Time a visit for Black and White Days
Richmond fairgrounds and City Park Free to attend Mid-May
Once a year a town of a couple thousand people fills up with dairy cattle, and it has done so for well over a century. Black and White Days began in Richmond in 1912 as a Holstein show, and it now runs as the Western National Spring Show, billed as the longest running Holstein cattle show west of the Mississippi. The name is the breed: the black and white Holstein, the cow behind most of the milk in the country. The 111th annual show is set for May 11 to 16, 2026.
It is more than a barn full of cattle. Across the week there are junior and open Holstein and Red and White shows, showmanship, the Western Heritage Sale, a carnival, a pancake breakfast, a dinner and a movie in the park, and a parade down Main Street on the Saturday. Much of it is free to wander; the paid pieces are the carnival and a few of the barn events. It is the one thing you can do in Richmond and nowhere else, which is why it leads the list.
The region page for Cache Valley farm country tells the wider dairy story, the cheese plants and creameries that make this valley what it is. This entry is the show itself. The full week, the schedule and the history are on the sibling Black and White Days page.
The details
Getting there
Everything centers on Richmond City Park and the fairgrounds near the middle of town, a few blocks off US-91, with the parade running the length of Main Street on the Saturday. Parking is on the street and in the park, and it is worth arriving early on parade day.
Before you go
- The dates move a little each year around the second and third weeks of May; confirm the current schedule before planning around it.
- It has run since 1912, with a short break for a livestock disease outbreak in the 1910s, so the count of annual shows runs behind the years.
- The parade is the free centerpiece; the cattle shows in the barns are the heart of it for anyone raised on a dairy.
- The full lineup is on the sibling Black and White Days page.
Get a shake at Casper's malt shoppe
North edge of town, off US-91 A few dollars Year round
Richmond makes the best selling ice cream sandwich in the country, and you can eat one about a hundred yards from where it is made. Casper's Ice Cream has been a Richmond family business since 1925, when Casper Merrill started selling nut covered sundaes on a stick, and the company is the maker of the FatBoy, the fat ice cream sandwich that outsells every other brand on grocery shelves nationwide. The plant on the north edge of town turns out hundreds of thousands of bars and sandwiches a day.
You cannot tour the factory, but you do not need to. Right next to it is Casper's malt shoppe, a counter serving cones, sundaes, shakes and malts, plus discounted FatBoys and Creamies straight off the line. It sits about a mile west of US-91, with the turn a little north of the old Pepperidge Farm thrift store. It is an easy, cheap, distinctly Richmond stop, and the everyday answer to what to do here when it is not May.
Hours shift with the season, so confirm them before a special trip. The wider story of Cache Valley's dairy and creamery economy, the reason a town this small makes ice cream at national scale, is on the region farm country page.
The details
Getting there
From Main Street, head north toward the edge of town and turn west off US-91 a little past the old Pepperidge Farm thrift store; the malt shoppe sits by the factory about a mile in. It is a short detour on the way in or out of town from the north.
Before you go
- Confirm the current days and hours before a special trip, since they change with the season.
- The FatBoy is the thing to try; it is the sandwich that made the company, named by a salesman who called it a fat boy, not a skinny one.
- You cannot go inside the plant, but the malt shoppe sells factory seconds and overruns at a discount.
- Pair it with the Main Street walk downtown, a few minutes south.
Walk the historic Main Street landmarks
Main Street Free to walk Year round
Richmond was settled in 1859 and it kept its old buildings, more of them than almost anywhere else in the valley. Seventeen sites in town are on the National Register of Historic Places, the second most of any Cache Valley community, and a good number of them line a short walk along Main Street. You can take in a century and a half of pioneer brick and stone on foot in about an hour, without moving the car.
