By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahThe Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple
Open daily, year round · a hilltop temple, a llama paddock and a buffet
The building at 311 West 8500 South is the most photographed structure in this half of Utah County, and the two spring festivals get almost all of the attention. What gets missed is that the rest of the year it is simply open: every day, mid-morning to evening, with short walk-in tours of about ten or fifteen minutes. Groups of six or more should book ahead.
What you are looking at is Rajasthani-style architecture, modeled on Indian temple design and finished in 2001, on a hilltop property of roughly fifteen acres above the south end of the city. The grounds run a working animal park, with llamas, cows, peacocks, parrots and koi, and the llama activities are a booking rather than a walk-past: an orientation, an obstacle course, rides for small children, grooming and walks, charged per person with a small minimum. Llamas can also be hired for hikes and events by separate arrangement.
There is a vegetarian buffet on site through the middle of the day, at a suggested donation, and a gift shop on the temple's own hours selling imported clothing, books, incense and statuary. Between the tour, the animals, the food and the shop, this is a genuine two-hour stop on an ordinary Tuesday.
Why it ranks first
Because it is open on more days than anything else on this list, it costs nothing to walk into, and it is the only thing in Spanish Fork that people drive in from other counties to see on a weekday. Nothing else here combines architecture, animals, food and a shop on one site, and nothing else here is open at four in the afternoon in February.
The address confusion is real
Several map listings show this as 8628 South State Road, which lands you on roughly the right hill but not at the right entrance. The address to type in is 311 West 8500 South. The temple's own site keeps the current hours, the tour arrangements, the llama booking number and the festival calendar, so that is the one to check before you go.
The details
Getting there
Come off Main Street or US-89 onto 8500 South and climb toward the bench; the grounds sit above the road with their own parking. On ordinary days that parking is ample. On festival days it is not, and it is managed rather than free flowing.
Before you go
- Book ahead if there are six or more of you, because walk in tours are arranged for smaller numbers.
- The llama rates and the buffet donation are set by the temple and both can change, so treat any figure as a guide and confirm on the day.
- The architecture, the animal park, the seven festivals and the parking picture are all on the Krishna Temple page.
Fiesta Days and the rodeo
Late July · five nights of PRCA rodeo and a parade on Pioneer Day
This is the week the city clears its calendar for. In the back half of July the Fiesta Days Rodeo runs five straight nights at the fairgrounds arena, 475 South Main, with a preshow in the early evening and the rodeo shortly after. It is PRCA-sanctioned, and the stock comes from Frontier Rodeo Company, a repeat PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year.
The Grand Parade goes on Pioneer Day, 24 July, in the morning, down Center Street and then Main. The same day usually carries the Speedy Spaniard River Trail 10K at first light with a Kids Mile behind it, an outdoor quilt show, a craft fair, food in the park, and an evening fireworks show with a concert at the Sports Park.
Around all of that sits a carnival and a week of smaller events. The rodeo has a reputation as one of the best attended in the state, with a run of sellouts behind it, and either way the tickets move early and the streets around the fairgrounds behave differently for a week.
Why it ranks second
Because it is the only thing here with a genuine regional draw on a fixed date, and because a PRCA sanctioned rodeo running five consecutive nights in a town of this size is a real piece of infrastructure rather than a themed evening. It ranks below the temple purely on availability: this is five days out of 365.
Do not confuse it with the fair a week later
The Utah County Fair takes the same fairgrounds the following week, a separate event run by a separate organization with free admission and free parking, and it has its own rodeo and its own demolition derby. Two events, one address, about a week apart, and a lot of local coverage blurs them. Both are ranked on this list, and both are laid out on the Fiesta Days page.
The details
Getting there
The fairgrounds sit at 475 South Main, walkable from the middle of the city, and the Grand Parade closes Center Street and Main Street on the morning of the 24th. Park outward and walk in, or arrive well before nine.
Before you go
- Check the city's Fiesta Days pages for the year you are traveling; the shape repeats but the exact times do not.
- Next year's dates are set closer to the event, so treat late July as the pattern and confirm before you book travel.
- The five nights, the parade day running order and the county fair that follows it are on the Fiesta Days page.
Fifth Water Hot Springs
Roughly 5 miles round trip · a trailhead fee, a small lot and an algae advisory to check
Up Diamond Fork, which branches off US-6 a short drive east of the city, the road runs paved about ten miles to the Three Forks trailhead. From there the walk follows Sixth Water and then Fifth Water creek to a run of hot pools below a waterfall, roughly four and a half to five miles round trip. Mileage estimates vary, so plan for the longer end.
