Welcome to ENSIGN PEAK!

This is the starting point of the hike to Ensign Peak.

View to the North from Ensign Peak.....Small price to pay for such magnificent views. Because you can drive up the foothills so far to the trail head, the hike is only .47 miles with an elevation gain of 398 feet.

The hike to the top of the Peak provides many senic overlooks...this one is of the view east towards the University of Utah.

This is the monument located on the top of Ensign Peak.

This is the plaque that is on the monument at the top of the peak.

The only limitations on how far you can see from the peak seems to be your eyes and the pollution.

A picture of the monument on the top overlooking the valley. The peak and this monument stand just north of the Capital Building.

View of the Salt Lake Valley looking south. From this vantage you can see the layout of the street like a checker board. The towns that once composed the area have all grown together and it is hard to tell where one ends and another begins.

From Ensign Peak the pioneer leaders laid plans for Salt Lake City. They envisioned a prospering community of wide streets, farms, homes, schools, shops, churches, and a temple.

Ensign Peak became a symbol of gathering; from the time the first American Indians lived in this area to the present, this valley has drawn people from all corners of the world.

Indian Hunters probably used Ensign Peak as a vantage point to scout for Prey. Many camped near the Warm Springs west of here, at the base of the mountain. The Salt Lake Valley was a meeting place and campsite for several bands which were composed of Shoshoni- and Ute- speaking Indians. These indian people traveled in small, extended-family groups to hunt, fish, and gather berries, insects, roots, and seeds. One Chief, Little Soldier, was born in the Red Butte foothills southeast of here; Wanship, another leading Chief, made his headquarters in the Salt Lake Valley.

In 1776, the first non-native explorers entered Utah. They were led by the Franciscan Fathers, Francisco Antanizio Dominguez and SilvestreVelez de Escalante, who hoped to establish a new trail from New Mexico to their California Mission. After visiting the Ute bands living near Utah Lake, the padres returned to New Mexico. They did not reach the Salt Lake Valley.

Forty five years later, traders and mountain men entered this region in search for animal pelts. They opened trails and charted rivers and mountain passes. Among them were Jim Bridger, Miles Goodyear, Peter Skene Ogden, Etienne Provost, Jedediah Smith, Joesph R. Walker, and John H. Weber. John C. Fremont's U.S. Army expeditions confirmed that the interior West was a "Great Basin" with no outlet to the sea.

Sunset over the Great Salt Lake from the top of Ensign Peak.