Things to Do in Sanpete County, From Provo: Manti's Temple, Ephraim's Scandinavian Festival, Spring City, Maple Canyon and the Mammoth (2026)

Elly Giordano Contributing Writer, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

Sanpete is the long farm valley over the mountain from Nephi, settled in 1849 at Manti and later filled with Danish, Swedish and Norwegian converts whose names and humor are still all over the county. It has a pioneer temple rededicated in 2024, a Scandinavian festival every Memorial Day weekend, a whole town on the National Register, a cliff canyon that draws rock climbers, and a mammoth. Fairview, at the north end, is about an hour from Provo; Manti, at the south, is under two.

The summer town festivals each have a section in our Sanpete festival circuit, and Skyline Drive's north end is covered in Scofield Reservoir and the Skyline Drive. This page is the year-round list.

Two things the old guides get wrong

The Manti pageant is over. The Mormon Miracle Pageant gave its last performances June 18 to 22, 2019, after 52 years, following the Church's 2018 decision to end its large pageant productions. Any page selling a June pageant trip was written before 2019.

The turkeys are an industry, not an outing. Utah's state history site ranks Sanpete among the top ten turkey-producing counties in the country, an industry that turned cooperative during the 1930s Depression. That is real, and you will drive past it, but we found no public tour or turkey festival to send you to. If one opens, this page will add it.

Getting there

OpenStreetMap routing estimates, without traffic, from Center Street and University Avenue:

Sanpete County publishes a free Sanpete Audio Driving Tour in two parts, from the mouth of Nephi Canyon on SR-132 to Spring City (42 minutes of audio) and from Spring City to Gunnison (38 minutes), which makes good listening for the drive down.

Eleven things to do in Sanpete County

1. Scandinavian Heritage Festival

Ephraim's Memorial Day weekend festival, billed by its organizers as the biggest Scandinavian celebration in the West, runs the Friday and Saturday of the holiday weekend. In 2026, May 22 and 23, the program included a heritage conference at Snow College's Huntsman Library, a quilt show at the Ephraim Co-op, tours of the pioneer museum and cabins at Pioneer Park, a maypole, a Viking village, a pioneer village, two stages and a festival parade on Saturday at 10 a.m. from 300 South to 100 North. Our festival circuit page has more. Getting there: Ephraim; the quilt show is at the Co-op, 96 North Main, and Pioneer Park is at 42 North 100 West. Cost: Check the festival site for any ticketed events. Season: Memorial Day weekend. Scandinavian Heritage Festival

2. Manti Utah Temple grounds

The temple on the hill above Manti, ground broken by Brigham Young in 1877 and dedicated by President Wilford Woodruff on May 21, 1888. It closed for renovation on October 1, 2021, with the Church saying it would preserve the pioneer craftsmanship, artwork and character, and was rededicated on April 21, 2024. The grounds are open to walk; the temple itself is for members with a current recommend. Getting there: 200 East 510 North, Manti. Cost: Free. Season: Year-round; the hill is at its best in evening light. Church News on the rededication

3. Spring City Historic District

The whole town is the attraction. Spring City was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and the state's 2022 amendment calls it the first historic district in Utah to take in an entire town; the 1980 nomination called it the best example of Mormon village development in the Sanpete Valley. Walk or drive the grid for pioneer log cabins, Greek and Gothic Revival houses, Victorian homes and stonework by Scandinavian master masons, with the settlement-era pattern of one home per block. Getting there: Spring City, about 62 miles and 83 minutes from Provo by the routing estimate. Cost: Free; homes are private, so look from the street. Season: Year-round. Utah Division of State History

4. Fairview Museum of History and Art

Founded in 1966 by a pioneer-artifacts collector and a woodcarver-painter-poet, the Fairview museum fills four historic buildings and a modern one with Sanpete history, a gallery of sculptures by Avard Fairbanks, early farm equipment, wagons and blacksmith tools. Its centerpiece is a full-size mammoth replica cast from bones found in 1988 just up the mountain from Fairview, a skeleton called at the time the most complete mammoth ever found; the original bones are in Price. Getting there: 55 North 100 East, Fairview, per the museum's site. Cost: The museum's site does not list admission. Season: Its Google listing in October 2026 showed Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fairview Museum

5. Mammoth Discovery Site and the Energy Loop

Drive from the museum to where the mammoth was found. The Huntington-Eccles byway, which Sanpete County calls the Energy Loop, climbs Fairview Canyon on SR-31 through the Manti-La Sal National Forest; the Mammoth Discovery Site trailhead is at 9,076 feet. From the summit you can continue to Huntington or take SR-264 toward Scofield. Getting there: SR-31 east from Fairview. Cost: Free. Season: Summer and fall. Sanpete County: Scenic Drives

