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Hiking in the beautiful mountains surrounding Salt Lake City is always a pleasure; but when you couple that with a lesson in history you've got an excellent adventure awaiting your discovery.
Emily Utt from the Church History Department shares 3 hikes along the Wasatch Front that give a glimpse of our Pioneer past.
- Ensign Peak Most hiking books ignore this trail because it is so short. However, few paths have the pioneer significance this one does. Two days after entering the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and a group of men including Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff climbed this peak. It was the first mountain the pioneers climbed in the Salt Lake Valley. When they got to the top of the mountain Brigham Young said, "Here is a proper place to raise an ensign to the nations," The men unfurled an "ensign of liberty to the world"; this is where the peak's name came from. The "ensign" reference is in several LDS scriptures. The pioneers also used the peak, or at least its base, for temple work until the Endowment House was completed in the valley. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that Brigham Young had a vision of Ensign Peak in the Nauvoo Temple, prior to leaving Illinois. This is a nice, easy trail most hikers, regardless of age or experience, would find enjoyable. The trail is well maintained and the awesome views of the Salt Lake Valley below begin almost immediately. The trail winds behind the peak and ascends up a moderate slope on the back side. The views from the back side are incredible, especially at sunset. The Great Salt Lake can be seen in the distance to the northwest. As you climb to the peak, the entire Salt Lake Valley can be seen below. The view from Ensign Peak is spectacular anytime, but sunset is by far the most ideal time for this hike. The view of the sunset combined with the cool evening breeze and the glittering city lights below make this a hike well worth taking and the minimal time and effort involved make it worth taking often! Trailhead: Make your way to the State Capitol Building. Do this by traveling State Street from downtown, which will take you past the Capitol on the west side. Take the cross street either in front of or behind the Capitol complex until you reach East Capitol Blvd. Turn left and drive north through the residential area until you reach North Sandrun Drive (940 N) and turn left on that road. Drive about 1 block and the road "forks". In the middle of the fork is an LDS meetinghouse. Take the right fork, which runs behind the church. The trailhead is about 1/2 block further on the right hand side and is a developed, easily identifiable trailhead. (Lat:40.79185 Lon:-111.88825)
- Temple Quarry Trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon Mormon Pioneers used this site to quarry rock used in building the Salt Lake Temple. As you walk the trail, you will see the marks of quarrying left on the rocks. Stones for the walls of the Salt Lake Temple were selected as the "best material that can be furnished in the mountains of North America." The work at this site continued almost nonstop for twenty-five years. Immigrants from Europe taught quarrymen to split off rocks into various sizes. Then teamsters hauled the rough-hewn stones to Temple Square, were expert stonecutters gave them their final shape. Moving the stones from the canyon was a real challenge. Smaller stones were loaded onto ox-drawn wagons. Larger stones, some measuring three-feet square and weighing over two tons, could not be lifted. Workers drove a reinforced wagon over such a stone and dug trenches under the wheels until the frame rested on it. With the stone lashed under the frame, oxen or mules pulled the wagon out of the trenches and onto the road. Many wagons broke down under the stress of carrying that much weight twenty miles to the temple. This slow transport delayed construction, so in the late 1860's crews dug a canal to float the stones to Salt Lake City on barges. This method did not work well and was abandoned when the railroad came to Utah. Beginning in 1871 the stones were hauled on flat cars from the railroad station in Sandy right onto Temple Square. In 1873 the Church and local miners built a narrow gauge railway up into the canyon. Some of today's main roads follow the routes pioneered by those stone-laden wagons and rails. By the late 1880's the temple walls were up and activity at the quarries stopped. Stones from here have also been used for a few other structures, notably the Utah State Capitol Building and the "This is the Place" Monument. However, this site is still best known as the Temple Stone Quarry. Trailhead:From the south, take the 90th South I-15 exit, which turns into 94th South. Continue east to the mouth of Little Cottonwood. Just before the stop sign (where you turn right onto the road up the canyon), you'll see a paved turnoff to your right taking you to the Temple Quarry Trail parking area. From the north, take Wasatch Blvd. When you see the illuminated road condition sign at the mouth of Little Cottonwood, turn right then immediately left again into the Temple Quarry parking.
Mormon Flat to Big Mountain It was from the summit of Big Mountain that Mormon Pioneers had their first glimpse of the Salt Lake Valley and the tremendous wall of mountains that would guard their new wilderness home.
For more information go to [Historical Trail Medals](<http://www.historictrailmedals.com/website/MorTrail/MorTrailSugg.html >).
Trailhead:Take I-80 eastbound from Salt Lake. Just after Parley's Summit, take the Jeremy Ranch exit and turn north (left) under the freeway. Turn left at the first stop sign, then take the next right (Jeremy Ranch Drive). Continue until the road turns sharply around to the right, where you'll see the dirt East Canyon Road branching off to the left. Drive 4.9 miles up the dirt road until you see the parking area for the trail (and picnic tables and a bathroom) on your left. GPS N 40° 48.944' W 111° 35.080'.
