The Shining Oquirrh Mountains

                             The north end of the Oquirrh Mountains.

By Lynn Arave

FROM Copper and mining to one of the largest man-made holes on earth to broadcasting to weather effects, the Oquirrh Mountains have a strong impact on the Salt Lake Valley.

Often, however they are often overlooked and overshadowed by the taller, bigger, longer and more prominent Wasatch Mountains.
The Oquirrhs stretch north-south some 30 miles and rise to an elevation of more than 10,600 feet — 6,000-plus feet above the valley floor.
Oquirrh is a Ute Indian word that means "shining mountain." The Bingham Canyon cooper mine is located in the Oquirrhs and has produced the "mountain that isn't there," as well as a huge hole that is visible from space and more copper than any other mine in history at 2.75 miles wide and .75 of a mile deep. (You could stack 9 LDS Church Office Buildings on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine.) 

Note that a huge landslide inside the mine in early 2013 disrupted mining operations there.

Not always a hole, there used to be an actual mountain sticking up where the Kennecott mine is now.

Also, before so much mining took place on the north end of the Oquirrhs, the mountains were apparently much greener and forested than they are today.

Farnsworth Peak, on the north end of the Oquirrhs, only rises to 9,066 feet, but it could easily lay claim to being the single most important mountain peak in Utah. That's because 16 FM radio stations and KSL-TV and some other TV stations have their transmitters up there.

 In fact, all of Salt Lake's TV stations have a transmitter somewhere in the Oquirrhs, given their superior location for proliferating the signals on the area airwaves — even over the tallest Wasatch Mountains.

KSL used to operate a tramway on the west side of the Oquirrhs, to service its transmitter site. That is lone gone, but some of its footings are still visible along the mountainside.

Weather wise, the Oquirrhs provide what meteorologists refer to as a "rain shadow." This means at least downtown S.L. is protected by storms, or they are sometimes delayed, because of the Oquirrhs acting as a barrier.
(In contrast, the infamous 1999 Salt Lake tornado appeared to have formed in its preliminary stages over the north end of the Oquirrhs.)
Because the Oquirrhs — especially on the north end — are much more barren than the Wasatch Mountains, snow can really "white out" the area below Farnsworth Peak, far more than most local mountains.

--The four tallest peaks in the Oquirrhs are:

1.    Flat Top Peak 10,620 feet above sea level.

2.    Lowe Peak, 10,589

3.    Lewiston Peak, 10,411.

4.    Sharp Mountain, 10,006.

UPDATE: Sadly in 2013, Kennecott closed a lot of historic public access in the Butterfield Canyon area.

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net