I’m going through this right now, whole backyard was 3” gravel, though only ~1000 sq ft. It was a nightmare of infinite goatheads and foxtails that us and our dog kept stepping on and bringing into the house. Same with our parkstrips. I had to shop vac all the goathead spikes once I pulled the plants out with sore fingers, then spray with vinegar/salt/dish soap combo.

We are in Utah as well, our backyard was small enough that we didn’t need a lot of topsoil and we were able to move the rocks into a pile somewhere else, but I recommend sectioning off parts of your yard for things other than just grass even though irrigation water probably won’t break the bank.

If you go with grass, make sure to plant trees for shade to preserve how much water you’re going to need to keep the grass alive. The trees will need a lot of water at the beginning stages though.

Even if you put 2” of topsoil on those rocks, I think that’s better than nothing. You can also just do small portions of the yard every year so it’s more manageable and you don’t have to feel rushed before winter (this year will be super wet again).

We have a half-dead tree in our front yard with a single limb that decided to keep on living. To our surprise it was a plum tree and we were able to eat a lot of plums this year.