By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahWhat it actually is
A working farm, and a working distillery
Young Living is one of the larger essential oils companies in the world, headquartered up the interstate in Lehi, and this Mona property is where it grows and distills the plant most people picture first. The story is a simple one. In 1994 the company's founder, D. Gary Young, bought the original farmhouse and 160 acres out here below the mountain, then added ground over the years until the farm spread to about 1,700 acres of lavender and other aromatic herbs. It is a real agricultural operation, not a decorative field, which is why the distillery sits at the center of it.
One thing to sort out before you go is the name. The farm has kept the Young Living Lavender Farm name that everyone searches for, but for its public tours, festivals and weddings it now operates as Mt. Nebo Botanical Farm and Distillery, and its event listings live under that name. Same place, same address at 3700 North Highway 91, two names on the sign. The mountain in the background, Mount Nebo, is the tallest peak in the Wasatch Range, and its trails and scenic drive belong to nearby Nephi; that story sits on the Mount Nebo and Salt Creek page. Here the mountain is simply the backdrop the fields grow against.
The farm at a glance
The summer celebration
Lavender Day, and an honest caveat
For years the farm's marquee event was Lavender Day, sometimes billed as Lavender Days, a summer celebration timed to the peak bloom in late June and early July. It drew people from across the region for the fields at their fullest color, along with classes, food, wagon rides and a farm full of things to do on a warm day. If you have heard of Mona at all, there is a fair chance it was because of this event and the sea of purple in the photographs.
Here is the part worth knowing before you commit. For 2026 the farm's events page lists one public event, the Fall Festival on September 25 and 26, and it says there will be no Lavender Field Photo Sessions this year. No Lavender Day or Lavender Days date was posted for 2026. The bloom itself is reliable; the festival around it is not on this year's calendar. So treat Lavender Day as a past tradition, and look at the farm's own event site for the current year before you build a trip around any event.
Confirm the lavender event before you drive. The farm posted no Lavender Days date for 2026, only a fall festival on September 25 and 26, so check the farm's own listings first rather than assuming last year's dates hold.
Lavender Day, in short
On the ground
Tours, wagons, and the still
On its event days the farm has offered a full afternoon's worth of things to do. Distillery tours are the standout, walking you through how the cut lavender is loaded and steamed down into oil, which is the reason a farm this far off the beaten path matters to the wider essential oils world. Around that sit horse drawn wagon rides through the fields, a small animal farm, paddleboat cruises on the pond, hands on essential oils classes, and on its biggest days a Run through the Lavender 5K that sends runners between the rows.
One honest note on the flowers. Some Utah lavender farms let you cut your own bundle, but that was not something the Mona farm confirmed offering, so do not count on a cut your own field here; ask first if picking a bundle matters to you. Day to day, access and admission shift with the season and whatever event is running, so this is a call ahead destination rather than a drop in one. When the gates are open in bloom season, though, it is a genuinely memorable few hours.
What has been offered
What to know before you go
Where it sits
An easy drive off the interstate
The farm is easy to reach, which is part of why it became a regional draw. It sits in the valley below Mount Nebo, just north of the little town of Mona, off Highway 91. From I-15 you take the Mona exit and follow the signs. It is about 9 miles up the interstate from Nephi to the Mona exit, then a few minutes north, and about 35 minutes south of Provo, which puts it within a comfortable day trip of the whole southern Wasatch Front.
If you are pairing it with the rest of Mona, the town's other draws are close by, from the Mona Reservoir to the full list of things to do in Mona. And if the fields have you thinking about the town itself rather than just a visit, the guide to living in Mona lays out the everyday reality of a small farm town on the interstate.
| Starting from | Distance | Drive time | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nephi | About 9 miles | Roughly 10 minutes | North on I-15 |
| Provo | About 34 miles | Roughly 30 minutes | South on I-15 |
| Lehi (Young Living HQ) | About 49 miles | Roughly 45 minutes | South on I-15 |
| Salt Lake City | About 77 miles | Roughly 1 hour 15 | South on I-15 |
Distances and times run along I-15 in ordinary conditions and are planning estimates, not published figures.