For years - decades, even - Salt Lake City's Ensign Peak seemed forlorn, forgotten.
Eroding jeep trails and hill-scarring footpaths led to the top and into the adjacent foothills. A rusted flagpole and a tall stone pillar, which obviously once boasted a historic plaque, stood on the windblown, rounded summit. Although the peak was an important symbol, visitors - except for the occasional hiker or Scout troop or illegal off-roader - had become rare, or at least intermittent.No longer is that true.
Like an "ugly duckling" transformed into a swan or a scullery maid magically made a Cinderella princess, Ensign Peak and its environs have gone from drab to beautiful over the past two years.
In 1997, as part of the pioneer sesquicentennial, thousands of people have dropped by to learn about the mount's history, and that of the city below, and to enjoy outstanding views of the Salt Lake Valley, the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains and the Great Salt Lake. Evening and sunset, in particular, are popular times for such visits.
This rejuvenation is the result of an effort by dedicated individuals, philanthropic benefactors and entities including Salt Lake City, the Ensign Peak Foundation and the LDS Church.
Although more streets and homes cluster around the peak's base than in years past, access to and safety for the general public have been improved. People of all ages can now enjoy Ensign in some or all of its aspects.
The peak sits to the north of downtown Salt Lake City behind the State Capitol. East Capitol Boulevard, the highway that heads around the east side of the capitol complex, rises toward the residential areas of Ensign Downs and the peak itself. Edgecombe Drive and Ensign Vista Drive are the principal routes that lead most directly to the new gardens, plazas and rebuilt trails below the mountain.
Here's what you'll find there:
- Ensign Peak Memorial Garden. The newest addition to the overall site, dedicated on July 26, this small LDS-oriented park on the south side of Ensign Vista Drive offers lovely flowerbeds, benches, sandstone markers and views of the city below. The plaques outline the history of the pioneers and the significance of Ensign Peak to them and their descendants, presenting a number of quotations from religious works and notable figures historic and modern, from Brigham Young to current LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. One quotes from pioneer poet Joel H. Johnson's tribute to Ensign Peak, "High on the Mountain Top," later to become a popular hymn with music by Ebenezer Beesley. The plaques have titles like "The Chosen Place," "An Ensign to the Nations" and "A Prophetic Mandate."
One, "A Hallowed Place," notes:
"From the arrival here of Brigham Young, Mormon pioneers have regarded this peak as a symbol of the latter-day gathering of Israel. On Sunday, 22 July 1849, President Young and others climbed the hill and dedicated it as a place to raise a standard and as a place of prayer."
Another, "This Is the Place," records:
"Before leaving Nauvoo, Illinois, President Young had prayed to know where he should lead the Saints. He envisioned Joseph Smith, who showed him this peak with a flag upon it, saying that it overlooked the place for a new city."
- Ensign Peak Nature Park. Dedicated in 1996, with additional changes - such as a concrete walkway and fencing - added since, this park includes plazas, vantage points, markers, seating and trails to Ensign Peak's summit. Three flags - representing the United States, Utah and Deseret - flutter over the steps leading to the entry plaza, which includes several plaques and a brick-mosaic map of the world.
A prominent plaque is one of the earliest of Utah's historic landmarks, No. 43 in a series found around the state. This - the marker that was part of the rock pillar built atop Ensign Peak in 1934 - was stolen, recovered by a metals dealer in 1992 and placed in the new park in 1996. It offers additional details about the hill's history:
"July 26, 1847, two days after the Mormon pioneers entered this valley, Brigham Young and party climbed to this point and with the aid of field glasses made a careful survey of the mountains, canyons and streams. In the group were Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Willard Richards, Albert Carrington and William Clayton. Wilford Woodruff, first to ascend the peak, suggested it as a fitting place to `set up an ensign' (Isaiah 11:12). It was then named Ensign Peak. Subsequently the Stars and Stripes were raised here."
Other well-designed plaques on this plaza and along the trail offer glimpses into the region's history and natural history and have headings like "The American Indians," "The Explorers" and "The Valley."
Nearby is a short uphill trail to a Vista Mound, which affords an excellent view of Salt Lake City below. The marker here - also found atop the hill - has a panoramic map delineating "The View from Ensign Peak."
The main trail - graded, hard-packed and in places covered with wood chips - takes hikers about a half-mile to the summit, at an elevation of 5,416 feet above sea level. (The meridian marker on the southeast corner of Temple Square sits at 4,331 feet.)
The trail passes through oak brush, sunflowers and grasses around the back of the hill. Magpies squawk in the branches and quail nervously chirp warnings to one another when hikers pass by. Deer sometimes put in an appearance as well. And at the top: a truly rewarding sweep of city, valley and lake.