SURVEY NOTES

GeoSights, Anniversary Edition

24 Years, 71 Articles, and Counting!

by Mark Milligan and Mackenzie Cope

The detailed fretwork of Fantasy Canyon’s sandstone exhibits numerous protrusions, knobs, arches, and hollows.

The detailed fretwork of Fantasy Canyon’s sandstone exhibits numerous protrusions, knobs, arches, and hollows. Photo by Jim Davis.

Instead of a location reveal, this article recaps 24 years and 71 GeoSights articles! The first GeoSights article, “Sinkholes in Big Round Valley, Washington County,” appeared in the October 2000 edition of Survey Notes. At that time, only 300 million people were online around the world. Google and Apple Maps were still 5 and 12 years from launch, respectively. Today over 5 billion people are online. GeoSights has evolved greatly since the original strictly print articles with turn-by-turn directions. As of 2024, GeoSights articles are now in print, online as web pages, and part of a custom web application, all with GPS coordinates. Article links are shared through UGS social media accounts on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn, none of which existed in 2000. Nearly 1 million people from all 50 states and 153 countries viewed GeoSights online from 2010 through 2023, the span of available data.

Why GeoSights?

GeoSights replaced RockHounder articles, which featured interesting Utah rock, mineral, and fossil collecting locations in Survey Notes from 1994 to 2000. The introduction of GeoSights articles was an effort to move away from only highlighting collecting sites and encourage more Utahns to get outside and view some of the many outstanding attributes that make Utah a geologic wonderland. Interestingly, the UGS continues to provide rockhounding information in a new format through the Rockhounder web app.

What makes a worthy GeoSight?

Articles need to be nontechnical and appeal to a wide variety of people. We look for locations that are lesser-known geologic wonders that are open to the public, physically accessible to most Utahns (no long hikes), and geologically and geographically diverse. The top 20 articles accessed online are evenly distributed across Utah’s physiographic provinces with seven in the Basin and Range, seven in the Rocky Mountains, and six in the Colorado Plateau.

Although we strive to feature sites that are not too well known, avoiding major destinations in State and National Parks that are already highly popular, we are also sensitive to disclosing locations that are relatively unknown. In our digitally connected world, relatively unknown sites, valued for being undiscovered, undisturbed, or uncrowded, are becoming exceedingly rare. Our goal with GeoSights articles is to provide good information about sites that people may have heard of or wondered how they formed and want to visit. We encourage visitors to always be respectful of the natural beauty of Utah’s GeoSights and to embrace the ethic that knowledge enhances awareness and respect for the Earth.

What are the most popular GeoSights?

Based on web page visits the top 10 sites are:

A map of Utah with GeoSight's locations on it.

Where can I find more information?

Visit the GeoSights app. Still craving more? In collaboration with the UGS in 2019, the non-profit Utah Geological Association published Utah Geosites, which showcases 32 spectacular Utah geology locations, available for free through a separate web app. Those articles are more technical and provide a wealth of information about more amazing locations.