Hogsback Summit: where the Donner Party first saw the Wasatch mountains in their way

The Wasatch Mountains look closer from Hogsback Summit than they are. The National Park Service (NPS) says its winter photo was taken with a zoom lens, so the mountains are more distant than they appear. The summit is near Henefer, Utah, on the Donner Party route of the California Trail.

What the Donner Party saw

The Donner Party reached this point on July 19, 1846. Lansford W. Hastings had directed them to cut their own trail through these mountains, and here they got their first glimpse of what that would mean. They spent 16 days working through the range to reach the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. That crossing significantly delayed their entry into California’s Sierra Nevada, where they became snowbound over the winter of 1846-1847.

Who came after

A year later, Brigham Young’s advance group of Mormon Pioneers followed the Donner track through the Wasatch. Over the years the route was also used by Fortyniners and others trying to reach California, as well as Mormon handcart companies, the military, the Overland Stage and the Pony Express.

The view in two seasons

About five miles from Henefer, on the approach to the Wasatch range, is the best place on the trail to see the mountains. NPS pairs a fall photo and a winter photo of the viewpoint to show how the scene changes and how far away the mountains really are, compared with the zoomed view.

The site belongs to the California, Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express National Historic Trails. NPS points readers to the National Historic Trails Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide for Utah, Crossroads of the West, for more sites to visit.

Sources

• National Park Service, Hogsback Summit Winter Views; rewritten in hubnx’s own words. Photographs credited to NPS.