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Fun fact: Route 50 from Nevada to Utah is known as "The Loneliest Road in America".

I drove from Kentucky to Las Vegas on I-70 just last week. Utah was so beautiful.

I’m from Nephi in Utah. It is the best spot to see all three geological zones meet: the Great Basin, Rocky Mountains, and the Colorado Plateau. All can be seen by just looking at the mountains around you.

'Almost Completely Empty' for me means incredible backcountry hiking and canyoneering!

Utah is shaped like a lighter

Utah has two stretches of freeway that are the longest stretches without services: I-80 across the Bonnevile Salt Flat is the longest completely straight stretch of freeway in the US, and I-70 between Salina and Green River is the longest stretch without any services.

The key geographical concept is the “Wasatch Front”- the urban centers of Utah are on the west side of the Wasatch Range because there is water coming from the mountains and open valleys (from the ancient lakebed) to be irrigated and farmed. And now to be converted into suburbs. The chain of settlements north to south was originally where the streams were. Now it is merging into one contiguous urban /suburban area

Utah geologist here, as for the lake drying up... it would cause a new dust bowl effect over the United States as salty sand is ripped from where the lake once was. Think dust bowl with salt, not a good thing.

Utah native here. I hope you guys will come visit and enjoy all that this great state has to offer. From Alpine zones to red rock country. Please treat it well. The Great Salt Lake has been making a recovery. And efforts are being made to assist in that. I’m hoping soon that it can get back to a healthy level.

Amazing video! One thing to note is that we've had a ton of precipitation in the last two years, following a major extended drought. The Great Salt Lake has made a remarkable turnaround from its record low level around fall of 2022, to being just slightly below what's considered its healthy range now. That being said, overfarming is still probably the biggest long-term issue facing the state IMO. On paper the State could have massive room for both industrial and population growth, with even relatively minor conservation efforts and realocations from agriculture. They could even do that while keeping the GSL healthy if the State was willing to bite the bullet. They have to keep protecting the farmers though. Even when agriculture is taking up 80% of our water in a desert State, while accounting for less than 1% of our economy. I know a certain level of farming is necessary to prevent flooding, due to how we've changed the natural hydrology with canals. In a lot of cases though, it's as simple as removing subsidies that should've been removed decades ago.

We seriously considered relocating to St. George, Ut. The water issues are significant in Southern Utah. Thanks for posting this video.

I’m a Utah Native in more way than one. As a local indigenous. My observation here in northern Utah is that we have too many people here for the amount of resources, “mainly water”. Without the Great Salt Lake the Salt Lake region will be uninhabitable. Not only that we have sensitive desert animals like fish that live in the seep springs. I’m mainly referring to the Least Chub. We need to stop the development of the land and save as much of the Sage Brush as we can for habitat like animals such as the Sage Grouse. If I was a millionaire I’d be buying up land so developers wouldn’t be able to touch a shovel to it. Without any of our wildlife those really pretty national parks and what not would seem really empty and lifeless. Pick up after yourself when visiting our parks because your mom isn’t here to pick up after you and how would you like it if someone came over to your residences and left trash everywhere.

I've never been that far west in this country. I really would love to visit Utah. It looks like a beautiful state.

Drove through Utah in 04. It was a really neat drive. We stopped in Kenab for 2 nights and did some horseback riding there. It was a really interesting town

As a Utahn, just seeing videos about it is pretty fun and interesting, because not many KZfaqrs really make videos about it because it’s just pretty forgot of. I will say, sometimes there is talk about Salt Lake City, but I’m just gonna say, as someone born in Utah, and who grew up here, Salt Lake City is definitely not all of Utah. In fact it’s probably the worst part of the state. I’m sorry to people who like Salt Lake City, but once you see more of the state, Utah truly is a one of the most beautiful states. I’m not just talking about national parks. I’m talking just about outside the large cities, and especially the mountains.

Because it’s desert

There are fewer than 200K people in SLC proper. The Wasatch Front is the commonly used term for the greater metro region.

Not sure I was ready to be called nobody by the videos thumbnail.

There are lots of states where a large % of their population reside in just one small geographic area. Nebraska and Kansas both have about 85% of their pops crammed into one small area.

FACT: The Saint George region used to be called "Utah's Dixie", heck there's even Utah Tech (Dixie State College).

The Great Salt Lake is not shrinking. It’s up 6.5 feet since 2022 and is expected to hit its historical average level after this year’s runoff. It is certainly still at risk of drying up someday, but it is not currently shrinking or drying up. The last time it was at its historical average elevation of 4,196 ft was 2013, so it is relief to see it getting back to those levels.

