For the last four years, various projects at Dimple Dell Regional Park have been underway to enhance patron experience, preserve the natural environment and increase safety within the park. A celebration of the projects’ completion, as well as the eighth annual Dimple Dell Preservation Community Earth Day Clean Up, will take place April 27 from 8:30 a.m. until approximately noon. 

The first sign-in location for the event will be at the Dimple Dell Trailhead, 2765 E. Dimple Dell Road. The second sign-in location at Wrangler Trail Head, 10350 S. 1300 East, will begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony. 

“It's been a great collaborative effort with our group, the Dimple Dell Preservation Community, with Salt Lake County Parks, with Sandy City Parks,” Joyce Walker, president of the Dimple Dell Preservation Community, said. 

The park’s trailheads have been improved to be “more accessible, more comfortable and more aesthetically pleasing,” said Dan Sonntag, Salt Lake County park planner and project manager. Trailhead improvements include new restrooms, parking lots, picnic areas and pavilions. 

The new Badger Trailhead, is unique in that “it's lower and closer into the end of the park so you don't have to descend a bunch of elevation to get to the creek bed, which is where some of the major trails are that run east and west,” Sonntag said. 

In addition to improvements to trailheads, the two historic homes on the site—the Muir-Poulsen home and the Spencer home—have now both been added to the Historic Register so they're protected under the Historic Registry. “We've done projects to prevent deterioration of the homes,” Sonntag said. “Through working with the State Historic Preservation Office we identified some archaeological relics which include irrigation ditches, an old orchard area and an old barn; and we have a plan that identifies those areas and how we could develop a little historic park area that includes walking trails, outdoor education areas, and restoration of a fruit orchard.”

“The Muir-Poulsen home—we've worked to help stabilize and restore that historic home and there's much more to do,” Walker said. “At present, we are part way through an outdoor classroom. There are some beautiful hardwood benches that people can sit on and look west. Often, while they're there, they will be visited by birds and squirrels in the orchard.” 

Several interpretive signs have also been installed on the main trails that teach visitors about the park’s natural history, fire danger, wildlife, trail etiquette, ancient Native American use, and more. 

“It's really important that we don't tame and pave and groom every inch of our communities. There need to be places where people can go for solitude, where people can go and recharge their souls, where people can take their children and see deer while they're out walking,” Walker said. “As far as a park of this caliber goes, there are very few like this in the United States where it is a natural preserve surrounded in an urban setting.…And so part of our Earth Day is to educate and to help increase awareness and to help people to recognize and be good stewards of this beautiful treasure that we have in our community.” 

During the Earth Day Clean Up on April 27, the Dimple Dell Preservation Community will lead volunteers in various projects around the park. 

“We have them remove some of the invasive, non-natural plants that take over,” Walker said. “We send the children out with colorful lunch bags that contain seed that is natural—natural grasses, natural flowering plants that are indigenous to the park, and they'll sprinkle those seeds on areas that have been denuded by people creating footpaths where they shouldn't be.” 

Other projects that will be part of the Earth Day Clean Up will include painting a footbridge, trail repairs, and fire remediation in conjunction with the Sandy City Fire Department; then beginning at 12 p.m., 20 fruit trees will be planted at the Muir-Poulsen home. 

“There's just a great many hidden treasures in this park,” Walker said. “We just really want to help people be aware of them.” 

Larger volunteer groups who would like to attend can contact Joyce Walker by phone, 801-598-1008, send an email to the Dimple Dell Preservation Community www.dimpledellwild.weebly.com/contact.html, or send a message to the group’s Facebook page. 

It is recommended that event attendees wear gloves, sturdy shoes, and work clothes, bring tools such as a trowel, shovel, hand spade, or rake, and carpool. 

“Show up ready to contribute,” Walker said, “and to learn and to enjoy a beautiful morning in the park.” λ