Four Stories Explain Brian Head’s Name — None Has Settled It

One of the great place names in Utah that is often overlooked is Brian Head. This is the name of the town and ski resort up Parowan Canyon. It should get just as much recognition as Toole and Duchesne when listing oddly named places in the state.

Brian Head is Utah's Best Named Mountain in Utah

It is hard to find a more low key name than Brian. It sounds like your teddy bear uncle who offers you beef jerky at the family reunion. Then you add "head" to it and it suddenly sounds like something out of Monty Python.

It's awesome. It fills me with curiosity. Does the main peak look like the head of some guy named Brian? I have sat on the chair lift heading up towards Brian Head Peak and tried to make out some kind of face. I've even looked down to see if I could see his feet.

A Rich History: The Many Theories Behind the Name

The truth is, no one is really sure how it got that name. It could be Wesley Powell named it for a Bryan at his office. There's also the possibility it came from an 1800s politician named William Jennings Bryan.

There was also a family who lived in Parowan named Bryan it could be named for and another story of a Bryan who built a monument near the peak. The one confusing part of all these stories is the name is now spelled with an "I" not a "Y".

Read More: What Zion National Park Puts on its Windows to Protect Birds

It was once known as Monument Peak which is a snoozeville name. Nobody would remember a ski resort named that. I'm grateful to whoever came up with the idea of combining a prominent body part with a chill name.

I'm making this proclamation right now. You can keep your noble mountain names, even the one's named for Molly. For my money, the best named mountain in the entire intermountain west, is Brian Head. It is time it got its due.