Y Mountain

Y Mountain is located directly east of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The Slide Canyon/Y Mountain Trail leads to a large block Y located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from a parking area at the mountain's base. This hillside letter was built over a hundred years ago as the insignia for BYU. For years the trail to the Y has been one of the most hiked trails in Utah Valley and provides a beautiful view of Provo, Orem, the rest of the many cities in Utah Valley and Utah Lake. The trail is also regularly used by hikers, bikers, paragliders and hunters to access the backcountry in the Slide Canyon area.

The large white Y on the side of the mountain has become the nationally recognized insignia for BYU and the reason why BYU is often called "the Y". It is made of concrete and is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide (116 by 40 m). The Y is even larger than the "Hollywood Sign" in Los Angeles.

There are 14 strands of lights placed around the perimeter of the Y, which are lit five times a year by the Intercollegiate Knights. It is lit for Freshman Orientation, Homecoming, Y Days, and graduation in April and August. When the Y is lit, club members are selected to guard the Y to ensure the generator keeps the lights on until nearly midnight. The same volunteer guards assist the university grounds employees with the setup of the lights (and their removal several days later) and remain on duty to protect against vandalism as long as the lights are in place.

Like most college symbols, the Y has been the target of various pranks, many of them involving red paint, the principal color of BYU's archrival, the University of Utah. It was most recently painted red by members of the Utah baseball team in 2004 . It has also been painted many other times, such as an incident in 2002 when vandals dumped several cans of paint down the Y, giving it a multicolored visage until it was painted white again the next day. This incident was called the worst act of vandalism against the Y in the past decade. Unfortunately, while the intent of such actions may be humorous or in good fun, the repairs often cost several thousand dollars or more. In the previously mentioned case of the University of Utah baseball players, the cost of repair was reported to be over $6,000 and therefore, in accordance with laws of the state of Utah, the perpetrators were initially charged with second degree felonies.