East Canyon Campsites

The trail that runs through East Canyon was not the Mormons' invention — it was the Donner-Reed party's, cut in the summer of 1846. Bound for California by an untested shortcut, they spent thirteen brutal days hacking a wagon road out of the Wasatch from Henefer toward the valley, and those lost days are what left them trapped in the Sierra snow that winter. In 1847 Brigham Young's companies simply followed the trace, camping along this creek on their way west. East Canyon State Park preserves the corridor now, water where wagons once ground through.

What the plaque says

EAST CANYON CAMPSITES Mormon Pioneer Trail The main group of Mormon pioneers camped one mile above the mouth of Echo Canyon on July 16, 1847. They were following the 1846 tracks of the Donner-Reed Party who had taken a "new" route to California proposed by Lansford W. Hastings. The next day, the pioneers entered the Henefer Valley and traveled downstream along the Weber River where they camped July 17 and 18. In the hills north of their camp, they offered a special prayer for Brigham Young who was ill. Leaving Brigham Young and a few wagons in the Henefer Valley on July 19, the main group crossed the Weber River at present Henefer and turned up Main Canyon to Hogsback Summit. From this point, they stood in awe of the distant Wasatch Mountains, yet to be traversed. The pioneers proceeded down Dixie Hollow, up Broad Hollow, and through present East Canyon State Park to East Canyon Creek. They camped at a spot now underwater, about 1/4 mile upstream from the dam. On July 20, the pioneers went 7¼ miles south up East Canyon. They forded the creek eleven times in one day. The pioneers camped at Large Spring, ½ mile north of present Mormon Flat. William Clayton said, "The last three miles has been the worst road... it being through willow bushes over twenty feet high... it is yet scarcely possible to travel without tearing wagon covers... The road is one of the crookedest I ever saw..." The next day, the pioneers traveled up Little Emigration Canyon to the summit of Big Mountain, the longest sustained climb of the entire trip. The pioneers paused here with heartfelt gratitude, for looking southwest they saw their destination, the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. The pioneers proceeded down the extremely steep trail off Big Mountain to Mountain Dell, over Little Mountain, then down into Emigration Canyon. The main group camped 2½ miles from the mouth of Emigration Canyon on July 21. The next day they traveled to a campsite near 17th South and 5th East in what is now Salt Lake City. They had arrived! Brigham Young entered the valley on July 24. Placed in 1997 Morgan Company Site No. 497 Twins Peaks Chapter Site No. 83

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Utah Olympic Park — 11 mi
  The ski jumping and bobsled venue from the 2002 Winter Olympics
• Emigration Canyon — 13 mi
  The final stretch of trail the Mormon pioneers took into the valley
• This Is The Place Heritage Park — 14 mi
  A living history village at the mouth of Emigration Canyon
• Natural History Museum of Utah — 14 mi
  A world-class museum built into the foothills above Salt Lake City

More markers nearby

• Mormon Flat — 2.9 mi
• Little Emigration Canyon — 3.8 mi
• Big Mountain — 4.7 mi
• Ephraim Hank's Pony Express Station — 8.2 mi