The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in the western

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

that runs about from the

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

border south to central

. It is the western edge of the greater

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region.''Hiking the Wasatch'', John Veranth, 1988, Salt Lake City, The northern extension of the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Mountains, extends just into

, constituting all of the Wasatch Range in that state. In the language of the native

Ute people Ute () are an Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, Indigenous people of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau in present-day Utah, western Colorado, and northern New Mexico.Pritkzer''A Native American Encyclopedia'' p. 242 Historically, their t ...

, Wasatch means "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range." According to William Bright, the mountains were named for a Shoshoni leader who was named with the Shoshoni term ''wasattsi'', meaning "blue heron". In 1926, Cecil Alter quoted Henry Gannett from 1902, who said that the word meant "land of many waters," then posited, "the word is a common one among the Shoshones, and is given to a berry basket" carried by women.

Overview

Since the earliest days of European settlement, most of Utah's population has chosen to settle along the range's western front, where numerous rivers exit the mountains. For early settlers, the mountains were a vital source of water, timber, and granite. Today, 85% of Utah's population lives within of the Wasatch Range, mainly in the valleys just to the west. This westside concentration is known as the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a major metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from Santaquin in the south to Pleasant View in the n ...

and has a population just shy of 3 million.

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

lies between the Wasatch Range and the

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

The range's highest point — — is

Mount Nebo Mount Nebo (; ) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately Height above sea level, above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised L ...

, a triple peak rising above Nephi, at the southern end of the range. In some places the mountains rise steeply from the valley's base elevation of to over . Other notable peaks include Mount Timpanogos, a massive peak that looms over northern Utah County and is especially prominent from Pleasant Grove and Orem; Lone Peak, the

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

, and

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

, which overlooks the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...

;

Francis Peak Francis Peak, elevation , was named in honor of an early American pioneer, Esther Charlotte Emily Weisbrodt Francis, who contributed to the colonization of the Morgan Valley in Morgan county in Utah. One of the taller peaks of the Wasatch Range ...

overlooking both Morgan and Davis counties; and Ben Lomond and Mount Ogden, both towering over Ogden. Topping out below , Wasatch peaks are not especially high compared to the

of Colorado or even the Uinta Mountains (the other main portion of the Rocky Mountains in Utah). However, they are sculpted by glaciers, yielding notably rugged, sweeping upland scenery. They also receive heavy snowfall: more than per year in some places. This great snowfall, with its runoff, made possible a prosperous urban strip of some 25 cities along nearly of mountain frontage. The Wasatch Range is home to a high concentration of ski areas, with 11 stretching from Sundance in northeastern Utah County to Powder Mountain and Nordic Valley Ski Area northeast of Ogden. There are also two ski resorts in the Bear River Mountains ( Beaver Mountain and Cherry Peak Resort). Park City alone is bordered by two ski resorts. Due to the low

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

in wintertime, along with the added lake-effect from the Great Salt Lake, the snow has a dry, powdery texture which most of the local ski resorts market as "the Greatest Snow on Earth". The snow and nearby ski resorts helped Salt Lake City gain the right to host the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

. Several of the canyons in the Lone Peak area, most notably Little Cottonwood Canyon, have several high-quality

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

outcroppings, and make up a popular climbing area such as the Pfeifferhorn. Farther north, Big Cottonwood Canyon features tricky climbing on

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

. The densely vegetated narrow canyons of the Wasatch Range, such as Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon, are heavily visited; on 25 September 2005, 1,200 automobiles entered Little Cottonwood in an hour. The canyons sit within of downtown Salt Lake City and the year-round paved roadways can reach higher in elevation above the city within a short distance. Dirt roads readily drivable in passenger cars with moderate clearance stretch up from Park City, Heber, and Big Cottonwood Canyon. These reach about above sea level and provide long-range high country views.

