History
The canyon receives its name from Parley P. Pratt who was assigned to explore the canyon, called Big Canyon at the time, and to build a toll road, called the Golden Pass Toll Road. Construction on the road started in 1848 and was completed in 1850. The road through Parley's Canyon became the primary route into the Salt Lake Valley, surpassing the original route through Emigration Canyon. The canyon was used by a narrow gauge spur line owned by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad from Salt Lake to Park City (the Salt Lake and Park City Railway). However, with its steep grades the line was unable to compete with the Union Pacific's line, (via Coalville, connecting to the UP main at Echo). Although the D&RG considered rebuilding their line to standard gauge, the line was abandoned before these plans were implemented. Some remnants of the D&RG line through Parley's Canyon, namely the cuts for the horseshoe curves, are in use by local roads and visible off the shoulder of the freeway.
Read more about this topic: Parley's Canyon
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