Alton, Utah
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Orderville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84710. The Survey maps it on the Alton quadrangle. 118 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 7,041 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAlton fell from 119 to 118 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 119 | |
| 2020 | 118 | -1 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1886 USGS Kanab quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Alton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Kanab quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
80 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 80 fires within 5 miles of Alton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 240 acres in total. 49 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 49 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | BROOKSBY |
| 30 September 2011 | Natural | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | DETOUR |
| 25 September 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | SMOLDER |
| 19 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | not named |
| 18 September 2004 | Natural | under an acre | Dixie National Forest | JUMP UP 2 |
| 14 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | MAJORS |
| 11 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | TREE IN ROAD |
| 1 September 2006 | Natural | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | HILLTOP |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Alton: 10 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton South Gravel Pit #1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Surface | |
| Alton South Gravel Pit No.1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Alton South Gravel Pit No.2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Alton South Gravel Pits #2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Surface | |
| Hill Top Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Gravel, Sand | |
| Hill Top Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Kanab Creek Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Surface | |
| Kanab Creek Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sink Valley Borrow Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Gravel, Sand | |
| Sink Valley Borrow Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alton in 8 storm reports between 2010 and 2024: 8 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Alton | $10,000 | Heavy rain caused flash flooding near the Skutumpah Road, damaging the road. As a result, rangers were cut off from traveling throughout the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Alton | $1,000 | Flash flooding was reported along Sheep Creek Road near Kodachrome Basin. The road was reported to have experienced flash flooding in several areas over a 5 to 6 mile stretch requiring heavy equipment cleanup due to mud and debris. Report noted from Kodachrome State Park official as well as NWS employee. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Alton | - | The Paria River near Kanab gauge recorded a peak flow of 1270 cfs when the flood wave passed through. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Alton | - | A roughly 700 cfs flash flood was recorded by the Paria River near Kanab gauge at 12:40 a.m. MDT. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Alton | - | The Paria River near Kanab gauge recorded a crest of 830 cfs at 9 a.m. MDT as the peak of the flood wave passed by the gauge. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Alton | - | Heavy rain produced a large flash flood in Johnson Canyon. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Alton | - | Heavy rain produced flash flooding in the city of Kanab. Water was reported to have been rushing over roads at the mouth of Kanab Creek in town. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | Alton | - | Flash flooding occurred along the Skutumpah Road slot canyons, including Johnson Wash. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Valley Junction | 3.8 miles | 16 | |
| Glendale | 10.3 miles | 15 | |
| Duck Creek Village | 11.2 miles | 19 | |
| Orderville | 13.9 miles | 15 | |
| Mount Carmel | 16.3 miles | 15 | |
| Navajo lake Lodge | 17.9 miles | 19 | |
| Mount Carmel Junction | 18.1 miles | 15 | |
| Georgetown | 23.7 miles | 16 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Alton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q483441 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1438182. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





