Sandy Amphitheater

 Sandy Amphitheater is a large amphitheater in well, Sandy. It is an active amphitheater that regularly hosts summer concerts, comedy shows, plays, etc. It is a fairly new amphitheater opening in the summer of 1999. I have been wanting to check it out for a minute, but so far nothing really caught my attention. Well, today they decided to do a Free Jazz in the Park and Food Truck Night. So I figured, heck, food trucks and a show, plus I can check out the venue.

Quick Details:

Length: Depends on how much you explore.
Trail Type: Meander
Difficulty: DR2. It is paved and easy.
Elevation Gain: Depends on where you park, but not a lot.
Restroom: Yes.
Dogs? No.
Other Info: This is usually a fee area. This is the first free concert I have seen, however, looking through the upcoming events it looks like they have 2 more free nights coming up. Fun. We might come back.

To Get Here:

Take i15 to the 90th South exit heading east. Go about 3.3 miles, after the road curves to the right, then back left becoming 94th South, look for the entrance on the left. 1245 E 9400 S, Sandy, UT 84094

There is also an additional parking lot accessed above off of 13th East.

Last nights storm brought a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Adventure:

We have driven past when summer concerts have been going, and parking looks like an absolute nightmare! But, it was not super busy tonight, and it was come and go as you like so it was not as bad as we feared it might be.

Well, first things first, we wanted food. There where only about 6 or so trucks tonight. Smoke a Billy’s BBQ caught our noses, and thus our business. It was really good! A little pricey (what isn’t these days?), but we shared a 2 meat plate and both had enough to eat so I guess not too bad.

Entering the Amphitheater.

It is a way bigger stage than either of us expected! Wow!

It was a little more chilly than expected too, so we opted for the far east side that was still in the sun.

Concessions and restrooms on the east side of the stage.

Panoramic.

The next band setting up. For a free concert it wasn't very crowded.

We showed up just in time to see the one band that wasn’t a high school band, Odyssey Big Band.

I am not a big Jazz fan but I don't mind it either. So it was fun! Plus I really liked having a seat to enjoy my meal.

Unfortunately, wanting to be in the sun means having the sun in our eyes.

For the 2nd song they added a singer.

Closer.

After we finished eating we decided to explore a little bit. Here is the back concessions area.

The side of the amphitheater.

From about the center.

The left side.

Closer. Well, it isn’t super crowded, but I still don’t want to be a distraction so I didn’t wander too much. But I do with I had wandered to the top.

Main sign.

Box Office. I wonder if it is still ever used, since most ticket sales are online now.

The food trucks that brought us out. I guess they do food trucks every Monday during the warmer months. But, they do not always have a concert to go with it.

That was fun! Just what I thought, dinner with some free entertainment. Plus I got to explore the amphitheater a bit. 10 out of 10 squirrels for food with entertainment, and free!

As for difficulty, it is paved, and is accessible DR2.

Dogs are not allowed in the amphitheater.

1923 Ford Model T Depot Hack

 This particular Model T was used as a Depot Hack. It was used to haul people from the train station to the hotel.

We just happened upon this neat old car running an errand at Smiths, and I just took a couple of pictures with my cell phone. I normally wouldn’t have made a post about something like that, but I learned some interesting things, and well, I am not sure where else to post it.

Quick Details:

Length: NA
Trail Type: Hope you stumble upon it, or maybe go to a car show.
Difficulty: DR1 Get out and see.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: NA
Dogs? Depends where you see it.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

NA, I think I caught it while the owner was making a quick stop on the way to a car show. I found a page that listed several happening today.

The Adventure:

Pulling in to Smiths (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

Parking (PSP).

We parked next to it to get a closer view.

Infor sign.

Closer.

“1923 Ford Model T Depot Hack

This car was used to haul passengers from the train station to the hotel, and as a cab. 28 horse power, 4 cylinder engine, semi automatic two speed transmission. Body is built entirely of birds eye maple with over 280 pieces of wood to complete.

2 stamps per ride”

That’s fascinating. Sadly, it does not mention which train station, or which hotel(s). If it is local, I would imagine the Salt Lake Union Pacific Depot or the Denver and Rio Grande Depot to the Peery Hotel.

The drivers side.

The front.

The sign. It says the same thing, with the 2 stamps per rider added with marker.

I wonder how much 2 stamps were?

Anyway, so here is a fascinating tidbit I learned while watching The History Channel’s Hazardous History: Station Wagons as we know them were named after these “Station Wagons” that carried passengers and/or luggage and cargo from train stations to hotels. The 1970’s/80’s Station Wagons had the faux wood paneling as a throwback to these original Station Wagons, nicknamed woodies. They were custom wooden cabs built onto Model T chassis. They were initially called Depot Hacks which is short for Hackney Carriage (what taxi cabs were then known as). And depot, because they were found by train depot’s

The hazardous part (for the 70's/80's ones) was the squeezing in a third row of seats and putting them in backwards. It only took a couple rear end accidents and deaths for that to go the way of the Dodo.

Ford logo and a really neat hood ornament.

Passenger side again.

Well, That was super neat! I am happy we got to see it and get a few pictures. Plus learn some fun stuff. 10 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it was a get out and see for us today.

