This Is The Place Heritage Park

The Latter-day Saint pioneers left Illinois to escape persecution and crossed more than a thousand miles of plains and mountains in search of a refuge where they could settle in peace. In July 1847 the advance company under Brigham Young came down through the Wasatch and out of Emigration Canyon at this very spot, looking for the first time on the broad, dry valley of the Great Salt Lake that they would make their home.

The words attributed to Young at this overlook, that this was the right place, gave the park its name and marked the end of the overland trail for the first company. Thousands more pioneers would follow the same route in the years after, some pulling handcarts the whole way. The heritage park stands as the symbolic finish line of that great migration and the birthplace of the settlement below.

The heart of a visit is the living-history village, a gathered collection of pioneer-era homes, shops, and public buildings, some original structures moved here from around the region and others faithfully reconstructed. Walking its lanes feels like stepping into a nineteenth-century Utah town, complete with a schoolhouse, workshops, a blacksmith, gardens, and animals.

What brings it alive are the costumed interpreters who demonstrate the crafts and chores of pioneer life, from blacksmithing and weaving to baking, candle-making, and tending the farm. Children can try their hand at old-fashioned games and tasks, making it an engaging, hands-on outing for families. The village runs on a seasonal schedule, so it is worth checking ahead to see which buildings and activities will be open during a visit.

Overlooking the village stands the This Is The Place Monument, a large stone memorial honoring not only the pioneers but the many groups who passed through or shaped this crossroads over the years, including earlier explorers, trappers, and travelers. From the monument and the surrounding grounds, the view opens westward over the whole Salt Lake Valley, the same sweep of land the pioneers first surveyed from here.

The setting itself tells part of the story. Behind the park rise the Wasatch foothills and Emigration Canyon, the mountain doorway the pioneers came through; ahead spreads the valley they settled. Standing at the overlook, it is easy to imagine the weary travelers pausing at this threshold, taking in the unfamiliar valley, and understanding that the long journey had come to its end.

Long before the pioneers, the Salt Lake Valley and its foothills were part of the homeland of the Northwestern Shoshone, Ute, and Goshute peoples, who lived in and traveled this country for generations and retain ties to it today. The valley the pioneers saw as empty was in fact a living landscape known intimately by its Native inhabitants, and an honest visit holds both histories in mind.

The heritage park sits amid other attractions on the city's east bench, near Hogle Zoo, the University of Utah, and the foothill trails, and just below the mouth of Emigration Canyon. It makes an easy and rewarding half-day, blending a beautiful overlook, a genuine sense of history, and plenty for children to see and do, a fitting place to begin understanding how Salt Lake City came to be.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.