Olympus Hills Park

Olympus Hills Park is a large park located in Salt Lake City that offers spectacular view of Mount Olympus as well as the Salt Lake Valley. There is a .7 ish mile inner loop, and as I understand it a .9 mile outer loop. We inadvertently did the inner loop today. This was an add on hike because the other one we did today ended up being shorter than anticipated.

I heard about an old urban legend referred to as The Sidewalks. As the legend goes, a man murdered his wife, or family, and buried them at the center of a maze of sidewalks. The legend further states that people have reported hearing anguished cries and even so far as have disappeared or died while navigating the maze of sidewalks. As with all urban legends I take them with a grain of salt, however I do still enjoy locating them. From what I have been able to find, the actual maze of sidewalks was near here, but has since been developed over so it no longer exists. It would seem that, since this park has a bunch of sidewalks and was near the original location that people have started referring to this park as The Sidewalks. So, the legend may continue into a new generation at the wrong location haha.

Quick Details:

Length: .7 inner or .9 mile outer loop.
Trail Type: Loop
Difficulty: DR3. It is paved, with a lot of stairs.
Elevation Gain: 118 ft.
Restroom: Yes. But they appear to be closed for the season.
Dogs? Yes, leashed.

To Get Here:

Take i215 to 45th south (east side). Head west. Turn right on 3880 E. Turn right on 4345 S. Go to the end and park.

Take the sidewalk either way. If you want the shorter route head for the restrooms, or take the dirt shortcut to it.

Mount Olympus shrouded in clouds from i80 (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Trail:

The shortcut we used which put us on the shorter route. This is just north of center of the parking lot.

I normally would not use such a shortcut, however the city put a sign next to it, so I would say they have accepted the desire path.

One of the many staircases.

Fantastic view of Mount Olympus.

With one of the little gullies we will cross through.

Naked trees below Neffs Canyon.

Mount Olympus again.

More stairs.

I am really enjoying the views of Mount Olympus.

Landis spotted this bird land on the telephone pole. It appears to be a red tail hawk. Of course we didn’t expect to see anything exciting today, so we did not bring the telephoto lens. Oi.

Nearing the top NE corner of the loop. The split here leads to another neighborhood. just bare right.

The hawk again.

The top portion of the trail is pretty close to i215 but isn’t horrible.

The hawk again.

And it spooked.

Top of the trail.

View of the valley below.

Mount Olympus again.

View down again. I should have taken us up above the inversion!

The hawk again. Man I wish I had my telephoto lens today.

The valley below.

Mount Olympus.

Mountains to the north.

Downtown.

Dry creek bed. I’m half wondering if this is a man made water feature. But, I don’t know.

Sunset. Looks like I caught a minor light pillar.

Clouds shrouding Twin Peaks (PSP).

Sunset again (PSP).

Eh. I did enjoy the view of Mount Olympus and the valley below, but otherwise the trail didn’t seem particularly exciting. There was a web of dirt trails between the paved rails though, so maybe I should come back. I ended up here chasing an old urban legend. From what I have been able to ascertain, that no longer exists. Meh, going with 7 out of 10 squirrels. However if you just want a quick get out and exercise, maybe I would bump it up to an 8.

As for difficulty, it is completely paved, and fairly short. However there are a lot of stairs. DR3.

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