Utah Soil Drainage Rankings

How well does the soil drain across Utah? We ranked every USDA survey area by the percentage of land classified as "well drained." Areas at the top of the list have soils where water moves through at a healthy rate — favorable for building, septic, and gardening. Areas at the bottom have more waterlogged or slowly-draining soils that may require engineered solutions.

The best-drained survey area is Carbon Area, Utah, Parts of Carbon and Emery Counties at 98% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is Glen Canyon National Recreation Area at 33%.

#Survey AreaWell DrainedPoorly DrainedDominant Class
1 Carbon Area, Utah, Parts of Carbon and Emery Counties 98% 0% Well drained
2 Beaver County, Utah - Western Part 98% 1% Well drained
3 Emery County, Utah, Eastern Part 98% 0% Well drained
4 Iron-Washington Area, Utah, Parts of Iron, Kane, and Washington Counties 97% 0% Well drained
5 San Juan County, Utah, Central Part 97% 1% Well drained
6 Grand County, Utah - Central Part 97% 0% Well drained
7 Fishlake National Forest, Utah, East Part - Parts of Sevier, Piute, Wayne and Sanpete Counties 96% 1% Well drained
8 Summit Area, Utah, Parts of Summit, Salt Lake and Wasatch Counties 95% 3% Well drained
9 Emery Area, Utah, Parts of Emery, Carbon, Grand, and Sevier Counties 95% 2% Well drained
10 Manti-Lasal National Forest, Manti Division - Parts of Sanpete and Emery Counties 95% 0% Well drained
11 Duchesne Area, Utah, Parts of Duchesne, Utah, and Wasatch Counties 94% 2% Well drained
12 Canyonlands Area, Utah - Parts of Grand and San Juan Counties 93% 0% Well drained
13 Uintah Area, Utah - Parts of Daggett, Grand and Uintah Counties 92% 2% Well drained
14 Morgan Area, Utah - Morgan County and Part of Weber County 92% 1% Well drained
15 Loa-Marysvale Area, Utah, Parts of Piute, Wayne, and Garfield Counties 91% 3% Well drained
16 Henry Mountains Area, Utah, Parts of Garfield, Kane, and Wayne Counties 91% 0% Well drained
17 San Juan Area, Utah 90% 0% Well drained
18 Panguitch Area, Parts of Garfield, Iron, Kane, and Piute Counties, Utah 88% 2% Well drained
19 Heber Valley Area, Utah - Parts of Wasatch and Utah Counties 88% 4% Well drained
20 Capitol Reef National Park, Utah 88% 0% Well drained
21 Washington County Area, Utah 87% 2% Well drained
22 Sevier County Area, Utah 84% 5% Well drained
23 Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Utah and Wyoming 83% 2% Well drained
24 Millard County, Utah - Eastern Part 82% 3% Well drained
25 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Area, Parts of Kane and Garfield Counties, Utah 82% 0% Well drained
26 Sanpete Valley Area, Utah, Parts of Utah and Sanpete Counties 77% 7% Well drained
27 Beaver-Cove Fort Area, Utah 77% 1% Well drained
28 Zion National Park, Utah 76% 0% Well drained
29 San Juan County, Utah, Navajo Indian Reservation 73% 1% Well drained
30 Dixie National Forest, Utah - Parts of Garfield, Washington, Iron, Kane and Wayne Counties 71% 0% Well drained
31 West Millard-Juab Area, Utah, Parts of Millard and Juab Counties 70% 6% Well drained
32 Rich County, Utah 69% 7% Well drained
33 Fairfield-Nephi Area, Utah 69% 2% Well drained
34 Box Elder County, Utah, Western Part 68% 25% Well drained
35 Box Elder County, Utah, Eastern Part 63% 19% Well drained
36 Canyonlands National Park, Utah 61% 2% Well drained
37 Salt Lake Area, Utah 60% 27% Well drained
38 Cache Valley Area, Parts of Cache and Box Elder Counties, Utah 59% 18% Well drained
39 Utah County, Utah - Central Part 56% 32% Well drained
40 Kane County Area, Utah 53% 0% Well drained
41 Arches National Park, Utah 44% 0% Excessively drained
42 Tooele Area, Utah - Tooele County and Parts of Box Elder, Davis and Juab Counties 42% 39% Well drained
43 Davis-Weber Area, Utah 36% 56% Well drained
44 Delta Area, Utah - Part of Millard County 33% 42% Well drained
45 Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 33% 0% Somewhat excessively drained