Utah mammals

Least Chipmunk in Utah

Neotamias minimus

Native to Utah S5 Secure in Utah

Not listed as nonindigenous in Utah by USGS NAS; native to its Utah range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: John D Reynolds · CC BY 4.0Least Chipmunk in natural habitatPhoto: Daughter Dad · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk moving through low grassPhoto: Syd Cannings · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk foraging in green groundcoverPhoto: Daughter Dad · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk among dry leavesPhoto: Pete Schwartz · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk at the edge of open cover

Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus) — Photo: John D Reynolds · CC BY 4.0Least Chipmunk in natural habitatPhoto: Daughter Dad · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk moving through low grassPhoto: Syd Cannings · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk foraging in green groundcoverPhoto: Daughter Dad · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk among dry leavesPhoto: Pete Schwartz · CC BY 4.0Least chipmunk at the edge of open cover

Least Chipmunk in Utah, by the numbers

Occasional in Utah 51st most recorded of 141 mammals logged in Utah

981 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

981 total records count every Utah occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 969 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Least Chipmunk in Utah

Most sightings fall in June to September.

969 Utah occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Utah records (table)

Month	Records
January	3
February	0
March	8
April	17
May	60
June	208
July	260
August	197
September	163
October	36
November	16
December	1

Monthly least chipmunk occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Utah, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Utah, with recorded sightings peaking in June–September.

Occurrence map

Where Least Chipmunk has been recorded in Utah

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Utah records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Bryce Canyon National Park	27
High Uintas Wilderness	26
Uinta National Forest	15
Utah State Department of Wildlife Resources 106	11
Mount Timpanogos Wilderness	9
Cache National Forest	7
Bitter Creek State Wildlife Area	7
Wasatch National Forest	4

Protected places with the most least chipmunk sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Utah

County	Records
Uintah County	184
Summit County	86
Salt Lake County	85
Utah County	85
San Juan County	74
Duchesne County	68
Garfield County	59
Grand County	56
Wasatch County	54
Tooele County	43
Cache County	28
Daggett County	26
16 other counties	133

The complete county distribution, spread across 28 Utah counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Least chipmunk reports in Utah cluster around wetland-adjacent refuges rather than mountain forest: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, and the shrubby ground near the Great Salt Lake. The species itself sticks to sagebrush, brushy woodland edges, and open grassland bordering those wetlands, not the water itself.

Records climb sharply into summer, peaking in July with 260 of the state’s 981 sightings, roughly triple the count in any spring month. Every one of those records comes from GBIF rather than iNaturalist, a split that points to systematic small-mammal surveys rather than casual photo observations driving the count.

NatureServe lists the least chipmunk as S5, Secure, in Utah, the most stable rank on the scale and consistent with its wide range across the Mountain West.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist.

Full species profile Least Chipmunk Neotamias minimus Size 10–11 cm3.9–4.3 in Weight 41–47 g1.4–1.7 oz Lifespan Up to 10 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Utah in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"