RS 2477 Home                County Map                Criteria                History               Sources                Relevant Documents

Lambs Canyon

The Road

            The Lambs Canyon claim is found about halfway up Parley’s Canyon and is accessed by taking Exit 137 off of I-80 and heading south.  The claim begins at the mouth of Lambs Canyon and works its way up through both public (managed by the U.S. Forest Service) and private land.  The road is narrow, but well maintained.  Approximately 4 miles from the mouth, at the border between public and private land, a large yellow gate blocks public access to the upper reaches of the canyon.  Beyond the gate the road provides private homeowners access to the cabins in the Forest Home Subdivision.

Back to the Top

Criteria*

"The right-of-way for the construction of highways over the public lands not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted."

Construction:  "Means an intentional physical act or series of intentional physical acts that were intended to, and that accomplished, preparation of a highway by a durable, observable, physical modification of land for use by highway traffic." 

The Lambs Canyon claim is a well maintained paved road.  In several places, where the road crosses the creek, culverts have been installed and creek crossings have been constructed.

Highway: "Means a thoroughfare that was prior to the latest available date used by the public, without discrimination against any individual or group, for the passage of vehicles carrying people or goods from place to place."

The first four miles of this road are open to the public and can be used to access hiking trails in the canyon.  This portion of the road also provides access to an island of privately owned land within the Wasatch National Forest.  This area is approximately 2 miles from the mouth of the canyon.  Beyond the first four miles, the road travels across privately owned land.  Access to this portion of the road is controlled by a locked gate, preventing public access.

Unreserved public lands:  "lands owned by the United States...that had not yet been set aside, dedicated, withdrawn, reserved, settled, preempted, entered, appropriated, or disposed of, or on which claims had not been located."

By the mid to late 1800’s Lambs Canyon began to be used for its timber resources.  In 1864 Charles Decker installed the first steam sawmill in the territory in Lambs Canyon.  It can be assumed that at least a portion of the road was constructed at that time.  A road map from the Salt Lake County Surveyor’s Office, created from surveys done in the 1890’s, shows the road through Lambs Canyon extending about 4 miles up the canyon.  The construction of this stretch of the road predates the reservation of portions of the canyon as part of the Wasatch National Forest in 1904.   

(*Definitions are taken directly from “The Revised Statute (R.S.) 2477 Rights-of-Way Act.”)

Back to the Top

History

            Records regarding the history of Lambs Canyon are far fewer in number than those that can be found for the other canyons east of the Salt Lake Valley.  In 1864 a Mormon settler, by the name of Nelson Wheeler Whipple, noted in his journal that Charles Decker had brought the first steam sawmill into the area and set it up in Lambs Canyon.  While there is no mention as to the exact location of the mill, this does indicated that logging activities were taking place in the canyon at that time.  It is likely that at least the beginning of the road up Lambs Canyon was constructed at this point.

            A map, dating back to the end of the nineteenth, century shows a road traveling through Lambs Canyon.  At this time the road extended up to an area that is near gate that currently marks the end of Forest Service land (approximately 4 miles from the mouth of the canyon).  Beyond this point, evidence of a road farther up the canyon has not been found that dates prior to 1945.  However, on December 20th of that year, the Forest Homes Subdivision was dedicated and recorded in the Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office.  The remaining portion of the Lambs Canyon claim provides access to the cabins that have been built in this subdivision.

            It is unclear who was initially responsible for the construction and maintenance of this road.  However, after a series of discussions, meetings and letters, between the Salt Lake Ranger District of U.S. Forest Service and the Salt Lake County Commission, an agreement was reached concerning responsibility for the maintenance of Lambs Canyon Road.  This dialogue took place between August, 1973 and November, 1976.  While it was determined that Salt Lake County had no obligation to maintain the road because it was on Federal land, the U.S. Forest Service allowed them to do so.  The agreement was reached under that premise that “the residents and taxpayers in that area are entitled to certain services.”  The County has maintained the road in Lambs Canyon since the agreement was reached.

Back to the Top

Sources

Bowthorpe, Asa R., History of Pioneer Sawmills and Canyons of Salt Lake Valley. 1961

Evans, W. Sterling.  A letter from the Salt Lake County Clerk to Mel Humphreys.  August 2, 1974.

Rokich, Paul, Cononelos, Zach.  The Man and His Mountains: the Paul Rokich Story.  Kennecott Utah Copper and W.S. Adamson Associates, Inc.  Salt Lake City, Utah.  2002.

Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office. Research of subdivision plat maps in area of the Lambs Canyon claim.  Book J, p.115. Book S, p. 77.  Salt Lake City, UT. August 16, 2005.

Salt Lake County Surveyor’s Office.  “The Bible” - Book of maps (sheets 25A & 4B), accompanied by a book of field notes.  Specific date of maps unknown – most likely from the 1890’s.

Sprague, G. Lynn.  A letter from the U.S. Forest Service District Ranger to the Salt Lake County Highway Department. August 9, 1973.

Sprague. A letter from the U.S. Forest Service District Ranger to Pete Kutulas, Salt Lake County Commissioner.  July 9, 1974.

Sprague.  A letter from the U.S. Forest Service District Ranger to a Mr. Balmforth, Salt Lake County Attorney.  May 12, 1976.

St. John, Chandler P.  A letter from the U.S. Forest Service Supervisor to Senator Frank E. Moss.  June 30, 1976.

U.S. Forest Service.  Forest Development Road Cooperative Agreement: U.S. Forest Service and Salt Lake County.  November 24, 1976.

U.S. Forest Service.  Project Agreement No. 1: Lambs Canyon Road.  November 24, 1976. 

Back to the Top

Relevant Documents

Map of the Lambs Canyon Claim

Forest Home Subdivision Plat A (pdf 256 kB):  Plat map of the Forest Home Subdivision in upper Lambs Canyon.  This subdivision was dedicated on December 20, 1945.

Lost Acres Subdivision (pdf 137 kB):  Plat map of the Lost Acres Subdivision, located approximately 3 miles from the mouth of Lambs Canyon.  The subdivision was dedicated January 28, 1958.

Letter - Road is the sole responsibility of the US Forest Service (pdf 139 kB):  Written by District Forest Ranger Sprague to the Salt Lake County Highway Department on August 9, 1973.

Letter - the status of road maintenance in Lambs Canyon (pdf 247 kB):  A letter from District Forest Ranger, G. Lynn Sprague to County Commissioner Pete Kutulas written on July 9, 1974.

Letter - Beginning discussions of a maintenance agreement (pdf 155 kB):  Addressed to Mel Humphreys from W. Sterling Evans, Salt Lake County Clerk, August 2, 1974.

Letter - Mention of application for a Special Use Permit (pdf 57 kB):  A letter to Mr. Balmforth, Salt Lake County Attorney from G. Lynn Sprague, District Forest Ranger, May 12, 1976.

Letter - Access provided by road and possible conditions of a maintenance agreement (pdf 183 kB):  Part of a discussion between Chandler P. St. John, Forest Supervisor and Senator Frank E. Moss, June 30, 1976.

Forest Development Road Cooperative Agreement (pdf 1.1 MB):  Lays out the general responsibilities of each party in the agreement (the US Forest Service and Salt Lake County).  The agreement is dated November 24, 1976.

Project Agreement No. 1 (pdf 214 kB):  Agreement for the maintenance of Lambs Canyon Road, by Salt Lake County, under the Forest Development Road Cooperative Agreement.  This agreement was entered into on November 24, 1976.

Back to the Top