Vernal, Utah

Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County, is in northeastern Utah, approximately 175 mi east of Salt Lake City and 20 mi west of the Colorado border. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 10,079. The population has since grown to 10,432 as of the 2022 population estimate.

Vernal is home to the Vernal Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of the nine statewide regional campuses of Utah State University. The city serves as a gateway to the nearby Dinosaur National Monument, Flaming Gorge, and the Uintah Mountain Range.

History
Vernal, unlike most Utah towns, was not settled by Mormons moving west, or across the state. Brigham Young sent a scouting party to the area Uintah Basin in 1861 and received word back that 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 as 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.

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 Tavaputs Plateau lies to the south and Blue Mountain to the east, while Vernal itself lies in Ashley Valley. The valley is named in honor of William H. Ashley, an early fur trader who entered the area in 1825 by floating down the Green River in a bull boat made of animal hides.

Vernal is located at 40.45472°N, -109.53556°W 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 km2), all land.

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

Demographics
As of the census of 2020, there were 10,076 people, 3,217 households, and 2,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2180.7 people per square mile (650.3/km2). There were 3,217 housing units at an average density of 696.3 per square mile (249.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 83.17% White, 0.46% African American, 3.68% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.48% Pacific Islander, 3.91% from other races, and 7.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.62% of the population. There were 3,217 households, out of which 37.79% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.86.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.7% under the age of 18, 11.06% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.54% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.5 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 122.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,692, and the median income for a family was $34,453. About 14.7% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line.

Economy
Vernal's economy is based on extracting natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, phosphate, and uintaite (more commonly known as Gilsonite). This has led to the establishment of branch offices of companies such as Halliburton and Schlumberger.

Tourism also plays a role in Vernal's economy due to the town's roots in the Old West and being a large site of ancient dinosaur fossils. Vernal and the surrounding area are popular among outdoor enthusiasts as they are situated near plentiful spots for fishing, fly fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities.

Education
Vernal's public schools include Ashley Valley Education Center, Uintah High, Uintah Middle School, Vernal Middle, Ashley Elementary, Discovery Elementary, and branchs of Utah State University and Uintah Basin Technical College. In 2015, the Terra Academy opened as a K–12 charter school. Private schools include White House Academy and Uintah Basin Christian Academy. In 2007, Uintah School District built new buildings for two elementary schools, Maeser and Naples Elementary, in the nearby communities to accommodate increased enrollment and eliminate unsafe older buildings. Other area schools include Davis Elementary, Lapoint Elementary, and Eagle View Elementary (pre-K–8). The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Rocky Mountain River Base.

Highways
Vernal is along an east–west federal highway, U.S. Route 40, and a north–south federal highway, U.S. Route 191. (The two highways overlay each other heading west from the city.)

Airport
The city's Vernal Regional Airport has scheduled nonstop air service to Phoenix (PHX) operated by Contour Airlines with Embraer ERJ jet aircraft. Passenger service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Twice weekly service is also offered To Salt Lake City via Redtail Air.

Public Transportation
Vernal is served by two out of the three Basin Transit Association routes, the Vernal - Roosevelt route (connection available to the Duchesne route in Roosevelt), and the Vernal Circulator, as well as a Salt Lake Express route to Salt Lake City

Special events
The Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo is an annual PRCA rodeo held in Vernal during the second weekend of July. It is the most famous event held in Vernal and has been running since the 1930s. This event has been nominated as one of the top five large outdoor rodeos of the year multiple times, and attracts over 500 contestants each year.

Dinah "Soar" Days & Hot Air Balloon Festival features a growing multi-day hot air balloon festival along with numerous other community events, many of which have a hot air balloon theme.

The John Wesley Powell River Festival celebrates the exploration and history of the region with live music, food trucks and activities that focus on local history.

Games, Anime, and More (G.A.M.) is a biannual fan convention. It is a multi-genre convention having video games, card games, cartoons, costumes, tournaments, tabletop gaming, and similar activities. The G.A.M. Convention is held during March and August in Uintah County, Utah. In 2015 it was the first anime convention held in Vernal as well as the first gaming convention held there, making it the first convention of its type in Vernal. In 2016 it was held in Naples, Utah, for the first time, making G.A.M. the first convention of its type in the city of Naples.

