The Wasatch Plateau

The Wasatch Plateau is located in central Utah, approximately 130 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.  The Plateau comprise a
vast area of forested peaks and rolling hills, alpine meadows and mountain lakes. The highest point of the region is 11,300 feet above sea level, and a good portion of the plateau sits above 10,000 feet. The Wasatch Plateau covers an area 65 miles from north to south and roughly 25 miles across. It is located southeast of the Wasatch Mountains between Hwys. 89 and 10. Hwy 31 through Huntington Canyon provides the easiest access to the plateau. Petroglyphs, pictographs, pit houses, and ruins are found in the area, particularly on the east side in Quichupah and Ferron Canyons. Between 1250 and 2500 AD, the Fremont culture was replaced by Ute, Piute, Shoshone peoples. The Wasatch Plateau is NOT the Wasatch Mountains that lie to the east of Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo.

The Wasatch Plateau rises to a high point of 11,300 feet at South Tent Mountain. On the south end of the Manti-La Sal National Forest near the border with the Fishlake, scenic Musinia Peak rises to an altitude of 10,986 ft. The average altitude of the plateau is roughly 11,000 feet. It towers over a vertical mile above  Sanpete Valley on the west and Castle Valley on the east. The summit is defined by a long narrow platform that never reaches more than 6 miles in width. To the east, the land drops off dramatically through a series of striking white, pink, pale orange and buff-colored cliffs. (utahforests.org/wasatchplateau)        HOME