Published by Paul Ivinskas
Sunday, October 25, 2026

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Explore Utah

Utah wildlife and plants

The animals and plants of Utah's mountain forests, red-rock desert, sagebrush valleys and Great Salt Lake wetlands.

Get to know Utah through the animals and plants that live here. Browse the 63 profiles by habitat or region, compare a species' seasonal habits, and follow the linked agency and university sources when you want to learn more. Start with the landscape you expect to visit, then narrow the list to wildlife or plants.

This is an introduction, not a full inventory or field guide. Region labels show where a species lives, not where you will see it. Seasonal notes describe general patterns, and we don't publish exact sites for nests, roosts, colonies or rare plants. Check the land manager's current access information separately before a trip.

Choose a way in

Learn the landscape

A seasonal comparison makes a familiar landscape easier to read. At Arches, rainfall strongly shapes the wildflower display; at Cedar Breaks, high meadows bloom through a short summer. Those are local examples of why one statewide "best week" would mislead. Try the mountain and desert habitats, then the spring and summer pages.

Each profile answers three separate questions: what the organism is, what habitat or range its sources support, and what a visitor can responsibly observe. Conservation labels are shown with their category, scope and date, because a federal listing, a state priority list and a native-or-introduced label answer different questions.

New: guides to 7 habitats, four seasons and watching well, with the profiles that belong together.

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8 profiles.

Learn this habitat: Neighborhood nature: habitat without feeding encounters

Wildlife

Mule deer beside and crossing a paved road at Bryce Canyon
File photo: Mule deer beside and crossing a paved road at Bryce Canyon (2016-09-19 01:15). Photo: Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mammals

Mule deer

Found across Utah, from high mountains to city neighborhoods, and named for its large, mule-like ears.

Odocoileus hemionus

A bull moose among rocks and low vegetation at Cecret Lake
File photo: A bull moose among rocks and low vegetation at Cecret Lake (2012-07-25). Photo: BBernardicius · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mammals

Moose

The largest member of the deer family in Utah, at home where northern mountain forest meets water.

Alces alces

A coyote beside a road on Antelope Island
File photo: A coyote beside a road on Antelope Island (2012-10-01 15:05:31). Photo: Hermann Luyken · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mammals

Coyote

Common across Utah, including in cities, and an opportunist that will eat almost anything.

A Townsend’s big-eared bat hanging from rock
File photo: Townsend’s big-eared bat in Utah, BLM archive. One of the bat species found in the state. Photo: John Larson / BLM Utah · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Mammals

Bats

Insect-eating flying mammals whose lives depend on suitable roosts, water and a safe seasonal cycle.

A monarch butterfly feeding on purple flowers
File photo: a monarch butterfly feeding on purple flowers. Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Invertebrates

Monarch butterfly

An orange-and-black migrant whose caterpillars need milkweed and whose adults need flowers through the season.

Danaus plexippus

Plants

Blue spruce trees on a ridge at Bryce Canyon National Park
File photo: blue spruce trees on a ridge at Bryce Canyon National Park. Photo: Quinn Dombrowski from Chicago, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Trees

Blue spruce

A Utah native whose sharp, four-sided needles can be green as well as blue.

Picea pungens

Showy milkweed flowers on the slopes of Red Butte
File photo: showy milkweed flowers on the slopes of Red Butte. Photo: Andrey Zharkikh · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wildflowers

Showy milkweed

A broad-leaved native perennial whose clustered flowers support pollinators and whose leaves can host monarch caterpillars.

Asclepias speciosa

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