By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahThanksgiving Point, the campus
Lehi seven venues, each with its own timed ticket, closed Sundays Directions
The valley's biggest day out is a campus, not a single door: seven venues around Thanksgiving Way in Lehi, each selling its own timed ticket, with adult admission in the mid $20s per venue, a few dollars less online, and every venue closed on Sundays. The headliners are the Museum of Natural Curiosity, a hands on museum with more than 400 exhibits and a canopy ropes course, and the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life, whose mounted dinosaur skeletons make one of the largest such displays in the world, with a working paleo lab cleaning a Barosaurus in public.
The rest of the campus: Ashton Gardens' fifty acres and its bronze sculpture garden, with the honest note that as of 2026 its famous waterfall is switched off under Lehi's water conservation plan; Curiosity Farms, the working farm formerly named Farm Country; the Butterfly Biosphere and its live butterflies on timed tickets; and Jurassic Jungle, the indoor prehistoric playground that opened in late 2024, ticketed separately. An all access pass covers the campus in a day, and the venue runs periodic five dollar Tuesday promotions on its own calendar. The depth on all of it belongs to Lehi's own page; this is the planner's version.
The details
Getting there
Take I-15 exit 284 and follow Thanksgiving Way; each venue has its own lot, and online tickets undercut the door by three dollars everywhere.
Before you go
- Every venue closes Sundays; it is the single most common failed plan on this campus.
- A membership pays off around the third visit, and the venue's periodic five dollar Tuesdays are the cheap way to sample it.
- Use the current venue names: Curiosity Farms, not Farm Country, and the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life.
Splash Summit Waterpark
Provo the summer anchor, very much alive Directions
The valley's waterpark is open, thriving, and operating under a name that trips up a decade of old search results: Splash Summit, the former Seven Peaks Provo, rebranded in 2020 and running full summers since. Seventeen acres at 1330 East 300 North in Provo hold more than fifteen slides and pools and a serious wave pool, with the Mudslide Gorge slide as the current signature.
Day tickets in 2026 run roughly $20 to $30, depending on the day and your height, and a season pass is advertised at $49.99, one of the cheapest full summer passes in the state; parking runs about $10 a car. The season follows the Memorial Day to Labor Day pattern. It is the answer to the valley's hottest six weeks, and arriving at opening beats every other strategy the internet will sell you.
The details
Getting there
The park sits against the east bench off 300 North in Provo; parking is on site and free.
Before you go
- It is not closed and it is not Seven Peaks; a decade of stale links says otherwise and the gates say open.
- The lower under 48 inch price and the season pass make this the valley's best value hot day; do the math before buying day tickets twice.
- Shaded spots go early on Saturdays, which is one more reason a morning arrival beats a midday one.
Provo Beach
The Riverwoods, Provo the indoor everything building Directions
The valley's weatherproof anchor is an indoor rec complex at the Shops at Riverwoods whose centerpiece is a FlowRider surf simulator, backed by a ropes course overhead, laser tag, bowling, a carousel and an arcade, all under one roof at 4801 North University Avenue. The Day Passport runs $25 for unlimited attractions and $35 with FlowRider time, with a cheaper weekday two attraction pass and a discounted toddler pass.
Its job in the valley's calendar is January and July alike: the day the weather cancels everything else, this building absorbs it. The FlowRider is the draw that makes teenagers agree to the outing, and the surrounding Riverwoods district adds the dinner that completes the plan.
The details
Getting there
The Riverwoods sits on University Avenue at Provo's north edge; park once for the building and the district around it.
Before you go
- FlowRider time books in hour blocks; reserve the slot before the rest of the visit, not after.
- The weekday two attraction pass covers most real visits; the full passport earns its keep on long days.
- Winter weekend afternoons are the crush; winter weekday evenings are the secret.
The SCERA's three stages
Orem lawn musicals, a summer pool and an indoor season Directions
Orem's SCERA is the valley's community arts institution, and its summer form is the one everyone should try once: the SCERA Shell outdoor theater in SCERA Park, where Broadway musicals and concerts play to a grass hillside of blankets and low chairs on June through August evenings. The pricing keeps it democratic: lawn seats for the musicals run in the mid teens for adults and less for children and seniors, outdoor movies are just a few dollars, chairs rent for $2, and a season ticket covers the whole summer.
The institution runs year round: an indoor theater and film season at the SCERA Center on State Street, and next door in summer, the SCERA Park Pool's slides, zero entry beach and small lazy river make the traditional pairing, pool afternoon, Shell evening, one parking spot. It is the valley's most affordable full evening out, and the hillside at dusk with the stage lights coming up is the postcard.