Excellent video. Tons of great information. Best part of these videos besides the videography? - The motion graphics. The motion graphics are a huge help.

Geoff, your videos are always nicely done-- informative, interesting graphics and solid video. I always learn quite a bit.

This just shows you that for the most part most of the American West Excluding the Pacific Coast is more rural than most of the American south.

Thank you for showing us the state of Utah Geoff. It looks stunning (if with serious issues). All the best.👍🏻

This was a surprisingly well done video!

Utah is also nicely depicted in Horizon Zero Dawn. Aloy starts out the Rockies where the Nora Tribe live and as the game progresses you transition into the Colorado Plateau, which is Carja territory

Hey thanks! You did a great job covering my home state. 😊

Spent a lot of time in Utah in the 1970s and Salt Lake City is the best laid out city I have ever seen. From Temple Square you can find any address in the city very easily. Tough place to get a cocktail back then but the Baskin-Robbins was open til midnight.

Love your videos. Especially this one. I'm a born and raised Utahn. Family dates back to the mormon pioneer arrival. I paid a visit to the Great Salt Lake today. The Lake is rising but it likely not enough.

The GSL used to cover most of the state of Utah once known as Lake Bonneville. It's been shrinking for thousands of years and continues to do so to this day.

Very nice video, “a degree of protection “ this really demands an explanation “protection, from what or who and why”

Great video, Geoff! Thanks for highlighting Utah and our problems. We also have terrible air quality, but awesome rail transit.

Geoff, I believe the Uinta Mountains map at 6:06 is a bit off. The range starts at Kamas, Utah, or at furthest the Jordanelle Reservoir - at least as considered by the locals. It looks like you are including the Wasatch.

Its worth considering too that the lake effect brings a lot of the snowfall to the wasatch front. As we have a smaller lake, we get even less snowfall which speeds up the shrinking problem. Hell I'm surprised we haven't renamed Antelope island yet. It's not even been an island for years now

I have family and friends in Utah, and Moab is a favorite of mine. Jeeping and Mountain Biking in Moab is always a good time.

I really love driving through the southwestern part of Utah where we see Monument Valley.

Utah is unique in that there is mountains, desert, forests, beaches (on reservoirs and lakes), and plenty of other changes in topography. One of the most interesting things is the change in climate between SLC and St. George. It can be cold and snowy in SLC in the winter, but drive 4 hours south and due to change in elevation and climate, it can be sunny and clear skies. A lot of residents with money and winter blues will go south for the winter to get some much needed sunshine or to golf. There are still plenty of hidden gems throughout the state that aren’t the Mighty 5. So plenty to see that growing up here was awesome and yet I still see hikes and features on Instagram I’ve never seen.

Also, the US Gov owns half of the state and it is not allowed to be developed.

Having driven south to north through Utah recently, the 85 mph speed limit was a surprise. Also the irrigation techniques they are using are the same as when I grew up there. I could swear it's the same equipment.

I love Utah. I was in st George it is beautiful

I know a lot of Utahns live within SLC, Provo, Ogden, and Brigham City which are all in SLC's CSA.

1) The Great Salt Lake has dropped ONE foot in the last 20 years. Today: 4,195 feet above sea level. In 2004 it was at 4,196 feet above sea level. The lake is NOT drying up...anytime soon. 2) The Great Salt Lake is what is left of the ancient Lake Bonneville, which has been shrinking for 30,000 years. It was shrinking LONG before people were around.

Another main reason why it’s so empty is because about 60 percent of the land in Utah is Federal Land or BLM land. So that’s pretty cool.

As a citizen of utah I love my state and I’ve been all over the us. Utah is so pretty. Grew up in Orem but slc is definitely home. Currently living in Tooele. I’ll never move anywhere else

What happened to the usual view of your basement office? Liked and subscribed!

I wondered about the title if you had ever been to Utah!? LOL

Live in tooele, just south of the great salt lake and yeah,, the drying lake makes the air quality rough for us...

Utah is basically if nevada was more fortunate

I’m from Moab (haven’t lived there in a really long time though), and I love the “empty” parts of Utah.

Utah weather is rough. From October to March it is generally freezing cold and dry. There is always a random snow day in March or April. It hardly rains but when it does, it pours for 3 minutes and then nothing for several weeks. From June to September the grass dries up. Plants shrivel up from the burning heat. The 4th of July fireworks & California wildfires cause bad air in the summer. The smog causes inversion in the winter heat. Nevertheless it's a great state.

2 keys for Utah. 1- Drinkable water for human consumption. 2- Suitable water for crops and livestock. These are two very important needs for a community to be established. Great video, lots of good pictures and info.

