The first automobile to climb Ensign Peak made front-page news on March 10, 1910. At the time, that seemed to be good news. The bad news is that since then, drivers of powerful cars and trucks have ground deep and ugly ruts in the historic hillside.
Ensign Peak was the landmark Brigham Young recognized when he proclaimed Salt Lake Valley the right place for the Mormon pioneers to settle. Two days after entering the valley, he and other pioneer leaders hiked the peak, just north of where the Capitol now stands, and from the summit planned out the city, according to J Malan Heslop, president of the Ensign Peak Foundation.Generations of hikers, drawn by the spectacular view of the city offered from the peak, have repeated that hike.
The Ensign Peak Foundation, a private-public partnership with Salt Lake City, is in the beginning stages of reclaiming the park. To commemorate the Utah centennial in 1996 and the sesquicentennial of the pioneers entering the valley in 1997, the foundation plans to restore the park. It plans to reseed the hillside, create a hiking trail, build an entrance plaza and repair the monument on the summit.
This fall the organization plans to implement its initial steps. First, it will restrict vehicular traffic by erecting barriers. Second, the scars left by hikers and cars will be filled in. The foundation wants to plant seeds this fall in order to take advantage of winter and spring moisture. At the same time, a substantial and well-marked trail will be constructed.
The estimated cost for restoring the park is $75,000. Funding depends on public contributions. Individuals, families, businesses and other organizations can send contributions to Ensign Peak Foundation, 736 Northview Circle, Salt Lake City, UT 84103. For more information call Heslop at 532-2085.