Read an Excerpt
Red Butte Garden
Key At-a-Glance Information
- Length: 2–4 miles, depending on route and side trails taken
- Elevation gain: 410'
- Elevation: 5,065' (Courtyard Garden)
- Configuration: Loop with various side trails and extensions
- Difficulty: Easy–moderate
- Scenery: Foothills, outcrops of red sandstone, riparian corridor, valley views
- Exposure: Full sun, partial shade
- Traffic: High in formal gardens, low in natural area
- Trail Surface: Paved in formal gardens, dirt trails in natural area
- Hiking time: 1–2 hours
- Water requirements: 1 liter
- Season: Open year-round; hours vary by season
- Access: Entrance fee paid at visitor center (see page 4); garden members admitted free
- Maps: USGS Sugar House
- Facilities: Restrooms, water, snacks, phone at visitor center
- Dogs: Prohibited
In Brief
Just minutes by foot from the University of Utah campus, formal gardens give way to natural-area trails in a peaceful setting of beauty and historical significance that also provides education and fun. There’s something for everyone at any time of year.
Description
It would be easy to visit Red Butte Garden and spend the better part of a day enjoying the colorful floral gardens, ponds, and waterfalls without ever venturing into the more-remote natural area. Indeed, most visitors find sufficient variety and entertainment in the 18 acres of landscaped gardens that they never leave the paved trails for the nearly 100 acres of grassy hillsides, wildflower meadows, and rocky outcrops that lie to the east of the formal gardens. But those who come prepared with basic trail shoes and water can enjoy a network of more than 4 miles of hill trails, offering gentle ascents that lead to sweeping views of the Salt Lake Valley.
Beginning in the late 1800s, the U.S. Army used the strategically important hillside as a camp, firing range, and fort. The red-sandstone crags that form the hill’s main ridge served as a quarry that was actively worked until about 1934, producing the red-stone blocks still seen in many of the prominent homes and buildings throughout the Salt Lake Valley.
At the visitor center you’ll receive a useful guide and map that identify many of the garden highlights, such as the Courtyard Garden, the Herb Garden, the Water Pavilion, and the Children’s Garden. The guide also features a map of the natural-area trails, showing four different trailheads that access the natural area from the formal gardens.
One popular trail loop follows the perimeter of the Red Butte Garden property and offers a surprising variety of terrain, foliage, and scenery in a 2-mile hike. Beginning at the Courtyard Garden, just outside the visitor center, take the trail for 200 feet along the south side of the Four Seasons Garden. Leaving the formal area, continue to the right along a wide, bark path; cross the Quarry Road; and continue up the Seepy Hollow Trail for 0.2 mile to another Quarry Road crossing. Seepy Hollow follows the course of a natural spring seepage, so in wet conditions you might want to take the longer Quarry Road. A short 0.1-mile walk up Quarry Road brings you to a sign marking the junction of the Zeke’s Mountain Trail loop to the left.
From this junction you can take a 0.1-mile spur trail to the end of Quarry Road and visit the historic Quarry House. This fascinating sandstone structure, dating to the late 1800s, was built to store equipment and house the quarry superintendent. Although the roof is gone and some of the walls have been vandalized, the house’s stonework shows the masons’ enduring craftsmanship. The centerpiece of the Quarry House is a large double-sided fireplace.
Returning to Zeke’s Mountain Trail, you’ll wind through a thicket of Gambel oak up the craggy hillside to the Bennett Vista Trail, which leads to the hill’s crest and offers commanding views of the Salt Lake Valley. From the hilltop, continue east on Zeke’s Mountain Trail, generally following the property’s fenced perimeter. At the far east side of the property, the trail meets the fence. Here, a one-way gate allows unwelcome deer to leave the property so they can forage on the adjoining National Forest Service land rather than eat the cultivated flowers in Red Butte Garden.
The trail descends along the fence line to the creek, which forms the northern boundary of the garden. Along the Creekside Trail you’ll enjoy the shade of oaks and bigtooth maples. Continue on this trail 0.4 mile before returning to the formal gardens.
Throughout the natural-area trails, you’ll find more than 130 native plants and trees. In spring, when the garden is especially colorful, yellow blooms of arrowleaf-balsam root and speckles of blue Wasatch penstemon dot the green hillside. You might see a Great Basin rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail or spot rodents, rabbits, or even evidence of an occasional bobcat.
Red Butte Garden’s natural-area trails are well marked with signs at all trailheads. While the signs become more scarce in the outlying areas, getting lost is never much of a concern—the property is fenced on all sides and you can visually orient yourself along most of the trails. If you’re ever in doubt, just follow any trail downhill and to the west, and you’ll soon find yourself back within the formal gardens.
The natural-area trails offer plenty of options in the way of short loops, spurs, and side trails. After exploring the foothills and creekside in the natural area, you can return to the wide, paved trails of the formal gardens and easily spend an additional hour or more enjoying the year-round beauty in this community treasure.
Nearby Activities
Red Butte Garden (300 Wakara Way) offers a year-round program of classes, workshops, activities, tours, and community programs. The Outdoor Concert Series features world-renowned performing artists on the garden’s amphitheater stage during June, July, and August. Call 801-585-0556 or visit redbuttegarden.org for a schedule and tickets. The garden lies adjacent to the University of Utah, which provides an abundant offering of concerts, sporting events, and campus activities.
GPS Trailhead Coordinates: Courtyard Garden: N40° 45.929 W111° 49.422
Directions
From Salt Lake City, take either I-80 east to Foothill Drive (exit 129) or I-215 north to Foothill Drive (exit 1). Continue north 3.1 miles on Foothill Drive (UT 186) to Wakara Way. Turn right on Wakara Way and continue 0.6 mile to the Red Butte Garden entrance. Parking is 0.1 mile ahead on the left. Enter the garden and trail system through the visitor center.
