The International Peace Gardens

 The International Peace Gardens is a beautiful park in Salt Lake City. It features a bunch of gardens that represent and honor various nationalities. I was founded as a citizen project and as a lesson in peace and understanding between nations. It was conceived in 1939 and dedicated in 1952. I have been here before, but thought I would give it another visit today since I walked by it on The Jordan River Parkway today.

Quick Details:

Length: The main loops is approximately a half mile. But you might do more wandering.
Trail Type: Loop
Difficulty: Its flat and paved DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: No but there is one in the adjacent Jordan Park.
Dogs? Yes, leashed.
Other Info: Official map here (outside link) some of the gardens have links to additional info.

To Get Here:

Take i15 to the 13th south exit. Ge west for about 7/10ths of a mile and turn right on 9th west. Go about a half mile and turn left on 1000 South. Follow that to the parking lot.

Or, if coming form the Jordan River Parkway, find a spot to cross into it. You really can’t miss it, but there is a least one sign guiding you into it as well.

The Trail:

Since I popped in from the back, I think I missed a few areas, but I am pretty sure I covered most of it today.

My curiosity was totally piqued by this giant boulder, so that is where I started.

This is the Switzerland Garden, and that is a reproduction of the Matterhorn. It is not granite, as I thought, but metal frame and cement. Neat.

I think this is the Norway Garden.

I didn’t get close enough to see what the tower was.

The Greece Garden.

Cute little butterfly bench.

The Chinese Garden.

I love the trees.

I wonder if they ever turn the streams and fountains on.

Pavilion.

Looking across at The United States Garden.

There wasn’t much to the India Garden. But I found this Ghandi statue.

Vietnam.

The Canadian Peace Garden.

Ireland.

I almost didn’t include this one considering what is going on right now, however now more than ever do we need to think about Russia being peaceful.

I think this is Scotland.

Neat.

The Little Mermaid replica statue in the Denmark Garden. At 3 feet tall it is about half the size of the original statue in Copenhagen and 1 of only 4 official replicas. It was stolen back in 2010, and found 10 days later hidden in some bushes in the Italy Garden. They don’t know for sure, but my theory is whoever stole it noticed it made the news so they brought it back and hid it.

I’m pretty sure this is still part of the Denmark Garden.

The Korean Garden.

I initially thought these were totem poles, but this is not the Native American Garden, so whatever the Korean version of that is.

Kind of sparse.

Oh sad. I would have liked to see the pavilion.

The Mexico Garden.

German Peace Garden.

I was kind of squirreling all over the place today, so sorry if this is a bit jumbled.

Lebanon Garden.

Italy.

Japan Garden.

In all my squirreling, it looks like I bypassed, or strait up just did not notice: Great Britain, Sweden, United States, Tonga, France, Africa, Wales, Philippines, Brazil, Finland, and Holland. So I might have to come back some time. Maybe once the flowers start blooming.

But, this is an absolutely beautiful park, with a lot of culture and history to take in. I really love it, and am glad I had an opportunity to explore it again. It was a little busier this time than it was last, but not too bad. 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, the main path is paved and flat DR2. You can do some additional exploring that would make it a DR3.

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