Escalante Trail

When the Domínguez-Escalante party reached Utah Valley in September 1776, they came looking for souls as much as a road. The Franciscan friars and their ten companions — among them the mapmaker Miera y Pacheco — camped near here on the 24th and 25th, and while their errand was a route from Santa Fe to Monterey, their deeper aim was to open this country to Catholic missions. Here they met the Timpanogos Ute who lived along the lake, and preached to them. It was the first written encounter between Europeans and the people whose valley this had always been.

What the plaque says

Fray Francisco Silvestre Velez De Escalante and Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, two Catholic Priests of the Franciscan Order accompanied by their attendants Don Juan Pedro Cisneros - Lucrecio Muniz Don Dernardo Miera Y Pacheco - Andres Muniz Don Joaquin Lain - Juan De Agulia Lorenzo Olivares - Simon Lucero Encamped near here September 24, and 25, 1776, to open a wider field for mission work among the Indians. They were seeking an overland route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Monterey. California. These Priests were the first white men to enter what is now the State of Utah and the first to give us a written record of the geography of the country and the character of its people.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bridal Veil Falls — 8.0 mi
  A dramatic double waterfall cascading 607 feet into Provo Canyon
• Sundance Mountain Resort — 12 mi
  Robert Redford's intimate, arts-minded ski resort on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos, in the North Fork of Provo Canyon.
• Aspen Grove — 12 mi
  The mountain-base trailhead for Mount Timpanogos and Stewart Falls
• Alpine Loop Summit — 13 mi
  The 8,000-foot high point of the Alpine Loop, face to face with Mount Timpanogos

More markers nearby

• The American Family — steps away
• Old Tabernacle Lintel Stone — steps away
• The Knight Block — steps away
• Provo Woolen Mills — 0.2 mi