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Impossible or improbable as it may seem, Utah has many opportunities for nude recreation. Although there isn't now and never has been a nudist resort (or colony), one of the most active nudist clubs in the country is based in Salt Lake City. Although there are strange, stringent, and humorous anti-nudity laws and ordinances, there are also many remote and near-by locations where nudity is not only possible, but probable.
The key to understanding why is concentration. Although Utah has a population of 2,233,169 (2000 census) and an area of 84,899 square miles (82,144 land), it is the sixth most urban state in the union.
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The five dark green counties at the top and center of the state are Cache, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah, also known as "The Wasatch Front;" the one in the lower left-hand corner is Washington, also known as "Saint George."
| Entity | Pop. (2000) | Area | Persons Per Sq. Mi. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cache | 91,391 | 1,165 | 78.4 |
| Weber | 196,533 | 576 | 341.2 |
| Davis | 238,994 | 304 | 786.2 |
| Salt Lake | 898,387 | 737 | 1,219.0 |
| Utah | 368,536 | 1,998 | 184.5 |
| Washington | 90,354 | 2,427 | 37.2 |
| Total | 1,884,195 | 7,207 | 261.4 |
| State | 2,233,169 | 82,144 | 27.2 |
| Rest of Utah | 348,974 | 74,937 | 4.7 |
| USA | 281,421,906 | 32,712,033 | 8.6 |
As you can see, 84.4 percent of the population is packed into 8.8 percent of the area, leaving the other 15.6 percent spead out over the other 91.8 percent of the area. It gets mighty thin towards the edges.
Actually, it's even more concentrated than that. Each of the Wasatch Front counties contains a good chunk of the Wasatch Range, so the population is concentrated even more between the Range and the Great Salt Lake and the Oquirrh Range. There are plenty of sparse areas, even in Salt Lake County.
And the concentration isn't only in space, it's also in time. People in Utah tend to work Monday through Friday, recreate on Saturday, and go to church on Sunday. Actually, due to a certain amount of back-sliding, they tend to recreate on Sunday, too.
But the result is simply this: if you can get away from the populated areas and go at other than the popular times, you can experience a lot of space. Avoid the obvious State and National Parks and Monuments and you'll see even fewer people.
I'm a life-long sceptic born into a Mormon family. I didn't pay much attention in Primary or Sunday school, I bagged high-school seminary after one year (and that was Old Testament), and I didn't go on a mission or have much else to do with the church after I got out of high school. But I have my opinions about my own nudism and Mormonism.
If you want informed opinion, you should see what Alan has to say at The LDS Skinny-Dipper Connection.
NOTE: above here is revised; below is still pretty rough.
Utah Naturists have a page, though.