Emigration Canyon

This Is the Place overlook

Emigration Canyon National Historic Landmark (designated 1961; National Register listing associated 1966) marks the route and viewpoint of the 1847 Mormon pioneer entry into the Salt Lake Valley. The landmark boundaries, as refined in the Historic Sites Survey boundary review, cover a thin belt of unspoiled landscape and grassy knolls within what was Pioneer Monument State Park (now This Is the Place Heritage Park complex at the canyon mouth), roughly 25 acres in the nomination’s geographic data — drawn to preserve the valley view and exclude modern village reconstruction inside the park.

Significance

Brigham Young’s 1847 company threaded the Wasatch via Emigration Canyon. Tradition places Young’s first clear view of the valley from the knoll where the Pioneer Monument now stands, with the declaration later rendered as “This is the place.” The route became the main Mormon Trail approach until about 1850, when Parley’s Golden Pass Trail offered an alternative to the south. Period of significance on the form: 1847–1850. Area: exploration/settlement.

What is on the knoll

The 1947 Pioneer Monument, designed by Mahonri M. Young (grandson of Brigham Young), is a native-stone 60-foot pylon. Heber C. Kimball and Wilford Woodruff appear as bronze companions to a central Brigham Young figure. Bas-reliefs around an 86-foot base illustrate the exodus from the Missouri Valley. From the promontory the Salt Lake Valley still opens west — the view the landmark is meant to protect.

Access

The monument and viewpoint are inside This Is the Place Heritage Park at the mouth of Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City (Utah state heritage park / related public complex). Expect park entry procedures, hours, and fees set by the park operator — confirm current rates before arrival; the NHL form does not freeze modern ticket prices. The canyon road itself (Emigration Canyon Road) continues as a public canyon drive through a living residential canyon; that road is not the same as unrestricted access to private property along it.

Do not confuse the NHL knoll with a free roadside pullout that has no management. Use designated park parking and paths. The boundary deliberately excludes some modern park development to keep the valley panorama; stay out of reconstruction villages unless you have paid for that program. Winter ice and summer heat both apply on the Wasatch Front foothills.