The details
Getting there
SCERA Park fronts State Street in south Orem; gates open well before curtain and the hillside fills front to back.
Before you go
- Lawn chairs above a posted height sit in back rows; the $2 rental chairs solve it.
- The pool's current admission is posted at the gate; the aggregator prices online are not reliable.
- Summer show tickets go on sale in early April and the musicals' best weekends sell through.
The farm fall
Pleasant Grove and Lehi Hee Haw Farms and Cornbelly's, September to November Directions
Fall is the valley's working farm season, run by two institutions. Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove, at 150 South 2000 West and very much not relocated despite rumors, opens its fall festival in late September and runs into early November: hayrides to the pumpkin patch, a petting farm, slides, a zipline and a corn box, with a day pass in the mid $20s and a cheaper pre season price. Its farm store arm, Oliver's Place, runs year round next door.
Cornbelly's, the corn maze and pumpkin festival on Thanksgiving Point's north end, runs from late September through the end of October and carries one clarifying fact: it is an independently operated attraction on the campus grounds, not a Thanksgiving Point venue, with its own tickets and calendar. Between the two, the valley's October weekends are spoken for, and the smart money buys either one online on a weekday.
The details
Getting there
Both sit minutes off the freeway corridors; evening visits end in real darkness at the maze, which is the point.
Before you go
- Hee Haw has not moved; Oliver's Place is its farm store on the same property, not a new location.
- Cornbelly's is independently operated on Thanksgiving Point grounds; its tickets and hours are its own.
- Both are seasonal businesses: outside the fall window, the gates are simply closed.
Peaks Ice Arena
Provo Olympic hockey ice at rec center prices Directions
The valley's cheapest brush with Olympic history costs about ten dollars including skates: Peaks Ice Arena hosted men's and women's ice hockey for the 2002 Winter Games, and today Provo City runs its two sheets as a community rink with public sessions at $6 admission, $5 for seniors, and $4 skate rental. The Olympic rings and the banners are still up, and the ice under a first timer's ankles is the same surface the Games used.
Public skate runs on a posted weekly schedule around hockey leagues and figure clubs, year round, which makes it the valley's most reliable indoor outing that is not a screen. With the 2034 Winter Games returning to Utah, the building's Olympic history is easy small talk; the practical version is that a family of four skates for the price of two movie tickets.
The details
Getting there
The arena sits east of downtown Provo off Center Street at Seven Peaks Boulevard, with free parking at the doors.
Before you go
- Gloves turn a first skate from short to great; bring them for everyone.
- The 2002 hockey venue fact is real local currency; the banners inside back it up.
- Session times shift seasonally; the city's posted schedule is the truth, not the map listing.
The rec center day
Provo and Lehi the under $10 full building pass Directions
The valley's best value is municipal: Provo's Recreation Center at 320 West 500 North sells a day pass around $6.50, and $5.50 for youth and seniors, that covers the entire building, pools, slides, climbing, courts and drop in fitness classes, with the outdoor pool areas included from May through August. It is a private gym day rate for a public palace, and it is why January Saturdays there hum like a festival.
Lehi's Legacy Center runs the north county version at a similar low day rate, with an a la carte climbing wall. Between the two, any day of the year has an under ten dollar full facility answer, and visiting one is also the single best way to see what a city offers families before moving to it.
The details
Getting there
Both sit in their city centers with free parking; day passes sell at the front desk, no residency required.
Before you go
- Non residents pay the same posted day rates; the pass is for anyone.
- Provo's May to August pass includes the outdoor pool complex, which is the summer's quiet bargain.
- Swim lesson blocks close pool sections on weekday mornings; afternoons are the open water.
The free day
Valley wide splash pads, a river delta and a museum row at zero dollars
A full zero dollar day is genuinely easy here. The splash pad tier runs deep: Adventure Heights in Spanish Fork, an all abilities park with three splash zones, is the county's standout, with Vineyard Grove Park's dumping bucket and shallow stream, Orem's Hillcrest and Palisade parks, and Lehi's toddler scale Ivory Ridge filling the map. All free, all summer.
The rest of the free tier: the Provo River Delta's trails, observation tower and fishing platforms at the lake's edge; seventeen flat miles of the Murdock Canal Trail; the frozen or falling water of Bridal Veil Falls from the viewing areas; and BYU's four free museums, led by the Museum of Art and the Bean's live animal shows. The valley's free tier is not the fallback; on the right Saturday it is the first choice.
