Springhill Geologic Park

Springhill Geologic Park is a small trail system located in North Salt Lake. There isn’t a whole lot to it, but it does allow dogs and has a pretty nice view of the valley below. I stumbled upon this while looking around for something easy to do with our dogs, and well it does win for that. Our dogs do love hiking with us, but I have noticed they can’t go for very long, and if it is hot they need access to water. So, this late in the season it was a great choice.

Quick Details:

Length: About 1.1 mile loop.
Difficulty: DR3. Super easy.
Elevation Gain: About 200 feet.
Restroom: No
Dogs? Yes, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.

To Get Here:

From HW 89 in North Salt Lake turn east on Center St. Turn right on 350 east. Then left on Springhill Dr. Take that to the small parking lot at the end.

Tip: if for some odd reason that is full, go back to 350 east and go south a little ways to a small circle at 200 s. This will add a little bit of walking and some extra elevation gain, but not much.

The Trail:

It’s not immediately clear where the trail is from this parking lot but we went towards that small stream and then left and eventually hit a gravel path. We noticed on the way down if you cross the stream (easily done without getting wet) you will hit the gravel path sooner.

And the park/trail system.

I thought those rock outcroppings were the geologic feature for the geologic park, however after some digging I learned the geologic feature is a slow moving landslide that damaged 12 homes and Springhill Dr. The city used disaster funds to remove the road and homes, and build this little park around 2012. That is actually fascinating and awesome to hear that some good came from something so destructive. You can read more about that here (external link).

There is another slow moving landslide not too far from here that rapidly moved not too long ago. You can see some pictures of that from my Tunnel Springs trip.

Faint trail.

The rock formations.

Mickey checks out the little spring.

Pretty flower. This is not a normal flower we see along trails and now that I know there used to be houses here.. I kind of wonder if this is leftover from an old garden.

The park below. Also already a nice view of the valley.

Climbing one of the mounds.

Looking out the other mounds. This is why I assumed they were the geologic feature they are kind of weird.

View.

Looking back towards the big one.

Smaller ones.

After the weird mounds you will come to a trail split. It is a loop so either way is fine, we decided to go right.

Looking down at the mounds again.

Eventually you will come to a dry stream bed.

Leaf littered hillside.

And another great view of Antelope Island.

The trail switchbacks in and out of the little culvert a few times.

Looking at the park below. I wasn’t looking for it at the time, but from my pictures I can’t tell there is a slide here at all.

Panoramic from the top of the hill.

The trail at the top and the peaks beyond. I like the you can see the Bonneville Shoreline.

View of the park with the mounds.

Antelope Island again.

Back down to the mounds.

The stream from the small spring.

One last look at the park.

I found an old article that showed what it looked like before all the houses were demolished. It’s kind of crazy to think there used to be a neighborhood here.

Well, there isn’t much to this trail but it was a good choice to get the dogs some exercise and nature. Plus the view from the top is kind of nice. Now that I know why this park exists, it makes it even better. However, again not much to it. Going with 5 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, the elevation gain is mild so it is fairly easy. DR3.

Dogs are allowed, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.