Utah has a variety of terrain — valleys, deserts and lots of mountains — the latter being a major reason why winter sports and hiking are so exceptional here.
In elevation alone, Utah's terrain varies some 11,000 feet, or more than two vertical miles. Like any state, it also has its hottest, coldest, driest and wettest locations.
Man has also made a mark in the Beehive State with skyscrapers, large towers, big holes and huge reservoirs.
Paul Jewell, associate professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, agrees that Utah has perhaps the most diverse scenery found in any single state.
In fact, he said Utah has three distinct geological provinces, and New Mexico is probably the only other state that can also make the same claim.
Utah has the Colorado Plateau, Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin.
"That factor lends itself to a diverse range of scenery," Jewell said, with the Colorado Plateau encompassing Utah's national parks. "Utah has a huge diversity."
Kent Hansen, communications director for the Utah Travel Council, agrees Utah is a very diverse state and that diversity extends beyond the factual and geographical into the pure aesthetic beauty of its mountains, redrock and deserts.
"There's just something for everyone here," he said. "We're one place on the planet that caters to all."
Hansen also said Utah has a great diversity in weather, creating its own special beauty with the changing seasons.
Here's a look at the highs and lows of Utah, some of the state's key physical superlatives:
Highest point — Kings Peak, Uinta Mountains, 13,528 feet. Accessible by a 14-mile, minimum, one-way hike.
Highest mountain range — The Uinta Mountains, with two dozen peaks more than 13,000 feet high and considerable terrain sitting at more than 10,000 feet in elevation. The mountains are also America's only major range outside Alaska that runs east-west, instead of the usual north-south. (Wyoming has a small mountain range that goes east-west, too.)
Highest point outside the Uinta Mountains — Mount Peale, 12,721 feet, southeast of Moab in the La Sal Mountains, San Juan County.
Highest point in the Wasatch Mountains — Mount Nebo North Peak, 11,928 feet above sea level, east of Mona/Nephi.
Highest point in Salt Lake County — American Fork Twin Peaks (west summit), 11,489 feet above sea level, located southwest of Snowbird's Hidden Peak (top of the tram).
Highest vertical rise — From Moab city (4,000-foot elevation) southeast to Mount Peale (12,721) for a difference of 8,721 feet.
County high point average — Based on an average of the high point in each county, the Beehive State ranks No. 1 in the United States. Six states — Colorado, Alaska, California, Washington, Wyoming and Hawaii — have mountains taller than Utah's highest point, Kings Peak, but they also have more low-elevation counties, dropping their statewide average. Utah's average of county high points is 11,226 feet, 435 feet higher than Colorado's 10,791. Nevada is third at 10,765 and Wyoming fourth at 10,179.
Tallest cliff — The west side of 9,655-foot-high Notch Peak in the House Mountains, located 45 miles southwest of Delta, with a 5,033-foot, almost 90-degree drop on its western face, to the Tule Valley below. Notch is an acrophobic's worst nightmare, rivaling El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, for sheer drop.
Highest-elevation paved road — Mirror Lake Highway (U-150), which crosses Bald Mountain pass, 10,715 feet above sea level.
Highest-elevation gravel road — A road from Big John Flat to a high ridge in the Tushar Mountains, between Beaver and Marysvale, at 11,500 feet above sea level. Only accessible in summer.
Steepest paved road — U-143, south of Parowan, Iron County. The road tops out at 10,567 feet at Cedar Breaks National Monument by climbing 4,600 feet in about 18 miles with a maximum grade of 13 percent. This road is open year-round.
Highest-elevation man-made structure — The metal hut atop 11,750-foot Mount Timpanogos (topping the outhouse at 11,400 feet in the Tushar Mountains on the way to Delano Peak).
Tallest building — The Church Office Building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is 28 stories or 420 feet high. It opened in 1972.
Tallest man-made structure — Kennecott Copper's 1,215-foot-tall Garfield smokestack. In comparison, the Empire State Building is 1,250 feet high.
Tallest year-round waterfall — Bridal Veil Falls, Provo Canyon, with a 430-foot drop in two sections and an overall cascade of 604 feet. (During runoff and cloudbursts, Zion National Park may have higher temporary waterfalls.)
Highest-elevation lake — Upper Red Castle Lake in the High Uintas, 11,600 feet above sea level, between Wilson Peak and Red Castle Lake.
Highest-elevation town center — Brian Head, 9,700 feet above sea level. The ski resort itself is just over 10,000 feet.
Lowest-elevation town — St. George, 2,880 feet above sea level.
Longest straight stretch of road — I-80 in the Salt Flats between Wendover and Knolls with an approximately 50-mile straightaway.
Lowest point — Beaver Dam Wash, 2,350 feet above sea level, in the extreme southwest corner of the state in Washington County.
Hottest spot — St. George, 117 degrees on July 5, 1985.
Coldest spot — Peter Sinks, Cache County, an uninhabited mountainous area some 30 miles east of Logan, 69 below zero on Feb. 1, 1985.
Wettest place — Ben Lomond Peak, just north of Ogden, with 110.6 inches or precipitation between October 1983 and September 1984.
Greatest season snowfall — Alta, 808.5 inches from September 1983 to June 1984.
Greatest 24-hour snowfall — Alta, 55.5 inches on Jan. 5-6, 1994.
Greatest valley location snowfall — Kanosh, Millard County, 35 inches on Feb. 5, 1953.
High-elevation wind gust record (8,000 feet and above) — Snowbird, 125 mph on Nov. 8, 1986.
Mid-elevation wind gust record (5,000 to 8,000 feet) — Bountiful bench, 120 mph on Nov. 11, 1978.
Low-elevation wind gust record (under 5,000 foot elevation) — Hill Air Force Base, 104 mph on April 4, 1983.
Biggest reservoir — Lake Powell, capable of holding more than 25 million acre-feet, partially in Arizona. Second-largest Utah reservoir is Flaming Gorge, 3.75 million acre-feet, partially in Wyoming.
Biggest man-made hole — The Kennecott open pit copper mine.
Deepest cave — Neff's Cave, 1,170 feet deep, east of Holladay, beneath Mount Olympus. It's the deepest cave in the nation.
Longest tunnel — Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel (U-9), 5,613-feet long, the nation's fifth-longest land tunnel. The tunnel, which is in Zion National Park, opened in 1930.
Oldest living thing — Jardine Juniper tree in the slopes above Logan Canyon may be as much as 3,200 to 3,500 years old.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com