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Provo, Utah, is the home of Brigham Young University. It’s 43 miles (69 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.
Introduction to Provo, Utah
The Provo area was originally called Timpanogos, after the Timpanogos tribe who once lived there. The first non-Native to visit the area was Franciscan missionary Silvestre Vélez de Escalante (c. 1750–1780), who passed through in 1776. He was guided by two Utes he called Silvestre and Joaquín.
In 1849, Brigham Young (1801–1877) sent 33 Mormon families from Salt Lake City to settle the area. They established Fort Utah under the leadership of John S. Higbee on March 12 of that year. It consisted of several log cabins surrounded by a 14-foot (4.3 meter) stake wall measuring 330 x 660 feet (100 x 200 meters), with gates at the east and west ends.
In February 1850, Young sent a militia to drive out the Timpanogos in what’s called the Battle at Fort Utah, or the Provo River Massacre. They laid siege to an encampment of Timpanogos families and eventually massacred between 40 and 100 men and one or two women. This escalated tensions between Mormon settlers and the Utes. Later that year, Fort Utah was renamed Fort Provo for Étienne Provost, a French-Canadian fur trapper who arrived in Utah in 1825. Due to flooding, the settlement was moved to the current location of North Park.
Provo grew quickly with the arrival of more Mormon settlers. With a large number of fruit orchards and gardens, it was nicknamed The Garden City. The railroad arrived in 1873, and Brigham Young University (BYU) was founded in 1875.
Center Street in Provo, Utah
The small historic downtown, situated along four blocks of Center Street, is a great place to start exploring Provo. It’s lined some attractive historic buildings, especially on the blocks nearest University Avenue. There’s a good selection of restaurants and cafés along the street. The Provo Downtown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1980.
Knight Block
The Knight Block, on the northeast corner of Center and University, was built in 1900 for mining magnate Jesse Knight (1845–1921). The three-story commercial building, designed by architect Richard C. Watkins (1858–1941), features a clock tower at the corner. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1977.
Union Block
A block west is Union Block. Built in 1889, it’s one of the oldest surviving commercial structures on Center Street. It has housed several different types of businesses throughout the years.
Murals along Center Street
We noticed a few interesting murals as well. One at 200 W just south of Center Street includes scenes from four important developments in Provo history: the construction of Fort Utah in 1849; the development of mills in 1850; the arrival of the railroad in 1873; and the creation of public schools in 1890.
Utah Valley Convention Center
We also stopped into the Utah Valley visitor information center at the Utah Valley Convention Center. The state-of-the-art facility was completed in 2012 and underwent major renovations in 2022. It offers 83,578 square feet of event space with mountain views.
Utah County Courthouse
Just south of Center Street, on the east side of University Avenue, is the Utah County Courthouse. It was designed by Joseph Nelson (1876–1952) and construction began in mid-1920. The building was completed in late 1926 at a cost of just under $600,000. The Neoclassical building is an adaptation of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Joseph Conradi (1867–1936) executed the sculptures on the pediment.
Provo City Center Temple
Across the street on the west side is the Provo City Center Temple. After a fire destroyed the historic Provo Tabernacle on December 17, 2010, contractors utilized the remaining external shell of the building to erect the Provo City Center Temple. Groundbreaking took place on May 12, 2012, and it was dedicated on March 20, 2016.
With the temple’s completion, Provo became only the second city to have two LDS temples — after South Jordan, Utah — and it was the second time a tabernacle had been converted into a temple — following the Vernal Utah Temple. The original tabernacle was built starting in 1883 and dedicated on April 17, 1898, although it had been in use since 1886.
Provo Utah Temple (Demolished)
The Provo Utah Temple stood atop a small hill northeast of downtown. Construction began on September 15, 1969, and it was dedicated on February 9, 1972. In 2021, the LDS Church announced plans for its demolition and reconstruction. It closed in February 2024.
Following its reconstruction, the new temple will be called the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple. Expected completion is in mid-2027 (as of December 2025).
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU), founded by Brigham Young on October 16, 1875, is the flagship university of the LDS Church. The main campus features nearly 300 buildings and views of the Wasatch Mountains.
The university sponsors 21 men’s and women’s athletic teams. They compete as the BYU Cougars and have participated in the Big 12 Conference since the 2023–24 school year — except men’s volleyball, which is a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
There are several museums on campus. All museums have free admission unless noted below. Prices are current as of December 2025.
- The Museum of Art, open daily except Sundays, is one of the largest art museums in the West.
- The Museum of Peoples and Cultures is an archaeology, anthropology, and ethnographic museum established in 1946. It’s open Monday through Friday.
- The Museum of Paleontology, built in 1976, is a hands-on museum with one of the world’s largest dinosaur collections. It’s open Monday through Friday.
- The Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, established in 1978, is a natural history museum with over 2 million specimens. It’s open Monday through Friday.
- The Royden G. Derrick Planetarium offers shows on Monday and Friday nights. They cost $5 for adults and $2 for kids under 12.
- Education in Zion, in the Joseph F. Smith Building, opened on August 18, 2008. It “explores the study-experience-revelation cycle and the four aims of a BYU education”. It’s open Monday through Friday.
- The Special Collections exhibit in the HBLL Gallery, open daily except Sundays, displays rare books and photographs.
Our original plan included a walk through the campus along with a couple museums, but we had to get to our Airbnb in West Jordan — near Salt Lake City — a bit earlier than expected.
Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls is a 607-foot (185 meter) waterfall at the south end of Provo Canyon, just off US 189. You’ll find a parking lot right off the highway and a small park with picnic tables. The Utah County Parks system manages the area.
An easy path leads down to the base of the falls while a short but steep trail allows visitors to climb to the middle cascade. Another more difficult trail for experienced hikers and climbers only leads to the top of the falls — an average of one death a year occurs there due to hazardous conditions.
The Eagle’s Nest Lodge and restaurant, built in 1967, once sat on a cliff at the top of the falls. The only way to reach it was to ride a Swiss-made aerial tramway that claimed to be the steepest in the world. The tram was destroyed in an avalanche in 1996. A fire that destroyed the restaurant on July 25, 2008, thwarted plans for its restoration.
After admiring the falls, turn around and check out your surroundings — the views of Provo Canyon are spectacular.
The Legend of Bridal Veil Falls
A plaque in the parking lot tells the legend of Bridal Veil Falls:
Many moons ago, an Indian named Norita and a brave from a rival tribe, named Grey Eagle, met and fell in love. They planned to meet near a streamlet high on the mountainside and elope to a land far away from both their tribes. On that fateful night, instead of her lover, Norita was confronted by braves from her own tribe. Fearing her lover had been destroyed she leapt from the high ledges.
Mother Nature was touched by her wild beauty, and she caught up Norita’s streaming tresses and she made from them a Bridal Veil of falling water. From her flowing gown an altar was formed on the face of the mountain. Then her spirit was sent out as a mist, causing a green carpet to spread over the mountainside.
The intruders fled while her lover stood and gazed down at the strange yet beautiful transformation. His grief was more than he could bear, so out of compassion for his sorrow, Mother Nature molded his massive frame into the mountain and stretched his mighty shoulders high into the heavens like silent sentinels to guard over his loved one. His cries of anguish were softened into love calls to whisper forever.
