Ensign Peak

 Ensign Peak is a lower peak located behind the State Capitol, in downtown Salt Lake City. The trail features some nice scrub oak patches and some absolutely incredible views of the valley and downtown. It is also a really easy way to bag a peak. At about a mile out and back it’s not a long trek. However, that means it can be a very busy trail at times. It wasn’t too bad today though. We have done this one several times, but it’s been a minute and I was hoping this might get us up above the inversion. Unfortunately it did not, but it was still nice.

Quick Details:

Length: About a mile out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR4. It may be short but is a bit of a climb.
Elevation Gain: about 400 ft.
Restroom: No.
Dogs? Yes, Leashed.
Other Info: I strongly recommend spikes when there is snow. Also, this trail can be quite muddy with snowmelt.

To Get Here:

Find your way to the capital building downtown. Take the street east of the capital (E. Capital BLVD.) north for half a mile (from the intersection with the rd behind the capital). Turn left on Edgecombe Dr. Continue it for .3 miles until the road becomes Ensign Vista Dr. Another .2 miles you will find yourself between a Mormon Church and the Trailhead. Park on the road and hike north. Or, put the following coordinates into google maps and let your phone do the work: (Lat:40.79185 Lon:-111.88825)

It is quite hazy today (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)). We have had a lot of storms this year (yay) which has kept the haze from getting this bad, but we had a dry spell for a bit. But we have one coming tomorrow that should clear things up again.

Downtown SLC (PSP). Our skyline is really changing.

From another angle (PSP).

Below the peak (PSP).

The Trail:

The trailhead.

Rules carved into stone.

Little informative circle. I’ve read all the signs before so I didn’t bother today.

Another view of the peak.

More signage. Left leads to Vista Mound, forward to the peak. Both trails lead to the peak, the first one just has a short detour, we did that on the way down.

I didn’t get a picture of the 3rd sign, but there are 3 signs with varying hours. The one above says till 11 PM, the one I posted earlier says till dusk, and there was a 3rd that says 10 PM. o.O I think as long as you aren’t causing trouble nobody really cares.

Before long we encountered the mud.

I’m pretty sure these bricks are new.

Back to snow.

Various game trails.

Looking back at the funk.

A cooper’s hawk decided to make an appearance.

The peak again.

Due to recent events, and because of who I am, I learned that this is likely a magpie nest.

Now to the actual climb. Oi.

The peak again. Now we can see the stone pillar.

Random streams of water.

The switchback before the final push has these little stone squares to take a break on if needed.

Little sign talking about how the valley was formed.

The view down.

The back of the peak.

The Great Salt Lake viewpoint. Normally you can see the lake from here, but with the smog it is a bit obscured.

This is a good spot to go ahead and put you microspikes on if you haven’t yet. We learned today that microspikes and mud don’t mix very well. The mud tends to pull them right off, so this is a good spot to put them on in preparation for the final ridge.

Now we just need to follow the ridge over to the peak. There is not much of a climb here but it’s a little sketchy, particularly while it is snowy.

Little bit of sunset color.

Not the best picture, as I just kind of keep my head down and focus on getting through this part, but there a bit of a drop off here that I don’t like. It was made a little worse with the snow making me more nervous about slipping. But it’s super short and I made it.

Before long we reached the peak. And holy crap, we have it to ourselves! At least for a little while anyway.

The stone marker.

Downtown obscured by smog. I was hoping to get up above it, but it doesn’t look like it was high enough to really be above it. But, still nice to be up in the upper layers at least. If you have never done it, I highly recommend hike up above the inversion layer if you can. It is really neat.

Panoramic.

Out west.

The other side of the stone pillar.

The view.

With matching view.

Another panoramic.

The plaque on the pillar.

The valley again.

Another panoramic.

I noticed a carved stone on the pillar that I hadn’t noticed before. This prompted more investigating.

Looking up.

Little bit of sunset color again.

Found another carved stone. This one says Ogden Stake.

Looking up from the back.

Landis knew about the one that says Kolob on the back, but I don’t recall knowing about it.

Logan Temple.

We couldn’t make this one out, I was thinking possibly Granite Stake, but I’m not sure.

This one we couldn’t make out at all.

This one either.

But that was neat! who knew there were so many little Easter eggs on this marker? Guess I just never looked close enough. We found 7, about half of which we could read. I wonder if there are any others we might have missed.

One last look at downtown.

Panoramic view to the west.

Well, we had our fun, but we decided to head back down.

The section I don’t really like. I guess its not a drop off, but it is a steep slope.

Looking back towards the peak.

Back down to the Great Salt Lake viewpoint.

View down again.

Again.

The trail split to Vista Mound is not signed from this direction. Good thing it is well traveled, and I generally know where it is.

A little thinner, but still obvious.

Little unnamed arch. I think for simplicity sake it should just be Ensign Arch.

Vista Mound.

There is a paved and graded trail up the here so if you wanna take someone who doesn’t hike, or has mobility issues, this might be a good option. It is a kind of steep ramp though.

Well this is new! There is a trail that connects to Hell Canyon here.

Unfortunately, the ease of access has allowed some vandalism. However I am pretty sure it is the same sign as on the peak.

The view, through the smog.

Panoramic.

Heading back down the paved, but icy trail.

Back down to the little informative area.

The peak from below.

The trailhead again.

East Capital St. has a unique speed limit (PSP). I can’t say I have seen 20 MPH very often.

The Capital (PSP).

From the front (PSP).

New high rise looks like it is almost done (PSP).

Just a couple bonus shots as we head to our next destination. I originally planned on going out to Farmington Bay but realized we didn’t have enough daylight, so we decided to go see Out of the Blue. Separate post.

It was a fun day! I was glad to get up in the mountains, since the weather has kind of forced us to stay low in the valley the past few weeks. I also enjoyed that it was not a busy as it normally was, and we actually got the peak to ourselves for a bit! I’m going to take 1 squirrel for mud, and for the sketchy part. 9 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, the trail to to peak, while short is quite a climb! DR4. If you just want to do Vista Mound I would rate that as a DR2.5 it’s paved and seems to be graded for wheelchair access, but it does seem like it might be tough for that.

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