, with a target budget of $12 million to $15 million. By August 18, 2025, the architect's preliminary estimate had reached $18.5 million. That figure covered a north restroom, a destination playground and splash pad, tree cover along the disc golf course, and the pickleball complex with an admin building. The playground and splash pad alone accounted for about $12 million. At its November 17, 2025 meeting, the Authority recorded that the ZAP project had made no new progress and was on hold.
The bond was the next possible source. The Authority's June 22, 2026 agenda included an update on a county 2026 recreation bond application. On July 10, the county's Recreation Bond Advisory Board heard informational presentations on two Bingham Creek proposals, the multi-generational play zone and the Phase II pickleball complex. Neither proposal appears on the final project schedule the county published in September. The scraped agenda doesn't show how the board scored either proposal.
The total bond grew while that list was being finalized. The Salt Lake Tribune reported a $100 million proposal on August 6. By August 19, KSL reported that the County Council had raised it to $128 million and passed the amended resolution 7 to 1.
Where the southwest valley's bond money does go
Bingham Creek isn't on the list, but the southwest part of the county still gets some of the largest projects in the proposed bond schedule:
- West Jordan Recreation Center at Ron Wood Regional Park: $25,764,502
- Union Park Recreation Center in Midvale: $21,000,000
- Southwest Athletic Complex in Herriman: $10,000,000
- Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center aquatic expansion: $2,000,000
The bond breaks down into $35.8 million for repairs, $21.1 million to complete existing projects, $62.3 million for new construction, and $8.8 million in contingency. The county says older bond debt is expiring, so it expects no net increase in the property tax rate. It estimates the cost for an average $658,000 home at $16.39 a year. Those are the county's own figures. Anyone weighing what the measure means for their household should read the full ballot language on the county's recreation bond page.
The same page puts Bingham Creek in its history. The county lists Bingham Creek, Lodestone, and Magna as regional parks built with earlier voter-approved recreation bonds. It notes bonds passed in 1996, 2006, and 2016. Lodestone and Magna both get money this round to complete their parks. Lodestone's $2,803,000 includes a dog park. Bingham Creek, the third park in that group, gets nothing on this schedule.
What South Jordan is funding on its own
The city added its own revenue this summer. On July 28, 2026, South Jordan announced a monthly parks fee of $5.28 for single-family homes and $3.38 for multifamily homes. The money is set aside for parks, trails, open space, and the cemetery, including future playground replacements and capital improvements. The announcement doesn't connect that fee to the Bingham Creek master plan. It's a separate citywide pool of money, not an answer for the splash zone.
That leaves the plan where the November 2025 minutes left it. The Authority has a cost estimate, a ZAP project on hold, and no funding source on the record. None of that affects this month. The fields, disc golf course, bike-skills course, and more than three miles of walking trails are open now, and the Pumpkin Promenade fills them on October 23 and 24.
James Roth films South Jordan's parks and events for American Dream TV and follows the planning decisions behind them. If you have questions about Bingham Creek's next phase or this month's events, reach out through James Roth. He's glad to share what he's learned. Work With James.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
