By Scott Buehler, Beaver localWalk the black rock blocks downtown
Center and Main St, downtown Free, museum donations Year round, museum keeps summer hours Directions
Beaver's old town grid is built almost entirely of black basalt and pink volcanic tuff, not brick, and more than a hundred of the houses are individually listed on the National Register. The old Beaver County Courthouse, red brick rather than stone and finished in 1882, anchors the walk and runs as a Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum in summer. A bronze statue of Philo T. Farnsworth, the Beaver born inventor generally credited with electronic television, stands beside it.
A Scottish born stonemason named Thomas Frazer built a large share of the surviving stone houses by hand in the 1870s and 1880s, and his work is the reason the town looks like nowhere else in Southern Utah. If you want the buildings and the founding in full, our deeper piece, Built in Black Rock, walks them one by one.
The details
Getting there
Everything on this stop sits inside a few blocks of Center and 100 East. Leave the car and walk it.
Before you go
- The museum inside the old courthouse runs a Memorial Day to Labor Day schedule and may not be staffed the rest of the year.
- Look for the stone itself: black basalt and pink volcanic tuff, not brick, is what sets this district apart.
- Most of the historic homes on the walk are private residences. Admire from the sidewalk.
- The Farnsworth statue sits on the courthouse grounds and is free to visit any time.
- Beaver City's own office can point you to a self guided route map naming each historic building if you want the deeper version.
Get cheese curds at The Creamery
165 S 500 W, at the freeway exit Priced per pound Year round Directions
The dairy plant behind The Creamery has run since 1952, built by local farmers and now part of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative, and it still supplies cheese sold under a well known Utah grocery brand. The retail counter, which opened in 2018 to turn a working cheese plant into a proper stop, sells fresh squeaky cheese curds by the pound, along with other cheeses and gifts.
It sits right off I-15, which makes it the easiest thing on this list to add to a trip you were already taking, whether that is a full stop or five minutes off the exit ramp.
The details
Getting there
Follow signage from either I-15 exit into Beaver. The store sits close enough to the freeway to work as a quick stop.
Before you go
- Curds are freshest and squeakiest close to the day they are cut. Ask what came out most recently.
- Weekend traffic is heavier in summer travel season. Expect a line at peak hours.
- It is a working dairy plant behind a retail counter, not a staged attraction, and hours can shift seasonally.
- Bring a cooler if you are buying more than you will eat same day and have hours of driving ahead.
- It works as a stand alone stop or paired with the downtown walk a few minutes away.
Look up at the Tushar Mountains
East of downtown, visible from Main St Free Year round
You do not need the canyon road open to see the Tushars. Delano Peak, Mount Belknap and Mount Baldy, Utah's third highest range and all three over 12,000 feet, rise directly east of town and are visible from most of Beaver on a clear day. Ordinarily this is also where you would drive up for skiing, hiking, ATV riding and two mountain lakes, and that access is closed after the 2026 floods.
The range itself is not closed, only the road up it from Beaver. For the peaks, the trail network, and exactly what is and is not reachable at the moment, read our page on the Tushars.
The details
Getting there
No driving required for the view itself. For anything beyond looking, check current SR-153 status before planning a trip up the canyon.
Before you go
- SR-153, the only paved road into the range from Beaver, is closed indefinitely after the July 2026 flood.
- Delano Peak at 12,174 feet is the range's highest point.
- The range holds Utah's largest mountain goat herd, per Beaver County's own tourism materials.
- Fall color on the lower slopes, aspen and maple, is often visible from town even without driving up.
- Check UDOT's current conditions page before assuming any part of the canyon has reopened.
Fish or camp at Minersville Reservoir
12 miles west on SR-21 Utah state park day use and camping fees Year round fishing Directions
A working state park on the Beaver River, created in 1914 when the Rocky Ford Dam went in, sitting about 12 miles west of town on State Route 21, a different road and a different watershed entirely from the canyon that flooded in July 2026. It offers year round fishing, boating, and 29 campsites with modern restrooms, hot showers and boat ramps.
