Map of Vernal city

Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern Utah, approximately 175 miles (280 km) east of Salt Lake City and 20 miles (32 km) west of the Colorado border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown to 10,370 as of the 2018 population estimate.

Vernal city overview:
Name:	Vernal city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Utah
County:	Uintah County
Elevation:	5,328 ft (1,624 m)
Total Area:	4.62 sq mi (11.97 km²)
Land Area:	4.62 sq mi (11.97 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	9,089
Population Density:	2,258.33/sq mi (871.95/km²)
ZIP code:	84078-84079
Area code:	435
FIPS code:	4980090
GNISfeature ID:	1433885
Website:	vernalcity.org

Online Interactive Map

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Vernal online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Vernal location map. Where is Vernal city?

Vernal location on the U.S. Map. Where is Vernal city. — Vernal location on the U.S. Map.

Vernal location on the Utah map. Where is Vernal city. — Location of Vernal in Utah.

History

Vernal, unlike most Utah towns, was not settled by Mormon Settlers. Brigham Young sent a scouting party to the area Uintah Basin in 1861 and received word back the area was good for nothing but nomad purposes, hunting grounds for Indians, and “to hold the world together.” That same year, President Abraham Lincoln set the area aside as the Uintah Indian Reservation, with Captain Pardon Dodds appointed Indian agent. Dodds later built the first cabin erected by a white man in the Uintah Basin around 1868. Settlers began to filter in after that, and built cabins in various spots on or near Ashley Creek. In 1879 many came close to perishing during the infamous “Hard Winter” of that same year.

Vernal Road Map

Vernal city Satellite Map

Geography

Vernal is in the Uintah Basin, bordered on the north by the Uinta Mountains, one of the relatively few mountain ranges which lie in an east–west rather than the usual north to south direction. The Book Cliffs lie to the south, and Blue Mountain to the east, while Vernal itself lies in Ashley Valley, named in honor of William H. Ashley, an early fur trader who entered this area in 1825 by floating down the Green River in a bull boat made of animal hides.

Vernal is located at 40°27′17″N 109°32′08″W / 40.45472°N 109.53556°W / 40.45472; -109.53556 on the northern edge of the Colorado Plateau and south of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on the Utah-Wyoming state line. The city is in a high desert area of the Colorado Plateau.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km), all land.

Climate

Vernal has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with low humidity. The average annual temperature is 46.9 °F (8.3 °C) with a mean high of 59.8 °F (15.4 °C) and a mean low of 34.0 °F (1.1 °C).