The Red Butte Gardens were born in 1985 when the University of Utah signed an agreement that dedicated over 230 acres of land on the southern slopes of Red Butte for the purpose of creating a botanical garden. Today Red Butte Gardens are different from most botanical gardens, however, in that more than 80% of the land has been set aside as a natural area. The park still has all of the floral displays, arboretums and theme gardens that one might expect, but it also has some four miles of walking trails through the undeveloped natural area where visitors can enjoy Utah’s native plants in an undisturbed setting . . . 

. . . The southern slopes of Red Butte were once an active quarrying site for the distinctive red sandstone that still graces many of Salt Lake City’s older historic buildings, and one of the Red Butte Gardens trails will take you to the remnants of the old abandoned Quarry House that once housed the stone workers. It is interesting to note that the Red Butte Sandstone was used initially for the foundation of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake. It was later discovered, however, that the sandstone . . .

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