I live outside the Salt Like City area around a few miles from the border between Utah and Idaho in Lewiston Utah. So this was informitive to why it is like this. I actually knew a little about this due to my Utah history class in middle school.

Are you still going to travel somewhere?

I've got a Ryobi cordless drill just like yours.

I've always wanted to visit Utah since I was a boy in the Northeast US. I've only visited St. George & Zion National Park so far on a day trip from Las Vegas.

I think Skinwalker Ranch is in those mountains in NE Utah? 😊

Is that timbers memorabilia in the background?! Your PNW?

High 5 Geoff! Utah is cool

Native Utah Boy. Genuinely impressed by the history. Honestly, better than most videos I have seen about us.

Pretty soon the Utah Jazz will have great company in their home arena as the former Arizona Coyotes will set up shop there.

Thanks for the in-depth video. Just a note, in Utah, Zion is pronounced like onion- 'z(eye) un' .

I70 to Vegas is the most amazing drive for me thru the states

Funny story. My family is from a small town in Nevada not too far from the Utah border, as farmers they did business with lots of people from Utah and Idaho, actually my grandpa called the guy "The Potato King" and my grandfather got his own nickname from his friends and business associates. They called him "Ole Brig" because he had a Brigham Young beard.

The best place to live in Utah is outside of salt lake. In fact, salt lake is overcrowded and not place to be if you go further. Like Utah county is awesome and not overcrowded yet, although it is getting very full

Fun fact: the “eroded badlands” biome from Minecraft is based on Bryce Canyon

Our Great Lake just got 40 years' worth of water in the last 2 years... All of our reservoirs are at 100% or more currently

Murray UT checking in

I don't think I would call it stealing land.

as a utahn i aprove of this vid

You forgot to mention the expedition of Dominguez-escalante 1776

You did forget to mention that West of the great salt lake is a massive salt flat that is under heavy lithium mining, that has massive pumps from the lake. Even in the dire crisis a couple years back, they didn't slow that down a bit.🤔

Thanks for posting. I believe the problems that were outlined are very real. Utah was the fastest-growing state in the US from 2010 to 2023, with a total growth of 23.88% during that time. I believe that growth isn't sustainable given the geography, climate and lack of water sources. Just today I saw a news story today and apparently Utah's governor is asking people to not move here.

One fact not mentioned in this video is that much of Utah is owned by the federal government and people can't live in those areas. If most of the beautiful mountains surrounding the valleys where everyone lives were not federal land they would be overrun with people and the population of Utah would be higher, just like most of California. I'm not saying things should be different, in fact quite the opposite, but it is a major factor in why Utah is less populated for it's size.

Southern UT has a group of fundamentalist Mormons, which still believe in polygamy. Pretty weird down there.

Does terraform work?

One thing you missed... The Wasatch Front is the world's largest fault line of its kind and is roughly 100 years overdue for a devastating earthquake. The majority of structures built along this fault line are pre-modern earthquake building code (i.e. unreinforced masonry), and those that are modern structures (i.e. more so in the valley) are built on an ancient lake bed (Lake Bonneville), not bedrock, and are therefore vulnerable to liquefaction in the event of such an earthquake. The valley's water and gas mains criss-cross the fault line... And the epicenter of damage will lakely destroy I-15, I-215, and I-80 (the three freeway systems around and in/out of the valley). The valley's most capable hospital, the UofU Hospital, sits right on top of the fault line. Several offshoots of this fault line and others all intersect directly underneath downtown SLC. Modeling shows the quake could permanently tilt the valley floor causing Utah Lake to flood north through the corridor between Draper and Bluffale and the Great Salt Lake to flood into downtown SLC and part of the Ogden area. Uncontrolled fires throughout the valley from ruptured gas lines, loss of drinking water, destroyed roadways are all initial expectations immediately following. The loss of life, casualties, and ultimate economic devastation will make this one of the worst natural disasters in US history. The factors at play are a perfect storm. If you're going to move to Utah, I would think very carefully about where you live and in what kind of structure... As well as your financial support system should the local economy take such a hit as those who can afford to flee the valley (state analysis expects 10-20 years to return to pre-earthquake population / economy).

Utah has 5 national parks in southern Utah.

I live in the pretty empty part and I love it

Living here sucks so bad. The cheapest houses are like 500K and the people are judgmental and off putting

I live right near the Great Salt Lake, and let me tell you people here are very concerned about the lake shrinking. We got extremely lucky with two good years of snowpack in a row, so the lake has temporarily stopped shrinking. It might make it back into the healthy range once all the spring run off has melted, but it's still in a very precarious position. We have to completely change how we manage water so we can make sure we don't lose that lake, as a lot of our weather patterns, including our all important snowpack, depends on Lake Effect. Agriculture accounting for over 70% of water use in Utah means we've got to massive update agriculture practices and likely switch crops to less water intensive ones. Residential use should be curtailed significantly as well. We don't need to maintain acres of Kentucky blue grass in the desert.

