The
Uinta Basin and Mountains are located in the northeast corner of the
state and are part of a larger physiographic area known as the Colorado
Plateau Province. The Uinta Mountains, a folded and faulted anticlinorium
(a succession of geological anticlines and synclines), are 150 miles
long and are oriented in an east-west direction; they extend from Heber Valley on the west to Cross Mountain in Colorado to the east. The mountain
range is thirty miles wide. The Uintas contain some of the highest mountain
peaks in the state, Kings Peak being the highest at 13,520 feet. The
mountains receive annually about thirty inches of precipitation. During
the Pleistocene era the Uintas were extensively glaciated. Lakes formed
by this process dominate the mountains. Some of the larger lakes today
serve as important reservoirs for the Wasatch Front.
In
addition to the Great Salt Lake, the Uinta Mountains are perhaps the
most important physiographic feature in northern Utah and the central
Intermountain region. The Uintas are central to the historic and economic
developments of northern Utah. They are the source for several of the
most important Wasatch Front rivers and streams including the Bear,
the Weber, and the Provo. They are also an important source of water
for Green River, a major tributary to the Colorado River. The Uintas
contain Ashley and Wasatch National Forests as well as the High Uinta
Primitive Area.
The
Uinta Basin lies south of the Uinta Mountains. The southern rim of the
basin is formed by the Tavaputs Plateau of the Book Cliffs, and the
western rim is formed by the Wasatch Mountains. The central portion
of the basin has an elevation of 5,000 to 5,500 feet. Asphalt Ridge
divides the Utah portion of the Basin into two unequal parts. Between
Asphalt Ridge and the Utah-Colorado state line is Ashley Valley, named
for William H. Ashley an important fur-trapping and trading entrepreneur
of the 1820s.