Tales From Utah Valley: Giant flag tradition to continue in Pleasant Grove
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- Hundreds of people came out Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Pleasant Grove for the annual Flag Walk, walking a 400-pound flag from the city’s cemetery to the Grove Creek Canyon Trailhead.
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- Laura Giles
Courtesy Jason Robison
Hundreds of people came out Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Pleasant Grove for the annual Flag Walk, walking a 400-pound flag from the city's cemetery to the Grove Creek Canyon Trailhead.
An annual tradition in Utah County will be happening again soon, and residents are excited! On July 4, a giant United States flag will be unfurled above Grove Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove. Residents have come to look forward to the sight of the flag, and visitors come from all over to see and to honor it.
Eleven years ago, on the morning of July 4, a giant United States flag was unfurled above the canyon, surprising residents. That was just the beginning. The Follow the Flag nonprofit organization has planned and carried out the special event every Fourth of July since that first morning.
“Witness in-person, a sight that will put those bumps on your arms and warmth in your heart. Cannon fire, horses ride and a flyover accompanied by a choir will help remind you, that this is a sacred, God-given land that we must protect for future generations,” it states on the Follow the Flag website, followtheflag.org.
The “By the Dawn’s Early Light” flag unfurling ceremony will begin at 7:30 a.m. and will last about one hour. The ceremony will be held at the top of Grove Creek Drive in Pleasant Grove at the Grove Creek Canyon Trailhead.
On June 22, about 1,000 people turned out for the annual walking of the flag up the hill. The 150-foot by 78-foot flag was carried uphill for 1.3 miles as live patriotic music was played. The walk always begins at the city’s cemetery. “We start at the final resting place of our military heroes and carry the flag up to the place the flag will fly from July 4-13,” it states on the Follow the Flag Facebook page.
Courtesy Jeremy Hall
Laura Giles
Other goings-on associated with the flag include live music with the Hartley Road Band at the site of the flag on July 5 at 8:30 p.m. Also, a 5K Run2Remember trail run at Grove Creek will be held on July 12 at 7 a.m. For more information about these and other Follow the Flag events, check out the Follow the Flag website.
“There’s something sacred about starting Independence Day beneath that big beautiful flag in Grove Creek,” said Kyle Fox of Follow the Flag. “It’s a reminder of what matters most — faith, freedom and community. This tradition has become the heartbeat of my family’s Fourth of July.”
You don’t have to be at the Grove Creek Canyon Trailhead to see the magnificent flag. In fact, it can be spotted from miles away. Many say there is something very special about seeing it up close, standing below it and thinking about all that it represents. However you are able to see it, it is a beautiful experience.
For more information, check out Follow the Flag’s Facebook page or go to followtheflag.org.
