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About Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County occupies 737 square miles in the central part of the state of Utah, where almost 900,000 people live, or nearly half of the population of the state. It mostly consists of the Salt Lake Valley, rimmed by the Wasatch Mountains on the east and the Oquirrh Mountains on the west. A tiny portion of the Great Salt Lake cuts into the northwest corner. The Jordon River flows from Utah Lake to the south through the middle of the county and into Salt Lake. Numerous other creeks flow out of the mountains to join the Jordon River.
In the first half of the 1800's it was a dry and desolate land which was described by explorers as incapable of growing a single bushel of corn. In 1847 it became the famous home of the Mormon pioneers, and when Utah became a state in 1896, it became home to the state capitol. For many years the valley was predominantly covered by farmland watered by irrigation from the mountain streams. In the latter decades of the 1900's, it's clean air and rural standards began to draw the large population influx which continues today.
Although the farmland has largely disappeared, Salt Lake County boasts many square miles of beautiful mountain scenery in canyons such as Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Millcreek Canyon, Emigration Canyon and others. Many peaks along the eastern edge of the city reach 9000 feet and more and provide breathtaking hiking opportunities.