Red Butte and the foothills

Over a hundred acres at 300 Wakara Way, of which about twenty one are developed display garden and the rest is natural area with over five miles of hiking trails through it. The collection holds more than three thousand species and roughly 590,000 spring bulbs. So an hour here is either a stroll between borders or a real climb into native oak and maple, depending entirely on which gate you walk out of.

The State Arboretum of Utah designation was made by the Utah Legislature in 1961 and applies to the University of Utah's campus landscape, of which Red Butte Garden is the public face. The plant evaluation work behind it began in 1930 under Walter P. Cottam, who was assessing how species coped with this region's conditions. The garden moved up into Red Butte Canyon in 1983 and opened to the public in 1985.

Because the amphitheater seats about three thousand people and the garden has more than thirteen thousand members. Members get presale access in waves before anything reaches a public onsale, so popular shows are frequently gone before the general public has a chance at them. Nothing underhand is happening; there are simply about four times more members than seats. Joining before the presale waves is the practical route to a specific show.

Seating is general admission on a lawn. Chairs are limited to a seat height of twelve inches and a back of thirty two, which rules out an ordinary camping chair, and blankets to four feet by six per party. Gates open an hour before, there is no re-entry once you are inside, shows run in the weather with no refunds for it, and no pets are permitted other than service animals. Buying in person at the visitor center avoids the online fees.

No. Red Butte Canyon is a Research Natural Area of about 5,370 acres, running from roughly 5,200 feet to 8,000, acquired by the Forest Service in 1969, designated in 1971, and closed to public entry. It is not a permit system or a seasonal closure. It was Fort Douglas's protected water supply from federal acquisitions between 1888 and 1909 until 1991, and that century of exclusion is why it is now described as nearly pristine and used for long term research.

About 2.4 miles round trip with roughly nine hundred and fifty to a thousand feet of gain, climbing from about 5,017 feet to 5,977, from a trailhead off Colorow Road in Research Park via Georges Hollow. It is harder than the distance suggests: rocky, rutted into V shaped grooves in places, relentless rather than stepped, and with effectively no shade anywhere on it. A July afternoon is a bad idea and a September evening is close to perfect.

Chairs and couches built out of flat sandstone slabs by hikers over many years, arranged facing out over the valley, with somebody adding a piece most seasons. It is entirely informal, it is genuinely comfortable to sit in, and at sunset it is the best free seat in Salt Lake City. It is also the reason the trail is busy, so an early start or a weekday evening buys you a great deal more of it to yourself.

Yes, on a leash at all times, and that applies across the whole foothill natural area rather than trail by trail. The ground carries nesting birds and wintering mule deer, and the contours are narrow enough that an off leash dog and a descending cyclist is a genuine collision risk. Fireworks are illegal in every city park and natural area regardless of the date, and Foothill Natural Area rangers patrol through the dry season.

Because the build was stopped part way through. The Foothills Trail System Plan was adopted in 2020, Phase I was built through 2020 and 2021 in lower City Creek, above the Avenues and at Popperton Park, and construction was paused in late 2021 at about 85 percent after public objection. An independent evaluation reported in February 2024, praising the user specific routing and the closure of eroding segments while criticizing some build quality, and the council funded a zone by zone restart on 28 August 2024.