Category Archives: Utah Geography

Uinta Mountains

Utah Geography,

Uinta Mountains, segment of the south-central Rocky Mountains, extending eastward for more than 100 miles (160 km) from the Wasatch Range across northeastern Utah and slightly into southwestern Wyoming, U.S. Many of the range’s summits exceed 13,000 feet (4,000 m), including Kings Peak (13,528 feet [4,123 m]), the highest point in Utah. The mountains are a headstream region for the Provo, Bear, and Duchesne rivers and include parts of the Ashley, Wasatch, and Uinta national forests. The Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation lies to the south.

Utah Writers’ Project

Map of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho (Bear Lake)

Utah Geography, ,

This map is from rare manuscript volume “A Description of the Location, Works and Business of the Bear Lake and River Water Works and Irrigation Co.” (1889) which is also in this digital collection. Printed against a township & range grid, this map shows various rivers and lakes (Great Salt Lake and Bear Lake) in Northern Utah and the canals of the Bear Lake and River Water Works and Irrigation Co. as of 1889. Features include land contours in brown, county boundaries (Cache, Oneido, Rich, Box Elder, Bingham, Bear Lake), Utah/Idaho territorial boundary, towns, railroad lines, and varous natural features such as lava beds, etc.

Bear Lake Development, New dike headgates carrying 400 sec. feet, looking downstream, Oct. 16, 1914.

Great Salt Lake

Utah Geography,

Great Salt Lake, lake in northern Utah, U.S., the largest inland body of salt water in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most saline inland bodies of water in the world. The lake is fed by the Bear, Weber, and Jordan rivers and has no outlet. The lake has fluctuated greatly in size, depending on the rates of evaporation and the flow of the rivers that feed it. Its surface area has varied from about 2,400 square miles (6,200 square km) at its highest levels in 1873 and the mid-1980s to about 950 square miles (2,460 square km) at its lowest level in 1963. At high level the lake’s surface is 4,212 feet (1,284 meters) above sea level, and at low level it is 4,191 feet (1,277 meters). At times of median water level, the lake is generally less than 15 feet (4.5 meters) deep, with a maximum depth of 35 feet (11 meters).

Photo showing boating on Great Salt Lake, Utah.
Snowy Egret in Great Salt Lake, Utah

National Park Service Sound Spectrograms

Utah Geography,

National Park Service scientists record and analyze sounds in national parks to inform and improve management of national parks across the country. The data is collected through recording systems installed by the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division in selected parks for about a month at a time. The systems record audio as mp3 files and sound pressure levels in decibels, and are designed to replicate the hearing experience of a person on the ground.

Image of sound spectrograms provided by the Great Basin National Park