Prominence Peaks

The state of Utah has 81 prominence peaks that have at least 2000 feet of prominence. Bob Bolton described it best when he stated "Topographic prominence allows all mountains to be measured on a level playing field. It measures how far a mountain rises above the highest saddle (its "key saddle") that connects the peak to a higher peak. Another way to think of prominence is to imagine water rising around a peak. As the water rises to the elevation of the key saddle, the mountain's summit becomes the highest point on an island. The prominence of the mountain is the same as the height of that imaginary island. The prominence of the highest points on land masses is measured as the elevation of the highpoint above the level of the surrounding water." Utah County has eight of these peaks within its boundaries and those eight include three that are considered "Ultras", peaks with over 5000 feet of prominence. Again, quoting Bob Bolton, "By definition an Ultra-prominence peak rises at least 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) above its key saddle or surrounding water. The traditional threshold for Ultras in the U.S. has been 5000 feet of prominence, and there just happen to be no peaks in the 48 states whose “clean” prominence is between 1,500 meters and 5,000 feet. Clean prominence is a peak’s minimum prominence when exact saddle and/or summit elevations are not known." The three "ultra" peaks are Mt. Nebo, Mt. Timpanogos and Flat Top Mtn (in the Oquirrhr range). From the highest elevation to the lowest, the 8 peaks go like this: 11928 Mt. Nebo 11749 Mt. Timpanogos 11068 Provo Peak 10620 Flat Top Mtn 10687 Loafer Peak 10192 Spanish Fork Peak 7690 Lake Mtn Peak 6904 West Mountain Another peak that is near the Utah county line is Boulter Peak but showing it on this map is just for orientation.