Utah County has announced a collaboration with local ranger districts to reopen essential restrooms at popular canyon picnic areas and campgrounds after closures that inconvenienced many visitors. According to Utah County, the restroom facilities in American Fork Canyon, Spanish Fork Canyon, and Aspen Grove were shut down due to unserviced toilet vaults, a result of U.S. Forest Service budget cuts that left necessary maintenance unfunded.
Expecting increased footfall over the upcoming holiday weekends, the county has wielded funds from its TRCC (Tourism, Recreation, Cultural, and Convention tax) to tackle the problem head-on, providing relief to visitors. Ten of the busiest restrooms across the canyons are slated for cleaning and reopening, supplied with the county's financial aid, "It’s a relief to be able to help solve this problem," Commission Chair Brandon Gordon mentioned, adding, "Everyone knows what it’s like when there’s no restroom around, the alternatives aren’t great," as per Utah County.
Lakeshore Portables received recognition for managing the cleanup effort, and Utah County has kindly asked that visitors contribute to the ongoing solution by not discarding trash in the toilets, words that hint at prior complications, making maintenance a more difficult task, and potentially leading to prolonged closures in the past.
