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La Sal, Utah

29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 2001. It stands in the Monticello census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84530. The Survey maps it on the La Sal East quadrangle. 348 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,978 feet above sea level.

La Sal within San Juan County

Population over time

3 figures

La Sal grew from 339 to 348 between 2000 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.

YearPeople Change
2000339
2010395+56 (+17%)
2020348-47 (-12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 29 printed sheets

Matched 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.

What the histories say of this town

2,718 words

1 chapter about La Sal from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.

ChapterFrom Length
San Juan County, UtahSan Juan County, Utah (1910)2,718 words

Fires near this place

97 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 97 fires within 5 miles of La Sal between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,295 acres in total. 63 started naturally. None was 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
Natural63
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Debris and open burning7
Equipment and vehicle use4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1993Naturalunder an acreMoab Field OfficeCARBIDE
5 September 2007Naturalunder an acreMoab Field OfficeEAST COYOTE 2
3 September 2004Naturalunder an acreManti-Lasal National ForestLACKEY
28 September 2002Naturalunder an acreMoab Field OfficeMEYER
2 September 2020Natural100 acresManti-Lasal National ForestLACKEY FAN
2 September 2001Naturalunder an acreMoab Field OfficeEIGHTMAN
14 September 2015Naturalunder an acreMoab Field OfficeNORTH LA SAL
13 September 1997Naturalunder an acreManti-Lasal National ForestRIDGE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Juan County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 33 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 33 workings within 5 miles of La Sal: 16 past producers, 11 producers, 5 occurrences, 1 prospect. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium, Uranium, Vanadium, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Rattlesnake MineVanadium, UraniumOccurrence
Beaver Mine Deer CreekUranium, VanadiumProducer
Big Indian MineCopperPast ProducerChalcocite, Chrysocolla, Covellite, Malachite
Big Indian PropertiesCopperPast Producer
Hecla ShaftUranium, CopperPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Uraninite
Lisbon Mine & MillUranium, VanadiumPast Producer1950, 1972
Rio AlgomUranium, VanadiumProducerCoffinite, Uraninite
Far West MineUranium, VanadiumProducerUraninite
Firebird MineUranium, VanadiumProducer1942, 1956
La Sal InclineUranium, VanadiumPast Producer

Every working recorded in San Juan County

Storms near this place

14 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Sal in 14 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 wildfire, 2 hail, 2 debris flow. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2025Tornado (EF2)La Sal-A fire-induced tornado occurred at the Deer Creek Fire near La Sal, Utah on July 12th. The tornado was rated an EF2 with a path of 100 yards wide and winds estimated at 122 mph, lasting approximately 12 minutes. Storm surveys indicated extensive roof damage to a home and several outbuildings were also damaged.
June 2024HailLa Sal-A COOP Observer near La Sal, UT reported 1 inch hail in association with a severe thunderstorm that passed over the area on the morning of the 21st.
July 2021Debris FlowLa Sal-Mud and rocks flowed over La Sal Pass Road as a result of heavy rain over the Pack Creek Fire burn scar.
August 2021Debris FlowLa Sal-Mud, rocks and other debris flowed across La Sal Pass Road as a result of heavy rain over the Pack Creek Fire burn scar.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindLa Sal-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindLa Sal-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindLa Sal-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindLa Sal-no account filed
August 2005Flash FloodLa Sal-no account filed
September 2002HailLa Sal-no account filed
July 2002WildfireLa Sal-no account filed
July 2002WildfireLa Sal-no account filed
July 2002WildfireLa Sal-no account filed
July 2001FloodLa Sal-no account filed

Every storm recorded in San Juan County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Old La Sal5.4 miles29
La Sal Junction8.3 miles25
Spanish Valley16.7 miles26
Monticello30.8 miles20
Ucolo32.6 miles21
Eastland35.6 miles21
Verdure36.7 miles20
Blanding49.0 miles21

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 La SalAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q972244The 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 1442376. 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.