Utah is famous for its rugged natural landscape and regularly attracts sports enthusiasts, skiers, nature lovers, mountain climbers and landscape photographers to its harsh terrain. The natural beauty of sandstone sculpted for millions of years defines this picturesque terrain of canyons, gullies and arches. The extremes of temperature in the state can be difficult to bear and range from freezing winter weather to as high as 48 degrees in the summers.

Tales of Utah’s harsh beauty and mountainous terrain seems to have dominated the literature of the state. American writer and humourist Mark Twain, better known for his characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, has a semi-autobiographical work Roughing It about his travels in the Western states, including Utah. Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage is indicative of the Western Genre of literature which was so prominent in the United States.

Utah is also famous for its high population of Mormons, a religious sect who have shaped the political scene in the state. They are featured in Jon Krakaeur’s Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith.

The Executioner's Song is a 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events surrounding the execution of Gary Gilmore by the state of Utah.

The film 127 Hours shows off the Utah landscape to great effect. It is directed by Danny Boyle and based on Aron Ralston’s autobiographical work Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

Famous musical troupe The Osmonds, who started out as barbershop musicians and went on to become vastly popular teenage music-idols, were initially based out of Ogden, Utah.