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Allen Park is a newer park in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City. It features a creek, lovely mature trees, some neat old buildings, and some neat art. It used to be a private little neighborhood but when it went up for sale a few years ago, Salt Lake City saw it’s worth and managed to purchase it before a developer got their grubby hands on it. It is a beautiful little oasis in the city. It is one of my favorite parks, and I tend to come visit at least once a year.
We tried to come last week, but found that it was closed for construction. I heard they were doing a grand reopening today, so I figured we would come see it. Sadly we missed the party, and thus some neat things but at least the park is open again.
Quick Details:
Length: About 3/4 of a mile loop with spur.
Trail Type: Loop with spur.
Difficulty: It is paved and flat. DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Not normally. There was a porta-potty today, but I think it was for the event. They do plan on adding restrooms eventually.
Dogs? No. Unfortunately a few bad seeds allowed their dogs to harass the wildlife, so they are no longer allowed.
Other Info:
To Get Here:
Take i80 to 13th east and head north for about 8/10 of a mile. Past Sugar House Park, and past 21st south. It will be on the right. There is no parking, so find appropriate street parking nearby.
Fun clouds over Parleys Canyon (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).
The South Salt Lake Water Tower (PSP).
Sugar House Park (PSP).
The Trail:
Hooray, it is open!
Inside.
Cute gazebo. I am sad I missed the Grand Reopening because it said they opened up access to this.
The main Allen Lodge. They plan to turn this into the park office/museum.
One of the peacocks.
Again. Hello handsome.
Closer.
Again.
Neat fountain and the Allen Lodge.
Another peacock. There are/were 3 total, and a turkey. But I haven’t seen all 3, or the turkey in a little while. So I am starting to suspect they may have passed.
He decided to approach us. Sorry buddy, we don’t have any food!
But you are very pretty!
Scar from the fire, irrigation, and culinary water improvements, which is why the park was closed for a few months (delayed by some archeologic discoveries).
Well, the peacock pulled our attention this way so we did the short little south spur real quick. We usually do it on the way back.
Squirrel!
The first peacock again.
Another squirrel.
The Roost. They plan to preserve this building.
The 2nd peacock again.
Again.
The main Allen Lodge again.
Peacock friend.
Fountain.
Pretty roses.
I was hoping to see the poppies but they appear to be all done. I have been hearing it was not a good year for them anyway since it has been so dry.
The Allen Lodge.
This bridge was damaged in the epic winter of 2022-23 and was subsequently removed.
It led to the Thomas Boam House. They plan to preserve this one, but access will be from the next bridge.
Large bird cage.
Foundation for the first building they removed, an aviary. It was in really, really bad shape, and honestly looked like it was going to tumble into the creek at any moment. So I am not surprised they were quick to remove it.
With it gone, you can now see Emigration Creek here. But it makes you wonder, how was a building even here?
Front step.
Man made pond. It appears they plan to keep this as well.
Allen Canyon Park.
Continuing along.
Little firepit. They plan to keep this and turn it into a gathering area. But uh… it looks different. Oh, they removed some little benches and bricked up the fireplace.
From last fall.
Ye Old George (preserving) and the future main bridge to access that side.
Again.
One of several light posts. They plan to restore these as well.
One of the many mosaic poems. I have covered those in previous posts, so I did not grab them all today.
We found a small patch of poppies hanging on, right above our favorite mosaic poem. “Summer or winter, day or night, the woods are an ever new delight”. It fell over after the rough winter in 2023, so I am glad they were able to put it back up. Though, they did move it.
Closer to the poppies.
The 1384 Duplex. They plan to turn it into restrooms.
One of the hand painted address signs. My goal was to get a picture of all of them today since they have started improvements.
The duplex again.
The other address sign.
New fire hydrant. Part of the upgrades they did over winter.
This part of the road crosses the creek and has a culvert underneath it. They plan to tear this all out and put in a bridge instead to improve waterflow and reduce the risk of the culvert getting plugged.