Isn't the air filled with arsenic due to the drying up of the lake. ???? Does anyone know ???

Fun fact. Salt lake is at record water levels. In fact last year it was at record levels 😂 😂

What do you mean shrinking lake. Its been over flowing. And the great salt lake is a dead lake. Its poision to most life around it. Diverting water away from it would and has made it more livable.

The Utah population boot.

I enjoy your videos but for some reason they have way more ads than normal. It's annoying enough to almost make me click off the video

In a way, Utah is like Nevada--mostly desert-like conditions that are not suitable for large-scale settlement. That's why in much of Utah, it's effectively just as empty as Nevada.

What do the heavy metals come from that are exposed in the dried up bed of the Great Salt Lake?

Went up at night from Az...not impressed. Came back in the day...(I stand corrected) impressed.

Major population centers are unfeasible in a desert. Don't buy real estate in the desert south west.

I live in Layton Utah which is 30 mins north of downtown Salt Lake city area and Layton has grown ridiculously layton like orem or provo is grown dramatically

The hills have eyes…

Without even watching more than the first minute, I know the answer to the question. I am a born and raised Utahn. I live in Utah county, my grandparents on Mom's side lived in St. George. If you've ever taken that 4 hour drive, the question would not be why so few live in the rest of the state. It would be how can anyone live out here. 😊 I love my state, but even getting the population centers looking livable took the early settlers a lot of work.

Because its uninhabitable desert with very little water. I love the emptiness of the lands And am able to be in the middle of nowhere in minutes. UTAH needs to find the balance between the annual water levels and its growth. Its hit its limit in my opinion

Green Flake was freed by Brigham Young. Green Flake was an African American slave who was baptized in in April 7th 1844. Green Flake had joined the church during a time when Church President and Prophet Joseph Smith was running for President of the United States at the time of his assassination and part of Smith’s platform was to free all the slaves in the United States. Flake was baptized in 1844 along with his masters family of James Madison Flake in Mississippi by Missionary Benjamin Cluff. The family moved to Navuoo and then Salt Lake. Green Flake was in the vanguard party that first entered the salt lake vallley in 1847 and had many noteworthy accomplishments, including driving the first wagon down Immigration canyon to the valley and being one of the first people to plant crops in the valley. At the death of James Madison Flake 1850, Brigham Young then granted Green Flake his freedom.1 Late in his life, Green Flake, who was proud of his role as a Mormon pioneer, often appeared and gave speeches at local celebrations. In 1896, Green moved to Gray’s Lake, Idaho, to be near his children and grandchildren, but he often returned to Salt Lake City to join in the Jubilee Pioneer Day celebrations. An 1894 newspaper account described the surviving pioneers and proclaimed that “one of the most interesting of these old-timers was Green Flake, the only colored survivor of the band of ’47. Green is a vigorous, broad-shouldered, good-natured, bright old gentleman, long a resident of Salt Lake County, but now living at John Gray’s Lake, Idaho. He wears glasses, but that is the only sign of old age about him. His voice might do for a trumpet, and he steps off like a West Pointer when he walks.” Green Flake died in Gray’s Lake, Idaho, on October 20, 1903 and was buried next to Martha at Union Cemetery in Salt Lake City. Green’s service as a Mormon pioneer is memorialized, along with Oscar Crosby and Hark Lay, on the Brigham Young statue, as it is known, in downtown Salt Lake City; it celebrates the vanguard company - and its three African American members - who paved the way for the Latter-Day Saints into the Salt Lake Valley. 1. Stapley and Thiriot, “‘In My Father’s House;’” and Margaret Young Blair, “Green Flake, 1828-1903,” Black Past, accessed May 23, 2017, www.blackpast.org/aaw/flake-green-1828-1903.

My joke is that they have to deal with whatever is happening at Skinwalker Ranch too.

And just when Utah got an NHL team.

I’m going to have to research the “slavery” part because it doesn’t sound correct. Latter-day Saints were anti-slavery and was one of the reasons they were persecuted in territories like Missouri. Certain groups felt they would create an imbalance in the voting power to end slavery in Missouri and bring it into the union as a free-state when it voted on statehood. It would seem odd that any slaves if at all showed up in Utah. I suppose it is possible but I doubt significant enough to make it a defining point of the state. Especially since it was only a territory for a very long time.

My mother had an aunt in Manti