How does the Wasatch range in Utah compare to other ranges in the west?

[Shaolin]

The Wasatch is very beautiful, lived there for 16 years, hiked it many, many times.

[greenonion]

I have lived in Utah my entire life. I have never been to the front range area of Colorado. The Leadville/Aspen area is the farthest east I have been in Colorado. That was a long time ago so I don't remember much. I feel very geographically spoiled, if you will, growing up in this state. I feel like the Wasatch range is one of the most impressive ranges in the west and I could be totally wrong. That's why I'm here asking. How does the Wasatch compare to other ranges in the western USA? People driving east on interstate 80 are probably amazed once they see the long north south wall of impenetrable looking mountains.

I guess I should chime in... Been living in SLC, and hiking the Wasatch, since 93. Been hiking CO 14ers since late 70s, and Sierras since early 2000s I like to think I 'train' in the local Wasatch for the bigger and more numerous mountains in CO and Sierras (more limited experience than CO). I agree with another member who said the Wasatch are thinner in general (however, that could be argued when compared to the Sangres). The Wasatch is beautiful, but I wouldn't say more beautiful than several of the CO ranges. To me, the Wasatch is somewhat more limited than all the CO mountains simply due to the amount of peaks there as compared to CO, but still plenty to find and do. One big similarity: CROWDS in general and at THs. I've noticed a BIG increase in people the past 3-4 years in the Wasatch at THs. Wasatch, as you know, only goes up to 11,750 for Timpanogos and 11,900+ for Nebo. The Wasatch is impressive-looking from the west (from SLC side), but nothing to me compares (in the US) to the relief and view of the Sierras from the east. Simply stunning, and huge. Same with Tetons in WY. And speaking of WY, you can't beat the Wind Rivers. Once in and among the Winds, you feel similar to Yosemite with their big walls. The Wasatch is a very nice and beautiful range, but to me feels a little like a younger and smaller cousin to some bigger western ranges. It's really good to have the Wasatch literally in our backyard and access is super easy and quick, but that does come with tradeoffs in terms of lots of people. And yes, prior to Covid, the air pollution in SLC can be awful in winter, and even summer from fire smoke, but the Wasatch enables us to get above winter inversions and enjoy gorgeous days when the city is choking on brown pea soup. In winter we mostly either get nasty inversions that you can chew, or storms that keep inversions from settling in. And that's due to our geography of having the Wasatch range on our east side and the Oquirrh range on the west.

[Jbrow327]

I have lived in Utah my entire life. I have never been to the front range area of Colorado. The Leadville/Aspen area is the farthest east I have been in Colorado. That was a long time ago so I don't remember much. I feel very geographically spoiled, if you will, growing up in this state. I feel like the Wasatch range is one of the most impressive ranges in the west and I could be totally wrong. That's why I'm here asking. How does the Wasatch compare to other ranges in the western USA? People driving east on interstate 80 are probably amazed once they see the long north south wall of impenetrable looking mountains.

I guess I should chime in... Been living in SLC, and hiking the Wasatch, since 93. Been hiking CO 14ers since late 70s, and Sierras since early 2000s I like to think I 'train' in the local Wasatch for the bigger and more numerous mountains in CO and Sierras (more limited experience than CO). I agree with another member who said the Wasatch are thinner in general (however, that could be argued when compared to the Sangres). The Wasatch is beautiful, but I wouldn't say more beautiful than several of the CO ranges. To me, the Wasatch is somewhat more limited than all the CO mountains simply due to the amount of peaks there as compared to CO, but still plenty to find and do. One big similarity: CROWDS in general and at THs. I've noticed a BIG increase in people the past 3-4 years in the Wasatch at THs. Wasatch, as you know, only goes up to 11,750 for Timpanogos and 11,900+ for Nebo. The Wasatch is impressive-looking from the west (from SLC side), but nothing to me compares (in the US) to the relief and view of the Sierras from the east. Simply stunning, and huge. Same with Tetons in WY. And speaking of WY, you can't beat the Wind Rivers. Once in and among the Winds, you feel similar to Yosemite with their big walls. The Wasatch is a very nice and beautiful range, but to me feels a little like a younger and smaller cousin to some bigger western ranges. It's really good to have the Wasatch literally in our backyard and access is super easy and quick, but that does come with tradeoffs in terms of lots of people. And yes, prior to Covid, the air pollution in SLC can be awful in winter, and even summer from fire smoke, but the Wasatch enables us to get above winter inversions and enjoy gorgeous days when the city is choking on brown pea soup. In winter we mostly either get nasty inversions that you can chew, or storms that keep inversions from settling in. And that's due to our geography of having the Wasatch range on our east side and the Oquirrh range on the west.

