Natural Features

The varied habitats of the Ogden vicinity offer a diversity of animal life to the visitor. Hikers may see big game species such as elk, mule deer, moose and, if fortunate, big horn sheep and mountain goat. Smaller mammals commonly encountered are porcupines, snowshoe hares, beaver and several varieties of chipmunks, ground squirrels and marmots. Among several interesting species of mountain birds are blue and ruffed grouse.

Extreme diversity in plant communities resulting from rapid changes in topography offers a wide array of plants for appreciation. Among these varieties one finds a typical cold desert of sagebrush and rabbit brush. Conspicuous scrub oak woodlands are on the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains with aspen woodlands at higher elevations representing successful stages to a coniferous forest of Douglas fir, lodgepole pine and spruce. Higher mountain meadows are rich in wildflowers and beautiful canyons have maples, cottonwoods, red-barked dogwood and many wildflowers.

Perhaps to the visitor the most striking feature of the plants of this vicinity is the gradation of blooming wildflowers from low to high elevations. Even in mid-summer one can find spring bloomers simply by moving to a high elevation.

The northern Wasatch Mountains present a fairly complex geological picture. Rocks vary in age from approximately 1.5 billion years old to recent glacial debris. Moreover, the rocks exposed have been folded and fractured during several episodes of intense mountain building.

The present elevation of the ranges has been accomplished by vertical movement along steeply dipping faults such as the Wasatch which forms the prominent Wasatch front escarpment. Displacement attributed to this fault has been estimated to be at least 3000 meters (10,000 feet) and possibly as much as 4500 meters (15,000 feet). After uplift the mountains were carved to the effect of running water. In addition, some higher peaks and valleys show the sculpturing effect of glacial ice.

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