The Manti-La Sal National Forest covers 1,413,111 acres (5,718 km²) and is located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Utah and the extreme western part of Colorado. Much of the forest is on a mountain range near Moab, Utah known as the La Sal Range. The maximum elevation is Mount Peale, reaching 12,721 feet (3,877 m) above sea level.
The La Sal Mountain loop road leads from Castle Valley to Geyser Pass and back down to Moab. Scenic Oowah Lake can be found within the forest.
In descending order of land area, the forest is located in parts of San Juan, Sanpete, Emery, Utah, Grand, Carbon, Sevier, Montrose, and Mesa counties. (Montrose County and Mesa County are the only ones that are in Colorado. Only about 2.1% of the forest lies in Colorado.) [1] Forest headquarters are located in Price, Utah.
The forest was originally established as the Manti Forest Reserve by the General Land Office on May 29, 1903 with 584,640 acres. On July 1, 1915 Nebo National Forest was added, and La Sal National Forest on November 11, 1949. On August 28, 1958 the name became Manti-La Sal National Forest.[2]
