Metaphor: The Tree of Utah

Bonneville Salt Flats (near Wendover), Utah, United States

Public art

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

Metaphor: The Tree of Utah is an 87-foot concrete sculpture by the Swedish artist Karl Momen beside Interstate 80 on the Bonneville Salt Flats, about 25 miles east of Wendover. Built between 1982 and 1986, it was donated to the State of Utah in 1996.

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

No recommended arrival yet

We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Metaphor: The Tree of Utah

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

40.73359° N, 113.55139° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

On the Bonneville Salt Flats, beside Interstate 80 and roughly 25 miles east of Wendover, stands an 87-foot concrete trunk topped with a cluster of spheres that KSL says look like giant lollipops.

The Swedish artist Karl Momen, born in Iran, conceived the work after a walk on the salt in August 1981: "something must be done here", he told KSL-TV in 2011. He built it between 1982 and 1986. KSL lists 225 tons of cement, five tons of welding rod, nearly 2,000 ceramic tiles and 100 tons of crushed rock and minerals native to Utah. Momen said he paid for it himself, putting the cost at $1 million; in 1996 he told the Deseret News it was "much more". He gave it to the State of Utah at a ceremony that year. Critics at the time, the Deseret News reported, included environmentalists.

A few details are disputed. People often call it the Tree of Life, but the work's title is Metaphor: The Tree of Utah. The Deseret News gave its height as 83 feet in 1996; other accounts say 87. Herman du Toit, author of a book about the sculpture, told KSL in 2018 that he believed a bronze plaque carrying Schiller's "Ode to Joy" had been stolen about 20 years earlier.

Momen proposed a visitor centre in 2011. The Salt Lake Tribune reported in 2017 that he was aiming for a 2020 dedication, and KSL reported in 2018 that funding for the centre was secured but a further $2 million was needed for UDOT to build a safe pull-off. The Tribune noted that drivers had been cited for parking on the I-80 shoulder to photograph it.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

Seen from passing traffic on I-80. KSL reported in 2018 that it was surrounded by a fence and that no safe pull-off existed; the Salt Lake Tribune reported in 2017 that drivers had been cited for stopping on the shoulder. A visitor centre and pull-off have been proposed.

ACCESS

Beside Interstate 80 on the Bonneville Salt Flats, about 25 miles east of Wendover, Utah. View it from the vehicle; do not stop on the highway shoulder, where the Salt Lake Tribune reported drivers have been cited.

COMMUNITY