Dogs, well it depends on where you see it.

Bell Canyon Preservation Trailhead Nature Trail

 The new Bell Canyon Preservation Trailhead came with a new little nature trail. We did it when it was first built and well, there wasn’t much to it. We had stopped here for a quick bathroom break after our previous hike at Rocky Mouth and I figured while we’re here why not. It has been a couple of years so, lets see what its like now.

Quick Details:

Length: About 4/10ths of a mile loop with spur.
Trail Type: Loop with spur. Or a figure 8
Difficulty: DR2, the main loop is paved.
Elevation Gain: About 50 feet.
Restroom: Yes, nice fancy flush toilets at the trailhead.
Dogs? No.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take the 90th south exit from i15 and head east up to Wasatch Blvd. Turn right. Go about 600 feet and turn left. Head up the hill to the top parking lot.

The Trail:

Bees enjoying the planted flowers.

Little Cottonwood Canyon.

You can access this trail from both the east side, to the left of the restrooms, or the west side of the top parking lot.

Trail map.

The little trail.

Cross trail. Left connects to the main Bell Canyon Trail and right heads to the picnic areas.

Helicopter pad for life and fire safety. Not much to it, but it is a good place to land a helicopter I guess. It is weird the trail passes through it though haha.

With an aviation wind sock.

This central path leads up to some picnic areas. We will explore that in a minute.

The first ridge you have to climb for Bell Canyon.

Bell Canyon above the 2nd ridge.

Around the bend.

There is a sticker on the bottom that says: Smile you’re on camera.

Yellow flowers.

We were both startled by a very loud metallic creaking noise… it took a second to realize apparently the wind had shifted and the wind sock had turned.

Continuing along.

View south.

Oh, well here is an interpretive sign about water.

The turkey claw above Dry Canyons. Some people use this as an indication of winter being over. If there is not much snow in it it means we will have a early, weaker run-off. Note: I heard this via a random Facebook post, and am having trouble finding something to verify that. So.. it could be made up. But I mean, right now it appears to be holding true. I wonder if I have any pictures from the epic winter of 2022-23.

Wewt, here we go, from about this time of year in Dimple Dell. This was the year that Emigration creek flooded. Not the same angle, or even the best angle, but you can see the "claws" are still quite snowed in.

Above the 2nd ridge and the North Bell Bottom Twin (As I call it).

View south, with Wasatch Boulevard.

West.

South again.

One of several fake granite “boulders” that appear to be storage containers. I assume they are for the life and fire safety teams.

Actually, according to my post from last time, they are hiding RF emitters. 

Another one.

Trail split. We decided to see what was in the middle section.

West picnic table. It is a shame they didn’t put in any kind of shade structure.

Continuing along.

The middle picnic area. This one has shade… at least this late in the day.

Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Hummingbird. Crap, that reminds me I need to clean and put out the feeder!

And the east picnic area. Also shaded this late in the day.

I seem to recall the original plan had 4 picnic areas and a pavilion up here. But, they ended up with just the 3.

Almost back to the east side of the loop and the ridge above. We decided to head back. Looking back we could have done a figure 8 for about the same mileage.

The hummer is still there. Hello again buddy!

View to the west.

An actual granite boulder. And oddly enough, it has not been quarried, like most nearby boulders. My best guess is the previous property owners were here before the quarrying happened. This property used to belong to the oldest residents of Sandy.

Real boulder next to a fake boulder.

View south again.

Back on the main trail.

Another interpretive sign about the watershed. So that makes a total of 2 interpretive signs. Woo.

Another fake boulder.

A lovely granite bench that shows the drill marks from quarrying. You can learn more about that on the nearby Temple Quarry Trail.

Drill marks. These appear to be a lot more uniform, leading me to think it was probably recently quarried.

Nice view of Antelope Island from the bench.

And to the west.

Panoramic.

Another fake boulder.

Lupine. I think this was planted here.

Fake tree cell phone tower.

Next to a non disguised one.

Nearing the end.

The cell towers again.

Back to the parking lot.

Bell Canyon above.

As I mentioned, this land was owned by some of the oldest families in Sandy, the Richardsons and the Evans. They agreed to sell the land to Sandy at a discounted rate as long as it was preserved as a community resource. Hooray, it didn't become more McMansions. We got a new trailhead, with 133 parking spaces, flush toilets, drinking fountains, picnic areas, and this little nature trail.

Here is what it looks like today using Google Earth.

Here is what it looked like in 2021 while being built.

And he is what is looked like in 2018. As you can see, the old property had pretty much the same paths, the city just enhanced them. You can also see all of the old junk the city had to haul away.

We took a wrong turn and pulled over to turn around, and well, hello there.

That was a random unexpected find.

Neat clock tower above the Localz Bistro. It is not currently displaying the correct time.

Meh. It is not the most exciting trail, and well I think I would appreciate more interpretive signs. But, it does have a nice view, and I really appreciate having an ADA trail that offers those views. We don't have a whole lot of those. Plus it’s not a bad quick add-on trail. 5 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, the main loop is paved, DR2.

Dogs are not allowed due to watershed restrictions. Be sure to leave Fido home for this one.