A few are worth naming. The Relief Society Hall at 15 East Main, built in the early 1880s, is one of the oldest original halls of its kind left in Utah. The Carnegie Library at 6 West Main went up in 1913 and 1914 in a tidy Classical Revival style. The Hendricks Confectionery at 19 West Main, from around 1909, ran as a candy shop and then a drugstore. The Tithing Office, a square red brick building with a pyramid roof, dates to 1907. Together they are the everyday fabric of an old farm town, not a restored showpiece.
The Daughters of Utah Pioneers keep a relic hall in town, in a building the city now owns, with a collection of pioneer and local artifacts. It typically opens on the second Saturday of the month around midday and otherwise by appointment, so confirm before you count on getting inside. Richmond's deeper pioneer history sits beyond this list; for the practical side of a move, the city guide is the place to start.
The details
Getting there
Park once near the center of Main Street and do the loop on foot; the Relief Society Hall, the Carnegie Library, the Hendricks Confectionery and the Tithing Office are all within a few blocks. Richmond's grid is flat and quiet, so it is an easy walk.
Before you go
- These are working and private buildings as much as monuments; look from the sidewalk unless a door is plainly open.
- The relic hall's hours are limited, usually a Saturday midday window or by appointment, so call ahead if going inside matters.
- Richmond holds seventeen National Register sites, so the four named here are a start, not the whole list.
- Pair the walk with a shake at Casper's, a few minutes north on the way out of town.
Hike High Creek Canyon to High Creek Lake
Trailhead 7 miles northeast Free Summer and early fall
The Bear River Range rises straight east of Richmond, and the best way into it from town is High Creek Canyon. A rough dirt road climbs about seven miles northeast of Richmond to the trailhead, and from there a trail follows the South Fork of High Creek up through sagebrush, aspen and fir into the Mount Naomi Wilderness.
The prize at the top is High Creek Lake, a small alpine lake at about 8,800 feet, ringed by Cherry Peak, Naomi Peak and Mount Gog near the crest of the range. It is one half of the Mount Naomi Peak National Recreation Trail; the other half comes up from Tony Grove on the Logan Canyon side. This is genuine backcountry, inside a designated wilderness, so there are no bikes and no motors, just boots and horses.
Be honest with yourself about the distance. The round trip to the lake runs roughly ten to eleven miles with close to 3,000 feet of climbing, a six to seven hour day for a fit hiker. It is worth every step in wildflower season, but it is not a casual stroll from town.
The details
Getting there
Head east and north out of Richmond onto the canyon road; the last stretch to the trailhead is rough dirt, better with clearance in a wet spring. Download a map before you leave town, because signal fades fast as you climb.
Before you go
- The access road is rough; a low car can struggle after rain or early in the season when snow lingers.
- There is no water you should drink untreated and no signal at the trailhead; carry what you need.
- Wildflowers peak in mid to late summer; the aspen turn in late September.
- Cherry Peak and Naomi Peak ring the lake, but the ski resort is a separate, easier outing at number six.
Bird and paddle Cutler Marsh and the Bear River bottoms
West of town Free Spring through fall
Out the other side of Richmond, west of US-91, the land drops into the Bear River bottoms and the broad wetlands of Cutler Marsh. The Bear River winds through here on its way down the valley, and the marsh spreads for miles behind Cutler Dam. Audubon and BirdLife International have recognized Cutler Reservoir and Marsh as a globally important bird area, which for a quiet corner of Utah is a real distinction.
It is a birder's and a paddler's place more than a walker's. The water is shallow, so a canoe or kayak is the way to get into it, and much of the best viewing is from the bridges and boat docks where roads cross the marsh, down toward Benson and Amalga southwest of Richmond. On a spring or fall morning you can find white-faced ibis, snowy egrets, great blue herons, American white pelicans and sandhill cranes.
This is a scattered, informal outing rather than a single trailhead, and it is best any season but the frozen heart of winter. Bring binoculars, and treat the launches and dikes with care, since much of the surrounding ground is private farm and marsh.
The details
Getting there
Head west out of Richmond toward the river bottoms, or drive down the valley toward Benson Marina and the bridges over the marsh; a canoe or kayak opens up far more than the roadside pullouts. There is no single gate, so scout the access on a map first.
