Our beautiful mountains just wouldn’t be the same without the forests covering them. Utah’s many national forests have been combined over the years into just seven “official” national forests. (I separated the Uinta and Wasatch-Cache forests for this article, since they were recently separated by the Forest Service.)
- Ashley National Forest
U.S. Department of Agriculture/flickr The Ashley National Forest covers 1.3 million acres in northeastern Utah and a bit of southwestern Wyoming. The north and south slopes of the Uinta mountain range are covered by this forest.
- Caribou National Forest
Yellowstonegate/flickr Most of this 3 million acre forest is in Idaho, but you’ll find a tiny piece of it near I-15 at the Utah/Idaho border.
- Dixie National Forest
Andrea Parrish-Geyer/flickr The Dixie National Forest’s beauty is amplified by the red rock!
- Fishlake National Forest
Keith Schurr/flickr This national forest includes “Pando” — a 107-acre grove of aspens that is the heaviest and second-largest living organism on the planet.
- Manti-La Sal National Forest
John Buie/flickr The La Sal Mountain Range is the second-highest in Utah, after the Uinta range. The Manti-La Sal National Forest includes 1.2 million acres of land in central and southeastern Utah; a very small portion of the forest is in Colorado.
- Sawtooth National Forest - Raft River Division
Rand Snyder/flickr This division of the Sawtooth National Forest is located near Utah’s northern border, on the western side of the state.
- Uinta National Forest
Mike Nielsen/flickr This national forest was merged with the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in 2007, but it has some of Utah’s most beautiful terrain, so I’m mentioning it separately here. Three wilderness areas are included inside this forest: Mount Timpanogos Wilderness Area, Mount Nebo Wilderness Area and part of the Lone Peak Wilderness Area.
- Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Tom Kelly/flickr The boundaries of this forest encompass 1,607,177 acres of land, most of it in Utah. Areas include wilderness regions near Logan, the High Uintas Wilderness Area near Kamas, the Mount Olympus, Deseret Peak, Lone Peak and Twin Peaks wilderness areas near Salt Lake City and Tooele.
Which is your favorite National Forest? Let me know what you love about it in the comments.
U.S. Department of Agriculture/flickr
The Ashley National Forest covers 1.3 million acres in northeastern Utah and a bit of southwestern Wyoming. The north and south slopes of the Uinta mountain range are covered by this forest.
Yellowstonegate/flickr
Most of this 3 million acre forest is in Idaho, but you’ll find a tiny piece of it near I-15 at the Utah/Idaho border.
Andrea Parrish-Geyer/flickr
The Dixie National Forest’s beauty is amplified by the red rock!
Keith Schurr/flickr
This national forest includes “Pando” — a 107-acre grove of aspens that is the heaviest and second-largest living organism on the planet.
John Buie/flickr
The La Sal Mountain Range is the second-highest in Utah, after the Uinta range. The Manti-La Sal National Forest includes 1.2 million acres of land in central and southeastern Utah; a very small portion of the forest is in Colorado.
Rand Snyder/flickr
This division of the Sawtooth National Forest is located near Utah’s northern border, on the western side of the state.
Mike Nielsen/flickr
This national forest was merged with the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in 2007, but it has some of Utah’s most beautiful terrain, so I’m mentioning it separately here. Three wilderness areas are included inside this forest: Mount Timpanogos Wilderness Area, Mount Nebo Wilderness Area and part of the Lone Peak Wilderness Area.
Tom Kelly/flickr
The boundaries of this forest encompass 1,607,177 acres of land, most of it in Utah. Areas include wilderness regions near Logan, the High Uintas Wilderness Area near Kamas, the Mount Olympus, Deseret Peak, Lone Peak and Twin Peaks wilderness areas near Salt Lake City and Tooele.
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