Temperatures may finally be falling, but it’s still imperative that we get outdoors as often as we can in the cold months. There are so many benefits to bundling up and going outside—mood elevation, memory improvement, immunity boost, cortisol reduction, and calories burned among them—and Salt Lake City is a great spot for it. Countless opportunities exist here for hiking trail running (get some good shoes or spike up), snow shoeing, skiing, and snowboarding, of course. But it’s just as important that we all find ways to get out that don’t require the added expense of specialized equipment or the ability to navigate canyons in adverse weather conditions.
Enter, our city’s many parks and green spaces...
We’ve written about Lindsey Gardens, Liberty Park, and Memory Grove…but today we’ll be waxing sentimental about our city’s biggest urban oasis, Sugar House Park. At just over 110 acres, there’s room here for all, and plenty to do, no matter the season.
A Little History
Seated in (you guessed it) Sugar House—one of our city’s more popular and convenient neighborhoods—Sugar House Park sits on land that was once Utah's very first State Prison. Brigham Young himself chose the site, which was located six miles southeast of city limits, and the original structure was erected in 1854. Housing nearly 1,000 men at one point (the institution eventually had its own farm, which provided roughly 75% of meat and veggies consumed by inmates), expansion became necessary over time, but as the prison grew, so too did development in the area. By the 1930s, residents were calling for a relocation, and plans were made to build a new prison in the Draper area. In 1947, the Legislature passed a statute setting aside the land on which the penitentiary sat for nearly 100 years as a state park (with 30 acres reserved for what would become Highland High School). According to the park's official website, “In an agreement approved by Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County on July 16, 1957, the city and county conveyed the property, in trust, to the Sugar House Park Authority to operate it as a park for a period of 99 years, ending Dec. 31, 2055. Under the leadership of Harold Fabian, who was president of the Park Authority for its first 18 years, the park developed gradually over its first decade under a plan developed by Denver landscape architect Jack Harenburg.”
Over the years, Sugar House Park has been host to 4th of July Fireworks (though, fireworks are no longer allowed in the park) and countless 5Ks, tournaments, and BBQs. The park includes a 1.4-mile inner paved loop with a 16-foot inside lane for walkers, runners, and cyclists, but there’s also a 1.82-mile perimeter grass loop, and the park is bordered on the western and southern edges by Parley’s Trail. The Draw—a project aimed at connecting Parley’s Trail to the Hidden Hollow Preserve by creating a passage under 1300 East—is a multi-functional piece of public art that now provides a space for visitors, walkway, wildlife corridor, amphitheater, and floodwall/spillway in a design that echoes our state’s natural landscape (the canyon sculpture is officially a registered state dam).
A community garden on the east side of the park offers 50 reservable plots and veggies that can be picked outside the fenced areas. Seven different pavilions are available for reservation, and several courts, fields, and playgrounds dot the park for public use. Residents and visitors can also take advantage of the close proximity to SH Park’s creek, large pond, and plenty of grassy areas for any number of activities. Sledding on the park’s snow-covered hills is also a favorite winter activity in this particular urban oasis.
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