Ensign Peak - Top

You are standing where they stood. Two days after reaching the valley in July 1847, Brigham Young's party climbed to this bare summit and glassed the country below — the canyons, the streams, the sweep of the basin they meant to settle. It was Wilford Woodruff's idea to raise "an ensign for the nations" here, and the peak took its name from the phrase; flags have been carried up and flown from this point ever since. The view that guided the pioneers' first planning still opens north, east, and south from the top.

What the plaque says

July 26, 1847, two days after the Mormon pioneers entered this valley Brigham Young and party climbed to this point and with the aid of field glasses made a careful survey of the mountains, canyons and streams. In the group were Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Willard Richards, Albert Carrington and William Clayton. Wilford Woodruff, first to ascend the peak, suggested it as a fitting place to “set up an ensign” (Isaiah 11:12). It was then named Ensign Peak. Subsequently the Stars and Stripes were raised here.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ensign Peak — 0.4 mi
  A short hike to the spot where Brigham Young surveyed the valley
• Salt Lake City — 1.6 mi
  Utah's capital and largest city — where the Wasatch Range meets the Great Salt Lake.
• Temple Square — 1.6 mi
  The spiritual and architectural heart of Salt Lake City
• Liberty Park — 3.5 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882

More markers nearby

• Ensign Peak - Trailhead — 0.2 mi
• Ensign Peak Nature Park (8) Markers — 0.2 mi
• Ensign Peak Trail Markers (3) — 0.2 mi
• Wasatch Springs Plunge — 0.6 mi