Yet this place has a simple beauty. Cormorants roost on willow trees while blackbirds cluck and ducks beg for food from those plying the pond's waters for trout and catfish.
It is popular with all sorts of anglers, some who cast fly rods and others who dangle worms. A paved trail surrounds the pond making it accessible to a man in a wheelchair and to another with a prothesis. There are the young and the old and people representing many nationalities.
Michelle Mietchen and daughters Kylee and Marlee fished Willow Pond for the first time last week on a blustery spring day. They usually go to the mountains but noticed the pond from the freeway and decided to give it a try.
Theo and Mike Brasher, of Salt Lake City, used the steel fishing pier and the benches. Though they have a boat and enjoy fishing at Strawberry, Theo explained that these days it costs $60 in gasoline and several hours driving time to go to Strawberry.
It's nice to have a close-to-home place, he said, because he enjoys fishing with his grandchildren, one of whom once caught an eight-pound channel cat out of the small pond.
Theo and Mike once took a day and toured all nine of Salt Lake Valley's urban fisheries found in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources booklet called Utah Community Fishing that lists the state's 47 close-to-home fishing ponds, and describes how to find them, what types of fish anglers can catch, and what facilities are available.
Mike wishes there were more.
"They should get rid of golf courses and get some more of these," he said.
Gayle Knight likes Willow Pond because of its easy access and because the restrooms are close. He finds the area pretty but wishes the water taps and sinks in the restrooms worked.
"I live close by here and I see a lot of people when they put fish here," said Matt Siamani. "You can't even find a parking spot."
Paul Davis, a Division of Wildlife Resources conservation officer, confirmed that observation while checking for violations, which are mostly overlimits. The pond is regularly stocked with rainbow trout.
"People take a limit [of four fish] and go home and then come back," he said. "But you can only have one limit."
Davis, who grew up in Massachusetts, said he doesn't know if Salt Lake City residents know how good they have it because of urban fisheries like this one.
"This gets a lot of use," he said. "After they plant the fish, this is the most popular place we check in Salt Lake County."
Though such small ponds will never replace larger fisheries, they play an important role. They introduce kids to fishing. They provide adults - who can't afford longer trips or who need good access provided by paved trails and fishing piers - with a place to enjoy the outdoors.
Call Willow Pond a lovingly well used urban fishery treasured by thousands of users from all walks of life.
wharton@sltrib.com