Thank you very informative. Where is the best place to get the views of the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada's?

[jmanner]

From the air(30,000'+), the Wasatch and Unita's dont look like much compared to the San Juans, or any of the Colorado Rockies. The view from the hot, dusty, coal infested air of Salt Lake City, the Wasatch Front looks awesome. One of the coolest things I've seen is a night approach into SLC from DEN; you can see anything but black and then suddenly a city pops up.

Also, I doubt there are many places near Salt Lake City that compare to the isolation of backcountry skiing outside Denver. Of course, the drive is twice as long.

Final also: 4% beer sucks. Why Epic moved to Denver.

But I still think the PNW has the biggest and more impressive mountains in the lower 48. (Ok...flame me away again..lol)

Doesnt Massive have more area above 14,000' than Rainer? Also, Massive isn't about to drop 4,000' of mountain on Denver. (mostly just joking around)

Another cool pilot anecdote: You can see Shasta from 200 miles away to the east, which is nice after an hour of flying over western Utah and Nevada.

[greenonion]

I have lived in Utah my entire life. I have never been to the front range area of Colorado. The Leadville/Aspen area is the farthest east I have been in Colorado. That was a long time ago so I don't remember much. I feel very geographically spoiled, if you will, growing up in this state. I feel like the Wasatch range is one of the most impressive ranges in the west and I could be totally wrong. That's why I'm here asking. How does the Wasatch compare to other ranges in the western USA? People driving east on interstate 80 are probably amazed once they see the long north south wall of impenetrable looking mountains.

I guess I should chime in... Been living in SLC, and hiking the Wasatch, since 93. Been hiking CO 14ers since late 70s, and Sierras since early 2000s I like to think I 'train' in the local Wasatch for the bigger and more numerous mountains in CO and Sierras (more limited experience than CO). I agree with another member who said the Wasatch are thinner in general (however, that could be argued when compared to the Sangres). The Wasatch is beautiful, but I wouldn't say more beautiful than several of the CO ranges. To me, the Wasatch is somewhat more limited than all the CO mountains simply due to the amount of peaks there as compared to CO, but still plenty to find and do. One big similarity: CROWDS in general and at THs. I've noticed a BIG increase in people the past 3-4 years in the Wasatch at THs. Wasatch, as you know, only goes up to 11,750 for Timpanogos and 11,900+ for Nebo. The Wasatch is impressive-looking from the west (from SLC side), but nothing to me compares (in the US) to the relief and view of the Sierras from the east. Simply stunning, and huge. Same with Tetons in WY. And speaking of WY, you can't beat the Wind Rivers. Once in and among the Winds, you feel similar to Yosemite with their big walls. The Wasatch is a very nice and beautiful range, but to me feels a little like a younger and smaller cousin to some bigger western ranges. It's really good to have the Wasatch literally in our backyard and access is super easy and quick, but that does come with tradeoffs in terms of lots of people. And yes, prior to Covid, the air pollution in SLC can be awful in winter, and even summer from fire smoke, but the Wasatch enables us to get above winter inversions and enjoy gorgeous days when the city is choking on brown pea soup. In winter we mostly either get nasty inversions that you can chew, or storms that keep inversions from settling in. And that's due to our geography of having the Wasatch range on our east side and the Oquirrh range on the west.

