Manti-La Sal National Forest

The Manti-La Sal National Forest is home to a variety of recreational activities, and America Outdoors outfitters have you covered, offering horseback riding, educational programs, hiking, mountain biking, winter sports, whitewater rafting, and dude ranch lodging!

The 1,413,111-acre Manti-La Sal National Forest is located in southeastern Utah. It is managed for multiple uses such as range, timber, minerals, water, wildlife, and recreation. The Forest is divided into three land areas: the Manti Division, the La Sal Division at Moab, and the La Sal Division at Monticello.

The Manti Division is part of the remnant Wasatch Plateau (5,000 to 10,000 foot elevation) exhibiting high elevation lakes, diverse vegetation, near vertical escarpments, and areas of scenic and geologic interest.

On the La Sal Division-Moab, mountain peaks (12,000 foot elevation), canyons, and forest add climatic and scenic contrast to the hot red-rock landscape of Arches (5,000 foot elevation) and Canyonlands National Parks.

The La Sal Division-Monticello offers timbered slopes to provide a welcome middle ground and background contrast to the sand and heat of Canyonlands National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, and the surrounding desert. Pictographs, petroglyphs, and stone dwellings are evidence of past civilizations.

HISTORY

The mountain and desert landscapes of the Manti-La Sal National Forest hold secrets of people who came before us. For nearly 10,000 years, the Forest was home to native cultures--people who archaeologists call Paleo-Indians, Desert Archaic, Fremont, and Anasazi. Paleo-Indians and Desert Archaic people were semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers living on wild foods. About 1,500 years ago, prehistoric farmers settled in the lower elevations of the Forest. They grew corn, beans and squash and left rock art on the cliffs and food stored in small granaries built into the cliff walls.

Throughout the Forest are homesteads built by Mormon settlers, remains of cattle and sheep ranching, mining activity, and trails developed for the extraction of gold, silver, radium, uranium.

Prehistoric and historic artifacts collected from sites in the Forest can be seen in outstanding displays located in various communities and on the Forest.

Edge of Cedars Museum and State Park in Blanding
College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price
The Great Basin Environmental Education Center on the Ephraim Canyon Road Forest Highway 8
Stuart Guard Station on State Road 31
Several historic sites can also be visited along the Huntington and Eccles Canyons National Scenic Byway State Roads 31 and 264