Emigration Creek, Upstream.
Downstream.
Another mosaic poem.
From here I am going to cover the north side. We’ll do the south side on the way back.
They plan to remove this house and put in a picnic area.
There is no mention as to what is happening to this old well. I hope they keep it. It is neat. And we do not have very many classic well features that I am aware of.
The neighborhood.
The Mary Rose. They plan to restore this one.
Iris’s.
Roses.
Address sign.
The other one is covered by a bush. Poop. I was hoping to get them all today.
The Roberta. This one will be turned into a maintenance shed.
Address sign.
The Sally Anne. They will restore this one as well.
Address sign.
This one will be removed and a gathering area put in it's place.
Address sign.
Large tree.
The Ethelene. They plan to restore this one as well.
Address sign.
The turn around at the back end.
Emigration Creek flowing behind the property. They have retained the option for a future trail along the creek and to connect to Blaine Natural Area and Wasatch Hollow upstream. I really hope that happens.
Another fancy light post they plan to restore.
Now we will go back on the south side.
These 3 building on the southeast side of the park will be removed and an enhanced nature area put in their place.
Address signs.
Broken windows on the next one.
Heavy equipment.
One of the address signs is missing.
The other one.
More equipment. Looks like they are trimming the trees.
Little island in the road.
The 3rd one that will be removed for the natural area.
Address sign.
Little pillars. The address sign on this side appears to be missing as well.
Neighborhood.
Open area. You can’t see the creek, but it’s back there.
Little forest.
Back over the creek.
The 1384 duplex. Again, this one will be converted into restrooms.
It looks like there was a bridge here before.. I don’t think I have noticed that before.
It would have led to the duplex that is being removed for a picnic area.
The 1384 Duplex again.
Spent poppies.
Forest. Last I heard, after all the buildings are secured or demolished, the fencing will come down.
The small patch of happy poppies again.
Closer.
The cleaned up gathering area.
Money plant.
Some white ones. It would seem that is not as rare as I thought.
Ye Olde George again.
Squirrels.
“Knowledge comes but wisdom lingers”.
Hello little guy!
So cute.
One of several benches that were made from some trees that got blown down during the 2020 windpocolypse.
The Allen Lodge again.
Again.
Again.
Another poem and a beheaded deer statue.
The 2nd peacock again... unless they switched places.
Again.
The front fountain again.
The Allen Lodge again.
Again.
Roses.
One of the mosaic poems that is falling over.
Another large bird cage.
Peacock.
The roost again.
The address sign.
Which made me realize I didn’t see the one for the Allen Lodge.
Oh there it is. It is a little more fancy metal bird. Rather than a cute hand painted sign.
The front door again.
Suddenly we heard a thunderous noise.
The peacock decided to display for us.
Oh my goodness, you are so pretty!
Again.
Do a twirl!
Now the other way.
You work that runway.
Quick Video
Of course when I stopped filming he finally decided to twirl again haha. So here is half of it.
I wish I caught him vocalizing. They are wayyyy louder than expected. In fact we could hear them calling last week when we were at Westminster across the street.
One last shot.
One of several little perches they put on top of the fences for the peacocks.
The first peacock again.
The fountain again.
Heading towards the front.
The first one again.
The 2nd one is still displaying.
With the Allen Lodge.
More poems.
The entrance and the porta-potty. I suspect it was for the construction crew, and they left it up for the grand reopening event today. Normally it is behind the fence where it cannot be used by the public. But maybe they will leave it until the new restrooms are opened?
The final recommended concept design map.
The main Westminster building (PSP).
Fun clouds (PSP).
This billboard makes me giggle (PSP).
That was fun! I love Allen Park. I love the lore, I love the old houses, I love the gardens and poppies, and I love the peacocks! It’s also usually not very busy. We only ran across 2 other couples today. 10 out of 10 squirrels.
As for difficulty, it is paved, and flat. DR2.
Dogs are not allowed. So be sure to leave Fido home.
