BlockBefore

Whiterocks, Utah

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Uintah and Ouray census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84085. It stands on Farm Creek. The Survey maps it on the Whiterocks quadrangle. 221 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,033 feet above sea level.

Whiterocks within Uintah County

On record in Whiterocks

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

Surveyed buildings and structures 3 records

Population over time

3 figures

Whiterocks fell from 341 to 221 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
2000341
2010289-52 (-15%)
2020221-68 (-24%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 16 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.

Photographs

2 photographs,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, U.S. Whiterocks Canal, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UT
Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, U.S. Whiterocks Canal, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UT
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, Whiterocks & Ouray Valley Canal, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UT
Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, Whiterocks & Ouray Valley Canal, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UT
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

164 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 164 fires within 5 miles of Whiterocks between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,880 acres in total. 44 started naturally. 7 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
Natural44
Debris and open burning37
Missing data/not specified/undetermined29
Equipment and vehicle use18
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Fireworks9
Arson/incendiarism7
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony1

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
6 September 2001Naturalunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsNEOLA TWO TREE FIRE
6 September 1998Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreUintah and Ouray AgencyCORNPEACH
4 September 1993Naturalunder an acreUintah and Ouray AgencyLI WATER
2 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresUintah and Ouray AgencyRIDLEYVILL
2 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined11 acresUintah and Ouray AgencyPOOWEGUP
12 September 1994Naturalunder an acreUintah and Ouray AgencyCART II
11 September 1994Naturalunder an acreUintah and Ouray AgencyRIDLEY II
1 September 2007Equipment and vehicle use2.5 acresUintah and Ouray AgencyWEST TRIDELL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Uintah County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Whiterocks: 3 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Farm Creek Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Farm Creek Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerUnconsolidated Sediments
West Channel Uinta River Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerUnconsolidated Sediments
West Channel Uintah River Gravel PtSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Whiterocks Canal Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Whiterocks Canal Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerUnconsolidated Sediments

Every working recorded in Uintah County

Storms near this place

2 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Whiterocks in 2 storm reports between 2015 and 2025: 2 hail. 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
September 2025HailWhiterocks-At 1322 MST on September 16, a trained spotter reported 1 inch diameter hail 9 miles ESE of Whiterocks, Utah.
June 2015HailWhiterocks-Quarter-size hail was reported on top of Whiterocks Mountain. The hail accumulated to 3 inches deep in some areas.

Every storm recorded in Uintah 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
Hayden3.3 miles16
Tridell4.4 miles17
Leeton5.5 miles16
Bennett6.5 miles17
Lapoint8.5 miles17
Ballard12.3 miles17
Gusher12.9 miles16
Fort Duchesne13.1 miles16

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 WhiterocksAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2916409The 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 1434208. 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.