Geography and geology

The Wasatch Range's origins are rooted in the Sevier Orogeny. As the Farallon plate subducted under the North American plate between the Jurassic and Paleogene, the regional stress regime became a maximum striking east to west. This horizontal compression caused thin skinned imbricated thrust faults resulting in as much as 50% crustal shortening of the western North American Plate. The Wasatch anticlinorium represented the furthest eastern margins of these Sevier origin imbricated thrusts. Once the Farallon plate had largely subducted, the NW moving Pacific plate latched onto the North American Plate, causing a change in regional stress. Sevier thrust ramps were reactivated into normal faults, causing crustal extension as the Pacific plate drags the western margins of the North American plate to the NW. The current Wasatch range continues to grow via normal faults as the valley drops in periodic motion. Mount Nebo, the highest peak of the Wasatch, is at the southern edge of the range. The Colorado Plateau comes to its northwest corner as it meets the southern end of the Rocky Mountains. Immediately west of these two, the Great Basin, which is the northern region of the

Basin and Range Province The Basin and Range Province is a vast United States physiographic region, physiographic region covering much of the inland Western United States and Northern Mexico, northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, charac ...

, begins and stretches westward across western Utah and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

until it reaches the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

near the Nevada/

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

border. Geologic faults punctuate the range, chief among them the Wasatch Fault. These faults also formed the Timpanogos Cave. A series of mountain valleys punctuate the northern Wasatch Range. While the western side of the range drops sharply to the floors of the Wasatch Front valleys, the eastern side of the range is gentler, allowing for the construction of several ski resorts. The Cottonwoods, a particularly rugged and dense area just east of the Salt Lake Valley, shelters small mountain coves that harbor four world-famous ski resorts ( Alta,

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Solitude Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may wo ...

, and Snowbird). The eastern slopes of the Cottonwoods drop to the Snyderville Basin, which contains Park City and its two ski resorts ( Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley). Much of the eastern side of the range, from north of Salt Lake City to the Bear River Mountains, is especially gentle compared to the rest of the range. The range widens east of Ogden, sheltering a high mountain valley known as the Ogden Valley. Three more ski resorts lie here, as well as several small towns (such as Huntsville,

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

, and Eden). Wasatch Range Salt Lake County UT United States 2006

North of this, the Wellsville Mountains branch off from the northwest of the range, continuing a line of mountains paralleling the I-15 corridor. This range is exceptionally thin and steep. However, US-89/ US-91 is maintained as a four-lane highway through the range at Wellsville Canyon east of Brigham City. Cache Valley, created by the Bear River, is flanked on the west by the Wellsville Mountains and on the east by the much denser and higher Bear River Mountains. The northwestern border of Cache Valley is flanked by the Bannock Range in

. The two highest peaks in this area are Mount Naomi and

Mount Logan Mount Logan ( ) is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America after Denali (McKinley). The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada ...

, each just under . USA Region West relief Wasatch Range location map

The southeastern portion of the range across Wasatch County transforms into the relatively flat, windswept Wasatch Plateau at an elevation of about to . At its southeastern edge, just north of Helper, it runs into the

Book Cliffs The Book Cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in western Colorado and eastern Utah in the Western United States. They are so named because the cliffs of Cretaceous sandstone capping many of the south-facing buttes appear simila ...

. Further north, the Heber Valley and Weber River Valley separate the Wasatch Range from the Uinta Mountains, while the Bear River Valley and Bear Lake Valley separate it from lower mountain ranges that mark the western edge of the Green River Basin. The Wasatch Range is traversed by just seven highways, along with several rugged mountain roads and unpaved trails. The most prominent are I-80 through Parley's Canyon east of Salt Lake City and

I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts), passing through New York and Connecticut {{road disambiguation ...

through Weber Canyon southeast of Ogden. They meet near the

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

on the eastern slopes of the range and continue northeast as I‑80. Other highways through the range include US-6/ US-89 through Spanish Fork Canyon, US-189 through Provo Canyon, Utah State Route 39 extending east from Huntsville (a route which is closed in winter), US‑89/ US-91 through Logan Canyon, and along Idaho State Highway 36 near the northern end of the range. The

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

had a line through the Wasatch Range via Soldier Summit Pass and Spanish Fork Canyon. Now operated by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

, the line is used by freight trains and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

''.

