We've thought about moving to Utah.  It's beautiful out there and there seems to be a ton of land for sale.  I currently have a small homestead up here where I farm and raise animals.  I also know here in New England you buy a piece of land and just drill a hole to get water.  I'm assuming that isn't the case in Utah, and the land is so cheap in some of these out of the way places so dumb yankees like me will buy them then die there.  

I'll do some more research, but is this going to be huge undertaking to build a house in the middle of nowhere and raise things?

Well, you can drill a hole here and get water too. But it might be 800-1000 feet and it won't be cheap. There's a lot of cheap land in Utah that's not near ANYTHING? There are single counties in Utah that are approaching the size of the smaller New England states.

Getting power and other utilities to these locations is likely a bigger issue than it would be in the northeast.

Thought your screen name looked familiar!

I don't know enough to help, but I have some good friends in the know about all things rural living. If you can get me a list of specific questions, I'll get you some answers.

Thanks!  I'll start putting together my ideas and concerns.

If you want a small homestead, there is plenty of that around northern Utah but I'm not sure how cheap it is.  In my neck of the woods, 5 acres would probably cost $350K and hopefully would come with water rights.  1 acre with a house is around $400K.

A large portion of southern Utah is very dry.  You would need a very large well or a lot of land to graze animals.

It is getting easier to live off grid but still more costly than being connected.

Drilling a well will probably require a permit.

ETA: https://www.waterrights.utah.gov/wellinfo/default.asp

Uh.... really?

>50% of the state is federal land, almost 30% is state land, just 20% is left for private land.  The private land is largely along the I15 corridor, and is all taken up and priced high.  The only large tracts of land for sale are either outrageously expensive, or pretty far from anything.  And, the ones that aren't outrageously expensive often have no real water access, and possibly no utilities at all.

Utah is a mix of dry, hot, dry desert, and wonderful, green mountains.  Most all of the green mountains are either national forest, wilderness area, or owned by a resort.   *Most* of the land of any significant size you'll find for sale is going to be in the dry, hot desert, unless your budget has at least 7 figures.  And when any good land does become available, it's generally because a generations-old ranch is closing, the price tag has 9-10 figures in it, a developer scoops it up, and turns it into HOA-controlled luxury "cabins".

Be very careful in selecting your property.



Maybe.  >100F and dry as a bone during the summers can make it hard to grow things without an awfully good supply of water, which like I said... may be hard to come by in any areas that are in any way affordable.  If you get property in/near a smallish town, you might get something reasonable along with irrigation water, but be very thorough in vetting everything.