6. Maple Canyon

A narrow canyon of cobblestone conglomerate cliffs that holds more than 800 climbing routes, graded 5.4 to 5.14, with shade from the walls in summer and ice climbing in winter, when the road may not be plowed and the approach can mean a hike of more than a mile. Non-climbers come for the Middle Fork trail from the campground to a natural arch. The Forest Service campground has 14 individual sites and one group site and fills quickly. Getting there: About 64 miles and 87 minutes from Provo by the routing estimate; the Recreation.gov campground listing has directions. Cost: Campground reservations on Recreation.gov. Season: Year-round for climbing; spring through fall for hiking. Sanpete County: Rock Climbing

7. Palisade State Park

A pioneer-era resort turned state park in 1962: in the 1860s Daniel B. Funk bargained with Chief Arapeen for the land, dammed and diverted Sixmile Creek, and built a lake resort. Today it has an 18-hole golf course in a desert canyon, campgrounds, pedal boat, canoe, kayak and paddleboard rentals, and OHV access to Six-Mile Canyon. The current catch: in October 2026 the park reported the reservoir at 4 percent. Getting there: About 89 miles and an hour and 52 minutes from Provo by the routing estimate. Cost: $15 per vehicle Monday through Thursday, $20 Friday through Sunday and holidays, $10 for seniors, as listed in October 2026. Season: Summer hours 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Palisade State Park

8. Ephraim Canyon Heritage Tour

A self-guided drive up Ephraim Canyon with six information stations, beginning 1.4 miles east of the forest boundary and ending at the Summit Overlook. It is the shortest way from the valley floor into the high plateau. Getting there: East from Ephraim into the canyon. Cost: Free. Season: Summer and early fall. Sanpete County: Scenic Drives

9. Skyline Drive Scenic Backway

The road along the top of the Wasatch Plateau: over 100 miles between 10,000 and 11,000 feet, from near Tucker on US-6 to I-70. Sanpete County says it is usable only July through September and that high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles are required. Our Scofield and Skyline Drive guide covers the north end. Getting there: The county lists the ends as near Tucker on US-6 and at I-70. Cost: Free. Season: July through September. Sanpete County: Scenic Drives

10. Lamb Day, Fountain Green

Fountain Green was built on sheep ranching, and its July celebration keeps that up: a parade, lamb judging, a closed-pit barbecue, the popular lamb sandwiches, a musical program and a dance. Getting there: Fountain Green, at the north end of the county. Cost: Check the city for event prices. Season: July. Fountain Green City

11. Fairview Pioneer Day Celebration

Fairview stretches Pioneer Day across two weeks. In 2026: Lace Days at the museum July 13 to 15, a free kids' night at the museum July 20, an ATV rodeo July 21 and a kids' rodeo July 22 ($5 each), two nights of rodeo on July 23 and 24 ($10, free for 2 and under), a horse parade at 6 p.m. on the 24th, a demolition derby with fireworks on July 25, and a Daughters of Utah Pioneers program at the Rock Church on July 26. Getting there: Fairview. Cost: As listed above for 2026. Season: Mid to late July. Fairview City

A Sanpete day from Provo

North end, half day: Fairview museum, then up SR-31 to the Mammoth Discovery Site and back. You are home by mid-afternoon.

The valley run, full day: Fairview museum, a walk through Spring City, lunch in Ephraim, the Manti temple grounds in late afternoon, then home up US-89. In fall, add the Ephraim Canyon tour.

Climbers and campers: Maple Canyon, with a Recreation.gov reservation made well ahead.

Juab County is the other half of the drive; see Things to Do in Nephi and Juab County. Capitol Reef is the long version of this road, in Capitol Reef from Provo.

Related Guides

• Sanpete's Summer Festival Circuit
• Scofield Reservoir, Electric Lake and the Skyline Drive
• Driving the Nebo Loop
• Yuba State Park From Provo
• Camping Near Provo
• Best Day Trips from Provo

Elly Giordano

Contributing Writer

Elly Giordano is a contributing writer at Provo.com covering outdoor recreation, health and wellness, and Utah Valley's growing food and drink scene. She is an avid hiker and trail runner who knows the Wasatch foothills well, and she reads and reviews every guide on her beat before it is published. When she's not on the trails, she's on the volleyball court, where she plays setter for her college team.

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