Two things sit between you and the water, and both are easy to handle in advance. First, there is a trailhead fee: a Forest Service pass, priced per vehicle and scaled from a few days to a season, bought through Recreation.gov, with interagency passes honored. Second, the springs draw a seasonal advisory for harmful algal blooms, tracked at habs.utah.gov, so that is the page to check before anyone gets in.
Parking is the third thing, and the one people underestimate. The Three Forks lot is very small, ticketing and towing are enforced, and the overflow answer is the Fifth Water Trailhead on Rays Valley Road. On a summer Saturday that is the fact that decides the whole trip.
Why it ranks third
Because it is the best known outdoor draw tied to this city by a wide margin, and because it is genuinely good. It ranks behind the temple and the rodeo week because it is the least dependable of the three: a fee, an advisory, a lot that tows and a winter gate all sit between a visitor and the water, and three of those four can change inside two weeks.
What winter does to the arithmetic
The Forest Service closes the upper Diamond Fork road at a winter gate near Diamond Campground, usually with the first heavy snow around October, and reopens it in spring. With the gate shut, the walk to Three Forks adds about four miles each way, turning a five-mile round trip into more than twelve. The gate follows the snow rather than the calendar, so the Spanish Fork Ranger District, (801) 798-3571, is the number that answers it.
The details
Getting there
Take US-6 east out of the city, turn up Diamond Fork Road, and follow the pavement about ten miles to Three Forks. The lot at the end of it is small, and the overflow answer the Forest Service itself gives is the Fifth Water Trailhead on Rays Valley Road.
Before you go
- Check habs.utah.gov before anyone gets into the water. The bloom advisory changes through the warm season, so the reading on your day is the one that counts.
- Pay the trailhead pass through Recreation.gov before you leave the pavement, because there is no signal to buy one from the lot.
- The fee, the advisory, the winter gate and the parking are covered in full on the Fifth Water page.
Spanish Oaks Reservoir
Spring to late fall · a swimming reservoir with a sand beach under the canyon
Spanish Fork owns a reservoir, and it is the city's summer answer. Spanish Oaks Reservoir at 2931 South Spanish Oaks Drive sits below the canyon mouth and is open spring through late fall, dawn to dusk, with a sandy beach, a playground, a pavilion and a short walking path around the water.
Swimming and fishing are the two posted uses. Paddleboards and kayaks are common on the water but are not spelled out in the rules, so treat them as a confirm-before-you-load question rather than a settled yes. Dogs, motorized vehicles and alcohol are all out.
There is no posted day-use fee for the reservoir itself. The adjacent Spanish Oaks Campground is a separate proposition with its own charges, and the low figures still floating around for it are long out of date, so call the city for current camping rates rather than budgeting off a listing site.
Why it ranks fourth
Because it is the best free thing in the city on a hot afternoon, it works for most of the year, and it is close enough to the canyon mouth to pair with anything else on the east side of town. It ranks below the springs only because the springs pull people from outside the county and this pulls people from inside it.
It is not the golf course and it is not the park
Three separate places at the canyon end of town get run together: this reservoir, the city golf course on the ground below it, and Canyon View Park along the river. They are three addresses with three seasons and three purposes, and the comparison further down this page keeps them apart.
The details
Getting there
Head for the canyon end of the city and climb Spanish Oaks Drive; the reservoir sits above the golf ground with its own parking. It is about ten minutes from the middle of town and considerably less from the east bench.
Before you go
- No dogs, no motorized vehicles and no alcohol, and those are rules, not suggestions.
- The season runs spring through late fall, so a midwinter visit is a locked gate rather than a quiet day.
- Check current camping rates with the city; the old figures circulating for the adjacent campground are stale.
Adventure Heights Park
Free, seasonal water · the all abilities playground with a lazy river feature
Completed in 2020 across 10.4 acres, Adventure Heights is the city's flagship playground and the reason people from other towns in the south county drive here with children in the car. It is built as an all abilities park, and the water is the part that gets talked about: a splash pad, a waterfall and a lazy river style feature, which is not a combination most municipal parks manage.
The correction worth making is which park it is. The splash pad and water features often get pinned to Canyon View Park at the canyon mouth. They are not there. Canyon View is a different park at a different end of the city, with a fishing pond and an RV park, and the two get confused constantly.
Because the water here is seasonal and the playground is not, this park does two different jobs across the year. In July it is a water park with a playground attached. In March it is a large, well equipped, entirely dry playground, which is still worth the drive if that is what you came for.
Why it ranks fifth
Because it is free, it is genuinely the best of its kind in the south end of the valley, and it is the one thing on this list that people from Payson, Salem and Mapleton drive into Spanish Fork specifically to use. It ranks below the reservoir because the water season is shorter and because the reservoir works for adults too.
