Interesting Facts About Utah

When you think of Utah, you’d often think about Salt Lake City, the Mormons, and Jazz music. But the state’s natural beauty is another thing you should think about, too , and all of the beautiful places the Utah shuttle can take you!

Utah was admitted to the Union as the 45th state in 1896. In relation to its vast land area (84,889 square miles), Utah is one of the least densely populated states. Utah has its own unbeatable scenery and has been the favorite of outdoorsy tourists for years. It is reputed to be one of the best states to live in. Most probably the Mormon religion has lent a considerable influence on the culture and the way of living for a lot of Utah residents.

Discover a bit more about Utah — its natural beauty, tourist destinations, and more information — here in this gallery.

The Little Cottonwood Canyon lies about 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon has a distinctive “U” shape as a result of the alpine glacier many, many thousand years ago during the last ice age. Hiking, camping, and rock climbing are the most popular activities to be done in the canyon. You can also find species of plants that thrive only in this area.

Monument Valley is located on the borders of Utah and Arizona. The clusters of red sandstone mesas and buttes, surrounded by an almost-empty desert, completes the isolated beauty and the ideal images of the American West. The highest butte there reaches over a thousand feet from the valley floor.

You may have seen these images in the movies or television shows before — red desert with tall rock pillars. And it’s not so surprising because Monument Valley has frequently been the favorite location for film shootings.

The Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) was named by Utah in 1971 as its official state mammal.

The white-colored Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii) was designated by Utah as the official state flower in 1911.

The Utah State Capitol is the seat of government in Utah, located in its capital and largest city Salt Lake City. Like most US state capitols, this one in Utah was also built in the Neoclassical architectural style. Construction of the building started in 1912 and the inauguration of the capitol occurred in 1916. It is now included in the National Register of Historic Places.

Zion National Park is located near the town of Springdale, Utah. Established on November 19, 1919, the park features its most prominent attraction, Zion Canyon, a gorge that measures 15 miles long and half a mile deep.

The park features 149,597 acres of surprisingly unusual and varied range of plant and animal life. You can also find various land formations such as mountains, mesas, buttes, big rocks, natural arches, and so much more. The spectacular scenery makes the park a paradise-like place for outdoor-loving tourists.

It is not only Utah that has stringent laws on alcoholic beverages, but 17 other states have also imposed the same strict orders on alcohol. In Utah, all alcoholic beverages that have more than 3.2% alcohol by volume (ABV) are purchased from state-run stores only. Alcohol-laced beverages (such as fruity drinks) are not allowed at privately-owned retail stores and groceries, unless they have a seal of approval from the state government. Local laws may ban drinking on Sundays.The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is the new official state tree in Utah. It replaced its former choice, the blue spruce, in 2014.

Utah named the California gull (Larus californicus) as its official state bird in 1955.

The Deer Creek Dam and Reservoir is a man-made reservoir built to provide hydroelectricity in Wasatch County, Utah. Construction started in 1938 and ended in 1949. It can be as deep as 42 meters (137 feet). Aside from providing electricity, the dam also functions as a recreational spot where tourists can fish, swim, camp, and do water sports such as skiing.

The Delicate Arch, located in the Arches National Park near Moba, Utah, is one of the most impressive and most recognized natural arches in the United States. This red sandstone arch stands on its own and was formed by erosion thousands of years ago. Because of its remarkable shape, it has been declared one of the most widely recognized landmarks in Utah, as seen on its license plates as well as the commemorative postage stamp in 1996, when Utah celebrated 100 years of being a state.

This Is The Place Heritage Park is a park located on the east side of Salt Lake City in Utah. The park includes the This is the Place Monument and Deseret Village where it features Mormon pioneer life in Utah for tourists. Visitors feel like they stepped back into olden times as they go to places such as the replica of the Deseret News Printing Shop and the ZCMI Mercantile Store which produces old-time candies. Visitors can also view or take part in pioneer activities such as making yarn and being a blacksmith working on iron. Every character in the village is also dressed in pioneer clothes.  Find out what do mormons believe in – mtsu encyclopedia.

Located on the Brigham Young University campus, the Eyring Science Center is a science and educational institution built during the 1950s. It has several departments such as the departments of Physics and Astronomy, Geology, and Food Science and Nutrition. Of course, there is also a physics laboratory, the Royden G. Planetarium and the Orson Pratt Observatory.

The current flag of Utah has been officially used as a state and civil flag since 2011. Its original version was first flown in 1913.

It consists of a blue field with the Utah coat of arms in the middle, which consists of a bald eagle (the US national bird) symbolizing protection in peace and war. Inside the seal is the sego lily (Utah’s state flower) and the beehive which represents hard work and progress. The “1847” is the year when the Mormons first settled in Salt Lake Valley, and the “1896” is the year when Utah became a state.

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is the largest lake in the Western Hemisphere. An endorheic basin (no outlet or drainage), it is a pretty shallow lake, with an average depth of 16 feet although it can sometimes get as deep as 33 feet. The lake is 75 miles long and 28 miles wide.

As the name suggests, the Great Salt Lake is a saline lake, whose level of saltiness is even much higher than that of the sea. Although it’s called “America’s Dead Sea” it otherwise supports many forms of life such as many kinds of birds, brine shrimp, and waterfowl including the Wilson’s phalarope.

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