This is the one item on the list that the 2026 canyon flood does not touch at all. Our page on the reservoirs sets Minersville against Puffer Lake and Kents Lake, both stranded up the closed canyon, so you know which water you can actually reach.
The details
Getting there
Take SR-21 west out of Beaver. The park entrance is well signed and the road is paved the whole way.
Before you go
- Bring your own boat or fishing gear. Rentals may not be available on site.
- Camping reservations are worth making ahead for a summer weekend.
- This reservoir is unaffected by the SR-153 canyon closure; it sits on a different road and watershed.
- Wind can pick up in the afternoon. Morning is often the calmer time to be on the water.
- Confirm current fees and campsite availability with Utah State Parks before you go.
See the Butch Cassidy and Farnsworth history downtown
Beaver County Courthouse grounds, Center St Free Year round Directions
Beaver is the honest birthplace of two very different famous men. Robert LeRoy Parker, later known as the frontier outlaw Butch Cassidy, was born here on April 13, 1866, though the family moved on while he was still a boy and the home most associated with his childhood sits outside Circleville, not here. Philo T. Farnsworth, generally credited as the inventor of electronic television, was born in a log cabin near town in 1906 and is honored with a bronze statue on the old courthouse grounds.
It is a genuinely unusual pairing for one small town, an outlaw and an inventor, born roughly forty years and a few miles apart, and the honest version of both stories, including where the Cassidy story actually belongs, is worth knowing before you repeat either one as settled fact.
The details
Getting there
Park downtown near Center and Main. The statue and courthouse grounds are an easy walk from anywhere in the old grid.
Before you go
- Butch Cassidy was born in Beaver, but his boyhood home is in Circleville, in a different county. Keep the two straight.
- The Farnsworth statue is a 1990s bronze, not a period artifact, and is free to view any time.
- The courthouse museum itself keeps DUP summer hours and can be closed off season.
- Pair this stop with the black rock walking tour a block away for the fuller historic district.
- Neither figure's fame reflects on the character of Beaver's residents today; it is simply local history.
Catch the Beaver County Fair
Beaver County Fairgrounds Free gate, ticketed events Late summer Directions
Beaver County holds its own county fair on the fairgrounds in town most years, a working agricultural event with livestock shows and community activities rather than a tourist draw. It is a genuine look at the ranching and farming side of the county that the interstate traffic rarely sees.
Exact dates move from year to year, so confirm the current schedule with Beaver County directly before planning a trip specifically around it.
The details
Getting there
The fairgrounds sit within the town itself. Follow local signage during fair week.
Before you go
- Confirm current dates with Beaver County rather than assuming a fixed week each year.
- This is a working agricultural fair, not a festival built for visitors, and it books limited local lodging.
- Bring sun protection for daytime events in late summer heat.
- It is a good window into Beaver County's ranching and farming economy underneath the freeway traffic.
- Livestock and rodeo events, where held, typically run on a separate schedule from general fair hours.
Tour Historic Cove Fort up I-15
About 25 miles north at I-15 exit 135 Free Year round, daily hours Directions
With the canyon closed, the best half day trip that stays honest points the other way, north up I-15. Historic Cove Fort is a squared black rock and lava stone fort finished in 1867, built by Ira Hinckley as a way station on the old wagon road between Idaho and California, and it has been kept up rather than left as a ruin. It sits just off exit 135, a short jog east over the interstate, and the guided tour walks the rooms, the telegraph office and the outbuildings much as they stood.
It is honestly just over the county line, closer to Fillmore than to Beaver, but it is the classic Beaver area stop and one of the few near town that is fully open, free and reachable in any season. Tours run daily, given at no charge, and the grounds are an easy stretch of the legs on a long interstate drive.
The details
Getting there
Head north on I-15 to exit 135, cross back over the interstate, and follow the signs about a mile and a half east to the fort.
Before you go
- The site sits at the I-15 and I-70 junction, so it pairs naturally with a longer drive in either direction.
- Tours are guided and free, and they run through the day; there is no need to book ahead for a small group.
