Parleys Historic Nature Park

 Parleys Historic Nature Park AKA Tanner Dog Park, is a nice nature area just below Parleys Canyon. It is a nice off-leash open space for dogs to play in and features a couple spots for dogs to cool off in Parleys Creek. The trail features lots of forest, a creek, and some historic stuff to check out. Also Parleys Trail runs through the edge of the park. That is a paved tail going from Parleys Canyon, down to, eventually the Jordan River Parkway. Oh this is exciting, they anticipate the last section, 900 West to the river will be completed June 2023. I might have to check that out. Anyway, this was not where I planned to go today, but our original idea was just way too muddy so we ended up here. We've done it before but it is nice.

Quick Details:

Length: We did a weird route, but it is about 1.33 miles to the aqueduct, and about a mile to the pipe outlet. We did a total of 2.83 combined.
Trail Type: Out and back, loop or balloon options.
Difficulty: DR3. Its pretty easy going, but there is a definite climb.
Elevation Gain: about 360 feet for both.
Restroom: There are some in the adjacent Tanner Park.
Dogs? Yes. Be sure to take a look at the map to confirm where they can be off-leash.
Other Info: This trail starts at the top, so you have to climb up at the end. This can be a challenge if you are not used to hiking.

To Get Here:

If coming from the west, take i80 to exit 127, 2300 east. Take the 3rd exit from the traffic circle towards 2760 South. Take the 2nd exit in the next traffic circle to get on 2760 South. Go approximately 4/10th of a mile and park at the upper parking lot for Tanner Park. You can park at the lower one too, but upper is closer.

Note: They have added fencing that makes it more awkward to get to it from here. The easiest option now is to walk about 62 feet east along 2760 S. and turn left on 2700 E. The TH is then about 110 feet down.

The Trail:

Trailhead signs.

Sign about restoration efforts.

Park rules, and the map showing which trails are off leash, which are leashed, and which are no dogs allowed.

Some of the animals you might see, and why caring for the area is critical to for them.

Looking into the park.

Grandeur Peak.

The seed pods of Annual Honesty’s, or Money Plants. Called so because the seed pods resemble silver dollars.

Little bit of color.

Where Parleys Creek exits the park.

The creek makes another appearance at Sugar House Park, and again at Hidden Hollow, after that is was buried by early developers. A small section of it was recently daylighted at 3 Creeks Confluence.

Little more color.

Some color in the underbrush.

More color.

With the creek.

Again.

Gnarly tree.

One of the original dog wading spots. I think they are still allowed, but might be wrong.

Sign about Parleys Creek, that reiterates some of the facts I mentioned earlier. It also mentions how more than half of the 14.1 mile long creek is underground. Super sad.

The creek gathers rainfall and snowmelt from over 37,000 acres of land.

Sign explaining the bundles of sticks. They were placed here to help with erosion.

Some color and the creek.

The other side.

Some more color.

The trail again. It’s super wide and pretty easy going.

More color.

Grandeur Peak again.

First stop is the old aqueduct.

The aqueduct was built to deliver water from the old dam at the mouth of the canyon near Suicide Rock to people living on the higher slopes. This small section is all that remains of it.

This sign also finally answered something I have been curious about. Before they put it underground, parleys worked its way northwest and joined the Jordan River near 5th South St.

The front is a little overgrown.

The back. This appears to be a haunt for teenagers.

More graffiti.

Drainage pipe. Not the one that locals refer to as The Pipe. We will see that momentarily.

Nearby is the Dudlers Inn wine cellar.

Sadly they have fenced it off.

Sign for the wine cellar.

In 1870, Joseph Dudler expanded his inn and built a brewery and this wine cellar. The wine cellar was so well built that it is all that remains of the original property.

The sign for the Dudlers Inn.

Joseph Dudler settled here in 1864 and operated an inn on the ground floor of his home. If I am reading it correctly, the stone walls in front of the cellar are the original foundation. He operated the inn until his death in 1897. His descendants occupied the building until it was burned down in in October 1952.

Original stone walls and the wine cellar.

The new fence allows you to see the opening, but not inside sadly.

Original wall.

Some more color.

Gnarly tree.

More color.

Sign about finding a balance between letting people and dogs use the area, while also preserving some areas to allow wildlife to use the area without disturbance.

More color.

The trail.

Into the woods.

The creek.

Trail construction, diverted runoff and culverts have altered the natural spread of Mary’s Spring, so they are working on restoring what they can, and ask that you please stay on the established trail.

It looks like the spring is on the other side of the trail.

It spreads out on the side with the sign.

More color.

Grandeur Peak again. About here I realized I could have taken what appeared to be a shortcut earlier, and have since confirmed on the map. Eh, we were exploring.

More color.

Railroad Monument.

There was a narrow gauge railroad from Sugarhouse up to Echo and Park City through here. It was eventually converted to a full gauge railroad.

More color.

We made it to “The Pipe” (left). This pipe goes from Suicide Rock all the way under i80 to here. Local teens ride down it in the summer. I do have evidence of it from our 2015 visit. It’s 609 feet as the crow flies, but then you have to consider the elevation change so it’s a LONG pipe. Nope.

Some color above the small cascade.

Lower pool.

Signs that let you know dogs are welcome in this part of the creek, but also warning about seasonal high flows. Sadly a lot of dogs have been swept away here. Be sure to pay attention to the flow before allowing your pups or kids in, particularly spring and early summer when run off is happening.

Keeping the creek clean keeps the wildlife around. Is the general message here.

Well, it’s starting to get dark so we did dawdle and started to head back.

More color.

Mary’s Spring again.

More color.

The moon.

What appears to be the remains of an old clay pipe?

More color.

Thank you to Harvey D. Hansen who donated this parcel of land know as Hansen Hollow to the residents of Salt Lake City for the preservation of its natural beauty and to allow public use and enjoyment.

We took an alternative parallel trail back.

Color. I just love this time of year.

Crossing the creek again.

The South Loop Trail. I want to come back and check that out some time. Dogs are not allowed on that trail, just an FYI. It is adequately signed to let you know of that though.

The long climb back up.

Looking back down into it.

Again from near the top.

Towards the top. Here you can see the new fence that forces you to access it from this end. Previously it could be accessed from Parleys Trail.

Pink clouds.

Some pretty trees in Tanner Park.

Looking towards downtown.

More pink clouds.

Little bit of a sunset.

Well, it was not what I planned to do today, but it was a adventure. We got to see some history, some nice fall color, and a lovely creek. I also noticed it seemed a lot cleaner than I have seen it in years past. Lets loose waste, lets bags of waste, and less all around litter. Either people are taking better care of it, or the city has upped its efforts to clean it up. or maybe a volunteer group? Or today was a fluke I don’t know haha, but it was noticeable. 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, there is that long climb at the end, but its not horrible. DR3.

Dogs are allowed, even off leash in most of the area! Be sure to clean up after your furry friends.