The valley wide comparison is not this page's
Every town in Utah County has a splash pad, and several are good. Which one is worth the drive from where you are, what each costs and when each turns on is a valley-scale comparison, and the region's family weekends page lines them up. This entry covers what is here in Spanish Fork.
The details
Getting there
It is a city park with its own parking rather than a facility you check in at, and it is signed from the surrounding streets. Confirm the exact address on the city's parks index before you set off, because the park is newer than most navigation data.
Before you go
- The water is seasonal and the city sets the switch on date each year, so confirm it rather than assuming a Memorial Day start.
- This is the park with the splash pad and the lazy river feature. Canyon View Park, at the other end of the city, is not.
- For how it compares with the rest of the county's free water, the family weekends page lines them up.
The Oaks at Spanish Fork
Year round, weather permitting · a city owned 18 hole par 72 by Billy Casper
The Oaks at Spanish Fork is a municipal course with a designer's name most municipal courses do not carry. It opened in 1982, it plays eighteen holes at par 72 on ground below the canyon mouth, and it was designed by Billy Casper, a two-time major champion. The city owns it, and it has a driving range, a pro shop and an event center.
The setting is the reason to play it rather than a nearer course. The ground climbs toward the canyon and the mouth of it is right there above the back of the property, which gives the round a backdrop that flat valley courses do not have, and gives it a specific weather problem that flat valley courses also do not have.
That problem is the wind. The course is honest about it: the ground can blow in the mornings and late afternoons. Anyone who has read the wind park page will recognize the pattern, because it is the same daily canyon drainage that nine turbines were built to stand in, half a mile away.
Why it ranks sixth
Because it is a genuinely good eighteen holes with a designer's name on it, owned by the city, in a place where you can see the canyon from most of it. It ranks in the middle rather than the top because it is a paid round for people who play golf, which is a narrower audience than a playground or a beach.
Time your round against the canyon, not the clock
On a course this close to a canyon mouth the wind is a scheduling input rather than a surprise. The pattern is a daily one and it favors the middle of the day over the two ends of it, which is the opposite of the advice you would give somebody playing in July heat anywhere else in the valley. The pro shop is the place to ask what the ground is doing that week.
The details
Getting there
The course sits on the ground below Spanish Oaks Drive at the canyon end of the city, with its own parking lot, pro shop and event center. It is a five-minute drive from the reservoir above it and about ten from Main Street.
Before you go
- Rates and tee time arrangements are published by the course rather than by any directory, and they move with the season.
- The mornings and late afternoons blow here, so book the middle of the day if the forecast is lively.
- The event center is used for functions, which occasionally changes what is open around the clubhouse.
Canyon View Park
Year round · 23.5 acres at the canyon mouth, with a fishing pond and an RV park
Canyon View Park occupies 23.5 acres where the river comes out of the canyon, bordering the golf ground, and it carries a fishing pond, pavilions, volleyball, a playground, an RV park run by the city and connections into the river trail network. It is the eastern anchor of the city's outdoor ground.
The acreage is worth pinning down because a figure of 180 acres circulates for this park. It is 23.5. The same mix-up tends to attach the splash pad and the lazy river feature here too, and those are at Adventure Heights on the other side of the city. Two errors, one park, and they travel together.
What Canyon View actually offers is a combination almost nothing else here has: a pond you can fish, a place to park an RV, shade, and a trail running west along the river from the door. It is the practical end of an east-side day rather than the spectacular one.
Why it ranks seventh
Because it is a good, useful, year round park in the best position in the city, and because the RV park attached to it means you can actually stay at the canyon mouth rather than just visit it. It ranks here rather than higher because nothing on the site is a destination in its own right.
The pond is for fishing, and swimming is not stated
The pond is listed for fishing. Whether anyone may swim in it is not something the city spells out, so do not assume it, and treat the reservoir up the hill as the swimming answer. If it matters to your afternoon, call the city rather than trusting a review site.
The details
Getting there
Follow the river east to where the canyon opens and the park is on the north side of the ground, next to the golf property, with parking on site and the trail heading west from it.
Before you go
- It is 23.5 acres, not the 180 acres that sometimes gets printed.
- The splash pad and the lazy river feature are at Adventure Heights, not here, and this is the single most common mix up in this city.
- The RV park is a booking rather than a turn up, and it is run by the city alongside the park.
The Spanish Fork River Trail
Free, year round · the paved spine that links most of this list
The city's paved trail runs along the Spanish Fork River and connects a string of parks, including the Sports Park, which at 90.5 acres is the largest piece of public ground Spanish Fork owns. It is flat, it is paved, it does not gate for a season, and it is the reason several other entries on this list can be reached without moving the car.