The Home, Garden & Outdoor Sports Show is an annual event presented by the radio stations KLCY and KVEL. It features gardening, home improvement, and outdoor equipment and information. It is held on the first Friday and Saturday of April.

The Gun & Knife Show happens the first Saturday and Sunday of March.

Since 1973 Vernal has been the host of the Tournament of Champions wrestling tournament for high school wrestlers. It is the longest continuing invitational wrestling tournament in the state of Utah. Created by Uintah head wrestling coach Dennis Preece, the tournament draws teams from across several states in the intermountain region and is known as one of the largest and most competitive high school wrestling tournaments in the western United States.

The Outlaw Trail Festival of the Arts, which features a juried art contest and show, has been running in Vernal for the last 26 years. It runs for several weeks every June.

The Uintah County Fair occurs Thursday through Saturday each year in the second week of June.

The Outlaw Trail Theater presents stage plays during the summer in June and July.

The Dinaland Car Show happens annually in July.

The Ashley Valley Farmers' Market occurs from July through September.

The radio station KNEU presents Alive After 5 events in the summer.

A number of 5K runs and other outdoor walking events occur throughout the year.

July plays host to the annual craft fair on the Uintah County building's front lawn.

Vernal features yearly parades for certain holidays such as Independence Day on July 4 and Pioneer Day on July 24.

There is an Easter Egg hunt at the Utah Field House of Natural History each year on the Saturday before Easter.

Points of interest
Lookout Point rests on the western edge overlooking Ashley Valley, the valley in which Vernal is situated.

The Vernal branch of Zion's Bank was mailed through USPS one brick at a time.

Dinah the Pink Dinosaur, the welcome sign on the east side of town (Which at some point used to be orange and had eyes that would follow cars, but both of those features no longer exist.)

Notable buildings
The Bank of Vernal (a.k.a. the 'Parcel Post' Bank) Building (3 West Main Street) is a registered historical building in the Uintah County Landmark Register. Also known as "the Bank that was sent by Mail", the Bank of Vernal was constructed in 1916–1917 by William H. Coltharp, a Vernal businessman and entrepreneur. Coltharp took advantage of inexpensive Parcel Post rates to ship some 80,000 masonry bricks in fifty-pound (22.6 kg) packages via the U.S. Post Office the 180 mi from Salt Lake City to Vernal. The Parcel Post brick shipments were transported from Salt Lake to Mack, Colorado by Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, then proceeded to Watson via the narrow gauge Uintah Railway, finally Vernal by wagon freight through steep roads. The full trip was over 420 miles (675.9 km) long. After completing delivery of the bricks, the U.S. Post Office hastily changed its regulations, establishing a limit of 200 lb per day per sender. The United States Postmaster General Albert Sidney Burleson explicitly stated in a letter that "it is not the intent of the United States Postal Service that buildings be shipped through the mail" Today the building is used as a branch office of Zions Bank.

The Quarry Visitor Center in Dinosaur National Monument, and the Vernal Utah Temple are other historic Vernal buildings. The Vernal Temple is a small LDS temple in the old Vernal Tabernacle. It was built as the result of a local movement to save the old tabernacle when it was scheduled for demolition.

Notable people

 * Ron Abegglen, former Weber State men's basketball coach, born and raised in Vernal
 * Earl W. Bascom, inventor; Hall of Fame rodeo cowboy, "father of modern rodeo," Hollywood actor, international artist and sculptor.
 * Texas Rose Bascom (1922-1993), rodeo performer, fancy trick roper, Hollywood actor, National Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductee
 * Clair Burgener, U.S. Representative from California (1973–1983)
 * Lane Frost, rodeo star, PRCA Bull Riding Champion of the World, attended junior high school in Vernal
 * E. Gordon Gee, academic who held more university presidencies than any other American
 * Douglas Kent Hall; writer and photographer; Academy Award winner
 * Dallin H. Oaks, president of Brigham Young University, Utah Supreme Court Justice, member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * Dennis Preece, Hall of Fame wrestling coach at local high school in Vernal
 * James Woods, film and television actor, was born in Vernal