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People flocked to the residential neighborhood of Arlington Hills to get a look at the rings. There are also reports of injuries from people on foot pushing and shoving.
Police were called Saturday night to control the crowds. It's just one of the results of a time crunch for people making a last-minute dash for a lasting Olympic memory.
The Olympic rings take up three acres of land, and have graced just about every NBC shot of Salt Lake City during the Games.
News Specialist Stacey Butler takes a closer look at the rings and what draws people to them.
They can be seen from space. Pilots are pointing them out during landing and takeoff.
And now, as if to capture them before they dissapear for good, thousands are flocking to the mountainside where the Olympic rings are lit.
Like moths to a flame, car after car is drawn to the Olympic illumination on the side of Twin Peaks, only to face a dead end.
"I didn't think there's be that many people up here," one person told us.
A determinded few made the journey by foot, saying, "I just wanted a good shot in the night. It looks like they're floating, so it's a good opportunity."
"There's a compact flourescent light bulb on top and each one's 35 watts."
Tucked safely behind an iron gate, up a steep and muddy road, accesible only by an ATV. There they lie. The Oympic Rings.
"There is a magic to anything that's done of this size," we're told.
Lay a 14 story building on its side and that's the width of each ring.
Olympic Rings designer Bob Chambers says, "It appears to float above the buildings, which is an amazing special effect we didn't plan on."
Powered by more than 18 hundred low watt flourescent light bulbs...
"This idea of having a pole on its own, just a little hole in the ground, was the lowest impact to the environment," Chambers explains.
Four generators were airlifted in, and crews carried in the electric cable and steel poles by hand. That have brought the rings to light.
Each night, two men change the burned out bulb, and guards keep watch 24-7.
"Every time someone sees a picture with this in the background, they don't have to know it was Salt Lake City. They'll know immediately," Chambers says.
Designed on a computer generated model of Twin Peaks using digital elevation maps, the rings came to life after surveyers carefully marked each ring with flags.
Monday morning at dawn the rings of light go out for good.
The project was on budget at just under a million dollars. The Olympic rings form the largest lighted display in the world.
