Mountain lion sightings spread across Utah’s forested and canyon country alike, from Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and Zion National Park down through Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Bryce Canyon. That range fits a predator that follows deer and cover through both high mountain forest and broken southern canyon terrain, not the open salt flats near the Great Salt Lake.
Utah’s 298 recorded sightings peak sharply in January, with 67 records, nearly double any other month, likely tracking both winter deer movement into lower elevations and when trail cameras and hikers are most likely to catch a lion on the move. Of those records, 164 came from iNaturalist and 244 from GBIF, a healthy mix of photo sightings and specimen data for an animal that’s normally elusive.
NatureServe ranks the mountain lion S4, Apparently Secure, in Utah, reflecting a population that, unlike many of the state’s smaller mammals, isn’t considered at particular risk.
Full species profile