- It closes on a handful of major holidays, so check the day before if you are traveling around one.
- This is the closest fully open historic stop to Beaver while the canyon road is out, which is why it earns a spot on the list.
Drive the Beaver Canyon Scenic Byway, when it reopens
SR-153, east of town Free Currently closed indefinitely
In an ordinary year this is one of the better short scenic drives in Southern Utah: about 17 miles from town up to Eagle Point Resort, climbing to around 9,200 feet, with fall color running through Beaver Canyon's aspens and maples along the way. It is also, as of this writing, closed.
The July 2026 flood destroyed multiple sections of the road, and officials have said a full rebuild could take years. This item stays on the list because the drive itself is genuinely one of Beaver's best assets and will be again, but it is listed last and honestly, not as something you can do this season.
The details
Getting there
There is nowhere to drive to right now. Check UDOT's current road conditions page before planning around this stretch of highway.
Before you go
- The closure follows the June 2026 Cottonwood Fire and the July 2026 flash floods that followed it.
- Officials have described the rebuild as a multi-year effort, not a quick patch.
- Eagle Point Resort, Puffer Lake, Kents Lake and the Big John Flat trailhead are all closed off by this same closure.
- Fall color on the lower canyon slopes may still be visible from a distance without driving up.
- This is the item on the list most likely to change status. Verify before you plan a trip around it.
Two directions out of town
West is open. East is not, right now.
The two roads out of Beaver toward water and mountains are in very different states as of this writing, and it is worth knowing which is which before you plan a trip.
| West on SR-21 | East on SR-153 | |
|---|---|---|
| Destination | Minersville Reservoir | Eagle Point, Puffer Lake, Kents Lake, the Tushars |
| Status | Open, paved, year round | Closed indefinitely since July 2026 |
| Watershed | Beaver River, west side | Beaver Canyon, the burned drainage |
| Distance | About 12 miles | About 17 miles to Eagle Point when open |
| What to do there | Fishing, boating, camping | Skiing, hiking, ATV riding, when it reopens |
Confirm current status with UDOT and Utah State Parks before planning either drive; conditions in the canyon in particular can change.
Before you go
What to pack, and what to check first.
Most of what goes wrong on a Beaver trip right now comes down to one thing: assuming the canyon road is open because an old guide, map app or trip report said so.
In the car, every day
- More water than the day looks like it needs
- A real jacket. Evenings cool off fast at 5,900 feet
- Sunscreen and a brimmed hat, especially near the reservoir
- A full tank. Services are what the interstate exits are for; use them
- A current road conditions check before driving toward the canyon
Check before you go
- UDOT's current SR-153 status before assuming Beaver Canyon is open
- The Creamery's current hours if you are timing a stop around them
- Beaver County's fair dates for the current year
- Minersville Reservoir's current camping availability for a summer weekend
Show up and it is fine
- The black rock walking tour downtown
- The Creamery, any day of the week
- The Farnsworth statue and courthouse museum grounds
- The view of the Tushars from Main Street, canyon road or not
Do not drive up Beaver Canyon expecting it to be open. State Route 153 has been closed since flooding in July 2026 severely damaged multiple sections of the highway, and there is no published reopening date as of this writing. Officials have described the rebuild as a multi-year effort. Check UDOT's current road conditions before any trip toward Eagle Point, Puffer Lake, Kents Lake or the high Tushars.
What this list leaves out, and why
- A dining guide. What is open near the two exits shifts with the traveler season, and printing specific restaurant names here would be outdated faster than this page gets revisited. Ask locally once you are in town.
- Cedar City and Parowan. Both are an easy run down I-15, but they sit closer to their own towns. Our Parowan pages and the Cedar City guide cover that side properly.
- A skiing or riding guide to Eagle Point and the high Tushars. That detail lives on our Eagle Point and Tushars pages, both of which lead with the honest 2026 access situation rather than burying it.
- The Beaver County Fair as a firmly dated event. It runs most years, but the exact week moves, and printing a specific date here would go stale faster than this page gets updated.