Thank you very informative. Where is the best place to get the views of the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada's?

Hard to say where THE BEST location is for views of eastern side of Sierras. They are so beautiful all the way from Bridgeport in the north down to at least Lone Pine in the south. Bishop certainly has beautiful views of the Sierras. There's a decent campground (Grandview CG) in the White Mountains across Owens Valley to the east. That area has incredible views looking west at the Sierras. You can't see the range directly from the campground, but you should be able to hike up to higher spots nearby and look out. There is also a fantastic overlook on the road from the campground heading north. Then even further north is 14er White Mtn and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Bleak out there, but surreal in a good way. Incredible views of Sierras all along that area from the White Mtns.

[greenonion]

From the air(30,000'+), the Wasatch and Unita's dont look like much compared to the San Juans, or any of the Colorado Rockies. The view from the hot, dusty, coal infested air of Salt Lake City, the Wasatch Front looks awesome. One of the coolest things I've seen is a night approach into SLC from DEN; you can see anything but black and then suddenly a city pops up.

Also, I doubt there are many places near Salt Lake City that compare to the isolation of backcountry skiing outside Denver. Of course, the drive is twice as long.

Final also: 4% beer sucks. Why Epic moved to Denver.

But I still think the PNW has the biggest and more impressive mountains in the lower 48. (Ok...flame me away again..lol)

Doesnt Massive have more area above 14,000' than Rainer? Also, Massive isn't about to drop 4,000' of mountain on Denver. (mostly just joking around)

Another cool pilot anecdote: You can see Shasta from 200 miles away to the east, which is nice after an hour of flying over western Utah and Nevada.

Just a quick clarification on beer here in Utah... 3-4% beer used to only be in grocery stores while plenty of 7-11% has been around in state run liquor stores for years. There's plenty of the heavy stuff. Recently grocery stores bumped up to 5%. We don't have private liquor stores in Utah, just the state run ones. Figure that one out while considering who runs the state.

[jmanner]

Just a quick clarification on beer here in Utah... 3-4% beer used to only be in grocery stores while plenty of 7-11% has been around in state run liquor stores for years. There's plenty of the heavy stuff. Recently grocery stores bumped up to 5%. We don't have private liquor stores in Utah, just the state run ones. Figure that one out while considering who runs the state.

I was in SLC all of 2019 summer and those state run liquor stores are weird.

[cottonmountaineering]

Just a quick clarification on beer here in Utah... 3-4% beer used to only be in grocery stores while plenty of 7-11% has been around in state run liquor stores for years. There's plenty of the heavy stuff. Recently grocery stores bumped up to 5%. We don't have private liquor stores in Utah, just the state run ones. Figure that one out while considering who runs the state.

I was in SLC all of 2019 summer and those state run liquor stores are weird.

So expensive too

[Squirrellysquirrel]

I frequently visit Provo, UT for work and take the time to trek within the Wasatch range. I find the areas within overtrodden, but with great views and dense and established collections of wildflowers, which is very cool. I agree with the air quality of the area, it’s detracting and unfortunate... seeing smog makes me sad. I appreciate the enormous elevation gains from TH to peak, it’s a good workout for endurance and altitude. Prefer areas around the southeast corners within national forests, but that’s a different landscape all together.

Cascades are tight and jagged, satisfying hikes with varied technical terrain... also getting a lot of traffic these days, especially in the summer time; hiking the three sisters, as an example, can feel like an ant trail in the summer time. Winter hiking is more pleasing, yet I’d follow tracks throughout the year.

Winds? Yes! Remote and rugged enough... provides a wide variety of technical climbing.

Sierra Nevadas? I access just south of Reno... again a little too popular for me in the summer... the lenticular clouds are a unique feature to this area.

Tetons? Lovely, yet touristy. Be prepared to share with many.

My motives are for more remote areas, admitting my bias.

Picture of wildflowers (waist deep!) on the side of Provo Peak, early August.