Before you go
- The water is shallow and weedy; a small paddle craft beats a motorboat for getting around.
- Much of the land is private farm and marsh, so stick to public launches, bridges and docks.
- Mornings are best for birds and for still water; midday wind picks up on the open marsh.
- Winter locks it up; save this one for the green months.
Ski Cherry Peak at Richmond's doorstep
Three and a half miles east Lift ticket in winter Winter
Most towns would love to have a ski resort three and a half miles down the road. Richmond does. Cherry Peak Resort sits just east of town, closer to Richmond than to anywhere else in the valley, which makes it the ski hill at Richmond's doorstep. In winter it runs downhill skiing and snowboarding, night skiing under the lights and tubing, and it is the newest and smallest of Cache Valley's resorts.
Because the whole valley reaches Cherry Peak, and because it pairs naturally with Beaver Mountain up Logan Canyon, The Local writes the resort itself once, on the region page for Beaver Mountain and Cherry Peak. That page carries the runs, the season and the details. This list simply names the drive, which for Richmond is about the shortest trip to a chairlift anyone in Utah has.
For a household weighing Richmond, that doorstep hill is part of the pitch: a winter afternoon on the snow without a canyon drive, and clean air above the valley's cold inversion. Follow the link for the resort, and come back for the rest of the town.
The details
Getting there
Head east out of Richmond on the canyon road toward the foothills; the resort is signed and close, one of the few ski hills in the state you can reach from your kitchen in under ten minutes. The region page has the full driving and season detail.
Before you go
- Skiing, snowboarding, night skiing and tubing are the winter draws; check the resort's own calendar for hours and conditions.
- The resort sits above the valley floor, so it often has clear air on a day the inversion greys out the flats.
- It is smaller and newer than Beaver Mountain up Logan Canyon, and the two make a natural pair for a ski trip.
- The full write up lives on the region Beaver Mountain and Cherry Peak page, linked below.
Catch a game at Richmond City Park and the Cub River Sports Complex
90 S 100 W and 360 E 11600 N Free Warm season for games
The everyday outdoor life of Richmond runs through its ballfields. Richmond City Park, at 90 South 100 West, is the town green: a grandstand and baseball field, playgrounds, picnic space and a public horse arena, and it becomes the heart of Black and White Days each May. On a summer evening it is where the youth baseball games happen, T-ball through the older divisions.
A few miles north, the Cub River Sports Complex adds the fields the small town park cannot hold. It is a joint venture of Richmond and Lewiston, built and maintained by both towns with recreation tax money, with baseball and soccer fields shared between the two communities. Scheduling runs through Richmond City. Between the two, Richmond turns out more youth sports than a town its size usually can.
Neither is a destination for a visitor the way the dairy show or the canyon is, but if you are thinking about living here, this is where a Richmond childhood happens on a summer night. The full park and recreation roster is on the sibling Richmond parks and recreation page.
The details
Getting there
Richmond City Park sits a couple of blocks off Main Street in the center of town. The Cub River Sports Complex is north toward Lewiston at 360 East 11600 North; because the two towns share it, game scheduling goes through Richmond City.
Before you go
- The city park hosts the Black and White Days grandstand events each May, so expect it busy that week.
- The Cub River Sports Complex is shared with Lewiston; reservations and scheduling go through Richmond City.
- There is a public horse arena at the city park, a reminder of the working country around town.
- The complete list of Richmond's parks is on the sibling parks and recreation page.
And then there is the valley
Logan is about twenty minutes south
Richmond is a small farm town on the north end of Cache Valley, and part of how it works is that a full college city sits a short drive south. Logan is roughly thirteen miles down US-91, about twenty to twenty five minutes, and it holds what Richmond does not: Utah State University and its campus made ice cream, the Zootah zoo, the Ellen Eccles Theatre and a working downtown. Treat this page as the Richmond half of a visit and let Logan carry the rest.
