By Mara Scallon, communications graduate assistant in the Sustainability Office

As promised, my final visit to Red Butte Creek for this series of blog posts was a bit different from usual. My last blog post considered how my education and my time in Utah thus far has helped me see the world around me differently, and since I have been spending time near Red Butte Creek, I have noticed where the many creeks in the Salt Lake City area are present—and where they are absent. Red Butte Creek meanders from the upper reaches of Red Butte Canyon, through campus and across town until it dumps into the Jordan River at the same point that Emigration and Parleys Creeks also join the Jordan. I’ve become a creek whisperer of sorts, constantly peering into storm drains, listening for rushing water and inspecting rows of trees in case they indicate a free-flowing creek coursing behind houses.

I embraced the final self-imposed duty to investigate the length of Red Butte Creek and set out on foot to run alongside the creek as it descends from its headwaters in the canyon until it eventually joins the Jordan River a few miles later. For several hours, I utilized human-created infrastructure (such as sidewalks, roads, culverts and small bridges) to glimpse, hear and sense the creek as I paralleled its route.

At the beginning of the run, the water rushed eagerly downstream, and I perched on a small wooden bridge spanning the creek in order to stick my left hand into the rushing, burbling water. As I wound my way through campus, I passed through Fort Douglas and found it fitting that the creek still winds its way through the lives of those on the U.S. Army base here; their predecessors dammed the creek to create a reservoir and restricted public use of the creek in the interest of having a reliable water supply for its soldiers.

After campus, I passed through the Yalecrest neighborhood and the Miller Bird Refuge and Nature Park, and found the creek was never far away. It was generally easy to tell where it was because I could hear it, see it or see the line of trees that indicated flowing water ran beneath.

As I headed west down Harvard Avenue and crossed over 1100 East, it became much more difficult to tell exactly where the creek was because it was now underground before it suddenly emerged in the human-designed water features of Liberty Park. After Liberty, I continued westward down 1300 South, catching not a hint or a whisper that there was a creek flowing underfoot and under the concrete and asphalt. I only knew I was still near the creek because I was following a route I’d made on my phone’s mapping app.

I did not see Red Butte Creek until I saw an image of it painted atop a sidewalk, about where W 1300 S and S 800 W intersect. A pair of bright blue squiggly lines were painted on two parallel sides of the sidewalk, accompanying me as I headed westward through the Glendale neighborhood, stopping to read a well-worn block of white text printed atop a square of the same bright blue paint: “This would be a good spot for a creek.” From earlier research on the Seven Canyons Trust website, I knew this was a visual campaign the Trust had employed a few years ago to educate creek neighbors about the hidden waters passing through their lives. I was now certain that I was on the right track, and up ahead, I could see an open expanse of sidewalk that led into a manicured garden area. As I approached, I could see that this was the Three Creeks Confluence area, a project completed in 2021 which “daylighted” the area where Red Butte, Parleys and Emigration creeks flow into the Jordan River. This confluence had previously been covered by concrete, but Seven Canyons Trust collaborated with Salt Lake City to unbury the creeks in the spot and create a public park complete with a fishing pier, play space, picnic tables, walking trails and a bridge spanning the Jordan River.

Walking to the edge of the one of the fishing piers at the confluence, I balanced on one of the large, rounded rocks lining the edge, pausing for a moment for ceremonial effect (and to gain my balance) and tilted forward to dunk my right hand into the water. After 7.4 miles, I had arrived at the remarkable spot where Red Butte Creek converged with the waters of the Jordan River. Along the way, I had seen significant changes in the creek across the neighborhoods, from the Yalecrest neighborhood where the creek was mostly free-flowing to the Glendale neighborhood where the creek was mostly silent, unseen and contained by concrete. My run traced aspects of political and social history across the Salt Lake Valley, moving clearly from the parts of the city where political and social pressure prioritized the free-flowing creek for enjoyment and beauty to the parts of the city where the same pressures forced the creek underground in the interest of industrial development and resource management. Efforts today to daylight the buried creeks are one tool that can combat the long-lasting legacy of these historical decisions.

Running along the creek showed me that I am far from the only person who enjoys the presence of Red Butte Creek. Human neighbors of the creek have squeezed chairs in alongside her banks, they have installed hammocks and swings above her riffles and they have trod faint paths into the underbrush, following their desire to be closer to the creek and witness her eager rush to join the Jordan River. Nonhuman neighbors probe the waters for their meals, they scurry to the water’s edge for a few refreshing gulps, and they drink deeply of her clear water to grow toward the sun.

Completing this run provided a fitting conclusion to my time writing this blog post series as the academic year winds down. My only regret is that I did not do this run sooner. My perception of the creek would have been enhanced by the knowledge of what terrain, neighborhoods and conditions the creek traverses before joining up with the Jordan. Yet, if I had done this as one of my first visits to “my” spot, I might not have cared enough about the creek for the running experience to have impacted me as it did. Red Butte Creek, whether free-flowing or buried, whether on campus or in Glendale, whether gushing or trickling, is now an integral part of my personal map of Salt Lake City, and I am grateful for the reminder that important environmental resources may be present even if we cannot see or perceive them easily.

Though I will not be writing about Red Butte Creek in the next academic year, I will be continuing to visit my spot, and I hope you will also continue to visit and dwell within your spot. Have a safe and fun summer—and I’ll see you in August! A special thanks to the Seven Canyons Trust for their maps that helped me design my run and for providing detailed information about Red Butte Creek and the Three Creeks Confluence park. I appreciate your hard work to daylight the creeks of the valley!

Sources consulted:

Larsen, L. (2021, July 7). Salt Lake City’s newest park is now open—See where three creeks meet on the west side. The Salt Lake Tribune. https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/07/07/salt-lake-citys-newest/

Three Creeks Confluence. (n.d.). Seven Canyons Trust. https://sevencanyonstrust.org/three-creeks-confluence