Northern Utah’s Wasatch Mountains are popular destinations for outdoor enthusiasts in every season. These mountains rise spectacularly from the relatively flat valley floor to thirteen peaks over 11,000 feet in elevation. An additional nineteen peaks rise more than 10,000 feet in elevation. Although many hiking guides exist for the Wasatch Mountains, there has been no guide book that focuses on the geologic features visible from the trails—until now.

Written by a recognized authority on the geology of the Wasatch Mountains, this guide is meant to enrich the experience of outdoor enthusiasts who want to understand the geological history and development of the Wasatch range. The first section of the book introduces the major geological time periods—the record of mountain building events from oldest to youngest, the effects of glaciation, and the development of the present topography. It then follows with a descriptive trail guide for each major trail system, including Mill Creek and Neffs Canyons, Mount Olympus, Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons, and Bells Canyon. Trail length, elevation gain, relative difficulty, and major geological features are outlined for each trail. Now you can hike these trails with the answers to all your geologic questions right at your fingertips.

Few places offer the hiking opportunities available right here in the Wasatch. Hundreds of miles of trails and three Wilderness Areas are within a few minutes’ drive of Salt Lake City. John Veranth has hiked all these trails and has written a comprehensive guidebook with hiking suggestions arranged by season and difficulty.

Beginners will find detailed descriptions of easy hikes on well-maintained trails. Challenging routes to seldom-visited cirques and summits are suggested for the expert.

Maps, photos, and line drawings accompany the trail descriptions. Data tables list distances and hiking times. The geology, native plants, human history, and contemporary issues are discussed to aid in understanding these wonderful mountains. 

When the first company of Mormon settlers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in July 1847, it was immediately apparent that thier survival depended upon what resources they found in the mountains surrounding them. The Great Basin soil was baked hard by the sun and yielded to the plow with great difficulty. And as pioneer William Clayton noted, surveying the valley floor, "Timber is evidently lacking." But within a week of arrival, a small dam had been constructed to channel irrigation water to crops, parties had been dispatched to explore the nearby canyons for trees suitable for lumber, and names had been attached to several dozen features of the landscape including peaks, creeks, and canyons.

These place names, as well as the physical traces and artifacts that persist in three Wasatch canyons—Mill Creek, Big Cottonwood, and Little Cottonwood—tantalize with what they suggest, but do not tell, about the history of settlement and development in the canyons. Charles Keller has extracted a wealth of information to create The Lady in the Ore Bucket, a fascinating history of the lumber, mining, and hydropower industries built from the rich natural resources of the canyons. With more than six dozen photographs and maps, the book is alive with details concerning the personalities, politics, pacts, and peregrinations of local leaders from white settlement in 1847 through the early 1900s. It will delight any reader with an interest in the magnificent canyons that open onto the modern Wasatch Front.  

In the high country of the northern Wasatch Mountains, lies what is left of one of the West’s largest ranches. Deseret Live Stock Company was reputed at various times to be the largest private landholder in Utah and the single biggest producer of wool in the world. The ranch began as a sheep operation, but as it found success, it also ran cattle. Incorporated in the 1890s by a number of northern Utah ranchers who pooled their resources, the company was at the height of successful operations in the mid-twentieth century when a young Dean Frischknecht, bearing a recent degree in animal science, landed the job of sheep foreman. In his memoir he recounts in detail how Deseret managed huge herds of livestock, vast lands, and rich wildlife and recalls through lively anecdotes how stockmen and their families lived and worked in the Wasatch Mountains and Skull Valley’s desert wintering grounds.

The Wasatch Mountains sit on the western edge of the Rockies. Stretching south through Utah from Bear River in the north to Mount Nebo in the central part of the state, their peaks dominate the skyline of Salt Lake City and nearby urban areas. Elevations range from 9,000 to almost 12,000 feet, with eighteen peaks above 11,000 feet. All of the 11ers can be summited as a day-hike, without the use of climbing gear.
This guide provides information on trailhead access, approaches, and routes for every 11,000-foot peak. It includes overview maps of major roads, topographical overview maps, and detailed route maps for each peak. There are also total roundtrip mileages, elevation-gain (or loss) figures, and alternate routes to help hikers plan their adventures.
Featured peaks include North Mount Nebo, South Mount Nebo, Middle Mount Nebo, Mount Timpanogos, 'South' Timpanogos, West American Fork Twin Peak, 'North' Timpanogos, 'South' American Fork Twin Peak, Unnamed 11,383, Unnamed 11,347, East Broads Fork Twin Peak, West Broads Fork Twin Peak, Pfeifferhorn, White Baldy, Sunrise Peak, Unnamed 11,288, Lone Peak, North Peak, Red Baldy, Red Top Mountain, South Thunder, North Thunder, Unnamed 11,137, Monte Cristo Peak, Dromedary Peak, Box Elder Peak, Mount Baldy, Provo Peak, Sugarloaf Mountain, 'East' Provo Peak, Mount Superior, and 'East' American Fork Twin Peak.