Mexican Hat, Utah
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Blanding census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84531. It stands on Gypsum Creek. The Survey maps it on the Mexican Hat quadrangle. 21 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,245 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMexican Hat fell from 31 to 21 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 | 31 | |
| 2020 | 21 | -10 (-32%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 21 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 Abajo quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Abajo quadrangle1:250000
- 1893 USGS Abajo quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Mexican Hat quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1966 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Bluff quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Mexican Hat quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
5 since 2016Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Mexican Hat between 2016 and 2020, burning about 4 acres in total. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 July 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Moab Field Office | MONTANA |
| 27 June 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Moab Field Office | HWY163 MM26 |
| 27 June 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Moab Field Office | HWY163 MM27 |
| 27 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Moab Field Office | LAUNCH |
| 8 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | MEXICAN HAT |
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 Mexican Hat: 6 past producers, 2 producers, 2 occurrences. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Calcium, Oil Sands. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone Quarry | Calcium | Past Producer | ||
| Mexican Hat Oil Impregnated Rock | Oil Sands | Occurrence | 1882 | |
| Limestone Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Calcite | |
| Limestone Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Calcite | |
| Utah Department of Highways Pit #19049 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Unconsolidated Sediments | |
| Utah Department of Highways Pit No. 19044 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Quartzite | |
| Utah Department of Highways Pit No. 19048 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Gravel, Sandstone | |
| Utah Dept of Highways Pit No 19044 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept of Highways Pit No 19048 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept of Highways Pit No 19049 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mexican Hat in 12 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 6 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud, 1 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2023 | Flash Flood | Mexican Hat | $12,000 | A truck was swept away as a result of flash flooding from heavy rain on Johns Canyon Road which runs along a slot canyon in Gooseneck State Park. The San Juan County Sheriff's Office was able to send someone to rescue the stranded driver. No injuries were reported. |
| September 2002 | Flood | Mexican Hat | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2025 | Flash Flood | Mexican Hat | - | At approximately 5:20 PM MDT, heavy rain in the area north of Mexican Hat, UT, resulting in failed culverts and flash flooding. On State Highway 163, the failed culverts and and heavy rain resulted in water over the road, making them impassable until the water receded. Additionally, heavy rain in this region led to water over the road on County Highway 261, in an area of steep switchbacks. While no damage was reported, these roads did become impassable and had to be cleared in the hours after the water receded. No injuries or fatalities were reported. |
| June 2020 | Flash Flood | Mexican Hat | - | Heavy rain from thunderstorms allowed normally dry arroyos to fill rapidly which resulted in a flash flood. The Cooperative Observer at the Valley of the Gods north of Mexican Hat measured 0.58 inches of rain at the end of the event. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Mexican Hat | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail measured to be the size of quarters at the Valley of the Gods north of Mexican Hat. |
| July 2017 | Heavy Rain | Mexican Hat | - | A thunderstorm with heavy rainfall produced 0.61 of an inch within 30 minutes. Minor street flooding was reported. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Mexican Hat | - | Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in the Valley of the Gods. Water over a foot deep flowed across Valley of the Gods Road along several washes and caused visitors to become stranded. A total of 0.94 of an inch of rain was measured within 75 minutes at the Valley of the Gods cooperative weather station. |
| June 2015 | Tornado (EF0) | Mexican Hat | - | At 5:40 pm a rare tornado touched down near Comb Ridge east of Monument Valley in southeast Utah. The tornado drifted slowly to the northeast and roped out lasting approximately 15 minutes. No damage occurred as the tornado traveled over the open desert. This rare mesocyclonic tornado formed on the southwest corner of an uncommon long-lived, single-cell storm on the Colorado Plateau. The storm formed in far northwest Arizona and traveled over 75 miles before dissipating in western Colorado. Due to the high-visibility location of the storm near tourist attractions in Monument Valley, there were numerous eye-witness accounts and photos of this rare event. The tornado was photographed from over 25 miles away in some cases. |
| August 2013 | Flash Flood | Mexican Hat | - | Fast flowing water originating from Gypsum Creek covered county roads up to at least 12 inches in depth. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Mexican Hat | - | Fast flowing water runoff from heavy rainfall overran the Valley of the Gods roadway and filled adjacent dry washes. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mexican Hat | - | An intense thunderstorm produced strong outflow winds in the Valley of the Gods area. Unsecured items at a residence were blown over. |
| August 2000 | Funnel Cloud | Mexican Hat | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halchita | 2.1 miles | 21 | |
| Tselakai Dezza | 14.3 miles | 20 | |
| Little Water | 17.0 miles | 20 | |
| Bluff | 19.0 miles | 22 | |
| Goulding | 20.3 miles | 19 | |
| Oljato | 25.2 miles | 18 | |
| Red Lake Village | 29.0 miles | 19 | |
| Montezuma Creek | 30.1 miles | 20 |
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 Mexican Hat | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1926233 | 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 1430248. 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.