Ecology

The Wasatch Range is part of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains Level 3 Ecoregion, a temperate coniferous forest. Common trees include

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

(''Pseudotsuga menziesii''), subalpine fir (''Abies bifolia''),

Engelmann spruce ''Picea engelmannii'', with the common names Engelmann spruce, white spruce, mountain spruce, and silver spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America. It is highly prized for producing distinctive tone wood for acoustic guitars ...

(''Picea engelmannii''), Colorado blue spruce (''Picea pungens''), and

quaking aspen ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen,

(''Populus tremuloides''). Gambel oak (''Quercus gambelii'') is common on the foothills of the range from just south of Brigham City in the north, to the southern extension of the Wasatch Range. It is not found in the northern portion of the Range. Ponderosa pine (''Pinus ponderosa''), while abundant elsewhere in Utah is not common in this mountain range, except in plantations in Big Cottonwood Canyon southeast of Salt Lake City and in Logan Canyon, east of Logan. Some individual trees have been found in remote areas of the Wasatch Range that appear to be relic individuals from past populations. Subspecies of big sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata'') dominate drier portions of the landscapes. Most of the sagebrush that occurs in the Wasatch Range is mountain big sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana''). Many of the valley bottoms at one time were occupied by basin big sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata''). Most of this subspecies has been removed, however, because it occurred on what constitutes prime agricultural lands. In upper elevations, and on slightly more mesic sites than that of mountain big sagebrush, one can find subalpine big sagebrush (''Artemisia tridenta ssp. spiciformis''). This subspecies occupies productive sites and often has a lush understory of wildflowers and grasses. Wyoming big sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis'') occurs at the lowest and driest elevations, although much of the Wasatch Range is above the elevation where this subspecies occurs. All sagebrush species, combined, provide critical habitat to greater sage grouse, a species under consideration for listing by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

. The Wasatch Range is home to several plants that occur nowhere other than in this area. Several of these are rare and restricted to narrow geological formations, while others are more widely distributed throughout the area. Some of the less rare endemics include five-petal cliffbush ('' Jamesia americana'' var. ''macrocalyx''), Sierra fumewort ('' Corydalis caseana'' ssp. ''brachycarpa''), and Utah angelica ('' Angelica wheeleri'').

Recreation

In addition to ski resorts, there are hundreds of miles of

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

and

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trails winding through the canyons and alpine valleys of the Wasatch Range. These offer backcountry access close to a large metropolitan area. There is

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

and

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

on the towering

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and

peaks and in many of the surrounding canyons. Winter recreation includes ski touring,

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment ...

, and

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footw ...

ing. Alpine lakes and streams offer somewhat overworked fishing opportunities. The Wasatch Mountain Club has regular activities. The Utah Native Plant Society conducts regular walks from spring until fall along the foothills of the central Wasatch Front and in adjoining canyons as the season progresses. Many wildflowers bloom in the late summer in Albion Basin at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

References

* ''Geology of Utah,'' William Lee Stokes, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, 1986. * ''Wasatch Quartzite,'' John Gottman, Salt Lake City, 1979. * ''Wasatch Tours,'' Alexis Kelner & Dave Hanscom, Wasatch Publishers, Salt Lake City, 1976. * ''Flora of the Central Wasatch Front, Utah.'' L. Arnow, B. Albee, & A Wycoff, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1980. * Gori, P.L. and Hays, W.W. (Eds.) (2000). ''Assessment of regional earthquake hazards and risk along the Wasatch Front, Utah'' .S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1500-K-R Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

External links

Aerial view of Wasatch Range

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Utah Ranges of the Rocky Mountains Regions of Utah Wasatch Front Mountain ranges of Salt Lake County, Utah Mountain ranges of Utah County, Utah Mountain ranges of Juab County, Utah Mountain ranges of Davis County, Utah Mountain ranges of Morgan County, Utah Mountain ranges of Weber County, Utah Mountain ranges of Summit County, Utah Mountain ranges of Wasatch County, Utah Uinta National Forest Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Overview

Geography and geology

Ecology

Recreation

See also

References

Further reading

External links