The details
Getting there
Each city's parks page posts splash pad seasons and hours; the delta's trails start north of Utah Lake State Park off Provo's Center Street corridor.
Before you go
- Splash pads run on posted city seasons and switch off in September regardless of the thermometer.
- The delta area is free and non motorized, a different place from the state park beside it.
- The free museum row's hours flex with the academic calendar; check before a holiday drive.
The festival calendar
The circled dates tulips, storytellers, lights and one loud stadium
Four dates organize the valley's family year. Spring is the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point's Ashton Gardens, which ran April 6 to May 16 in 2026 with roughly a million bulbs. High summer is Stadium of Fire on July 4, the Freedom Festival's stadium show. September brings the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, one of the largest storytelling events in the country, September 10 to 12 in 2026 at Ashton Gardens, with a $10 Thursday sneak peek and $5 Friday bedtime stories as the cheap doors in. And the winter answer is Luminaria, the Gardens' November and December light walk.
The pattern worth learning: the anchor venues sell tiered and timed tickets, the shoulder events, sneak peeks, weekday sessions and pre season passes are where the value is, and everything here sells out its best slots ahead of time. The circled dates shift by a week or two each year, so check each festival's own site for the current calendar.
The details
Getting there
All four publish next year's dates months ahead; the storytelling festival also runs an online season through the winter.
Before you go
- 2026 dates are given here as the worked example; verify next year's at each event's own site.
- Tulip season's last week is a gamble on the bloom; the middle weeks are the sure thing.
- Luminaria and the December calendar sell timed entries; the early evening slots go first.
The year, decided
Four seasons, four default answers
| The anchor | The cheaper pick | The free tier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | Provo Beach and the rec centers | Peaks Ice Arena, $10 with skates | BYU's four free museums |
| Spring | The Tulip Festival at Ashton Gardens | Thanksgiving Point's periodic $5 Tuesdays | The delta trails and the Murdock |
| Summer | Splash Summit and the SCERA Shell | The Shell's cheap outdoor movie nights | The splash pad map, led by Adventure Heights |
| Fall | Hee Haw Farms and Cornbelly's | Pre season and weekday farm passes | Bridal Veil and the color drives |
Every option here is expanded above with its price and season. The pattern to keep: anchors sell out weekends, the cheaper options live on weekdays, and the free tier is a genuine first choice, not a fallback.
Living with it
What the family map does to an ordinary week
The valley's family economy runs on memberships and municipal pricing, and households here learn both fast. One Thanksgiving Point membership, chosen after a first paid visit, converts the county's biggest campus into a weekly habit; the rec centers price a full building below a matinee ticket; and the free tier, splash pads, the delta, the museum row, the trail, is deep enough that a zero dollar month is a choice rather than a sacrifice.
The calendar does the rest. Residents pin their year to the circled dates, tulips, the Fourth, the storytellers, the mazes, the lights, and fill the gaps with the standing weekly options this page prices. The honest local advice for a newcomer is to spend the first year sampling on day passes and the second year owning the two memberships the first year proved out.
From your town
The same subject, from your own doorstep
Seven cities now hold a door onto this subject. Lehi's campus page covers all seven ticketed venues and how their tickets work; Provo's ranked list prices the waterpark and the rec center; Orem's SCERA page sorts the amphitheater, the 1941 cinema and the city pool everybody confuses with them; Pleasant Grove's set opens with the acre of playground the town has built by hand twice; Vineyard's lake bank is written end to end. From the south, Springville answers the cheapest question in the county, a fine art museum that costs nothing at the door, and Spanish Fork's ranked eleven carries the all abilities park whose splash pad and lazy river outdraw half the paid options. The last three doors open away from the freeway: Santaquin's farm page prices the six week fall season at the south end's largest maze and pumpkin operation, Saratoga Springs' Neptune Park is a free year round destination built around a thirty foot rope pyramid, and Eagle Mountain's ranked nine leads with a free splash pad park and thirty acres of municipal bike park out in Cedar Valley.
The big campus
Thanksgiving Point
ReadThe waterpark and the rec center
Provo's top 12
ReadThe SCERA
The SCERA, sorted
ReadBuilt twice
Discovery Park
ReadThe lakeshore
The Vineyard shoreline trail
ReadThe free door
The Springville Museum of Art
ReadThe splash pad standout
Spanish Fork's top 11
ReadThe farm fall
Rowley's Red Barn
ReadThe rope pyramid
Neptune Park
ReadCedar Valley, free
Eagle Mountain's top 9
ReadThe region hub