Amelanchier utahensis is a spreading plant, reaching a maximum of 3.2 meters (10 feet) in height.

[2] It is deciduous, bearing rounded or spade-shaped often toothed green leaves 1–2.5 centimetres (1⁄2–1 in) long;[2] these fall in autumn.

In mid-spring the shrub blooms short inflorescences of white flowers, each with five widely spaced, 1-cm-long, narrow petals.

[3] The rest of the range is centered on mountain ranges of the Great Basin, and extending west to the Sierra Nevada and chaparral and woodlands in California and as far south as extreme northern Baja California, and in the north to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and southwestern Montana.

[6] The plant is browsed by desert bighorns, elk, and mule deer, as well as many birds and domesticated livestock.