It is also a race course once a year. The Speedy Spaniard 10K on the morning of Pioneer Day runs on this trail, going off at first light with a Kids Mile behind it, which is the one day it is genuinely busy.
One thing to know going in: there is no reliable total mileage for the network. Mapping apps disagree with each other and the city does not publish a figure, so treat any number you see as an estimate. What is solid is the corridor, the parks it links and the paved surface.
Why it ranks eighth
Because it is free, flat and open in every month, and because it is the connective tissue of the whole city rather than a destination in itself. It ranks below the parks it connects for exactly that reason: almost nobody drives to Spanish Fork to walk a paved river trail, and a great many people here use it every day.
This is not the county's long corridor
Utah Valley's famous paved through-route is a seventeen-mile corridor over a buried aqueduct at the north end of the county, and it does not come near Spanish Fork. What runs here is a city trail along a city river, a smaller and different thing.
The details
Getting there
Pick it up at any of the parks it links, including Canyon View at the eastern end and the Sports Park on the west side. The parks carry the parking, so the trail itself needs no separate arrangement.
Before you go
- There is no reliable total mileage, so treat any figure from a mapping app as an estimate.
- The morning of 24 July is the exception to a quiet trail, because the Fiesta Days 10K runs on it at first light.
- It is a shared surface, so early mornings and evenings carry cyclists as well as walkers.
The Utah County Fair
Late July to early August · free admission, free parking, at the Spanish Fork fairgrounds
The county fair is held here, at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds, landing in late July or early August with free admission and free parking. It carries a rodeo, a demolition derby and livestock shows, and it is run by the Utah County Fair rather than by the city.
The timing is the thing to understand. Fiesta Days wraps on Pioneer Day and the county fair opens a few days later on the same ground. Two events, two organizations, one address, inside a couple of weeks, and even local coverage runs them together.
One thing to check for now: the fairgrounds' large indoor arena is closed for construction into 2027, which limits what can be staged under cover, so confirm before you count on an indoor event.
Why it ranks ninth
Because a free county fair with a rodeo and a demolition derby is a genuinely good few days and costs nothing at the gate or to park, which almost nothing else at this scale manages. It ranks here because it runs only a few days a year, and because much of its crowd arrives from elsewhere in the county rather than from this city.
Whose fair it is, and why that matters
Spanish Fork provides the ground. The Utah County Fair provides the program, the entries and the schedule, so check the fair's own site rather than the city calendar. That split is also why the two July events can carry different rules, ticketing and parking at the same address.
The details
Getting there
Same fairgrounds as the July rodeo, at 475 South Main in the middle of the city, with parking on the grounds and free of charge for the fair.
Before you go
- Check the fair's own site rather than the city's calendar, because the two events at this address are run by different bodies.
- The large indoor arena is closed for construction into 2027, which affects what runs under cover, so confirm before counting on an indoor event.
- Next year's dates come out closer to the event, so treat the late-July window as a pattern rather than a booking.
The Icelandic monument and Iceland Days
Year round for the monument · the June week for the celebration
This is the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States, and the town put up a monument to say so. The First Icelandic Settlement Monument stands on the east bench: a lighthouse replica topped with a Viking ship, dedicated on 1 August 1938 by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and the Icelandic Association, with a plaque naming the sixteen original settlers.
The history behind it is specific. The first three Icelandic converts arrived in 1855, sixteen were here by 1860, and roughly 410 Icelanders had immigrated by 1914. A 2005 renovation added a wall listing all 410 names, plus a rock carried from the shore of Vestmannaeyjar. Note the year: the wall is from 2005, not 2000, which is the date attached to the sister monument in Iceland.
The celebration is called Iceland Days. It runs each June, put on by the Icelandic Association of Utah, with a flag ceremony at City Park, culture workshops, food and a bus tour of the historic sites. You will see it written as Icelandic Days in places, but Iceland Days is the current name. The group also runs a winter event, Thorrablot, in February.
Why it ranks tenth
Because a lighthouse with a Viking ship on top of it, standing on a dry bench in Utah County, is a genuinely odd and genuinely documented thing, and because the claim underneath it is national rather than local. It ranks here because outside the June week it is a twenty minute stop at a marker rather than an afternoon.
Two dates that get printed wrong
The monument went up in 1938 and the 410-name wall arrived in the 2005 renovation. The year 2000 that sometimes appears belongs to the paired monument in Iceland, not to anything on this bench. You will also see the group dated to 1897 and the celebration pinned to the fourth Saturday in June; both are commonly repeated but not firmly confirmed, so plan on sometime in June and check the group's dates.
The details
Getting there
The monument sits on the east bench above the city and is a short detour from the canyon end of town. Confirm the exact location with the city before you navigate, because it is a marker rather than a signed attraction.
Before you go
- The celebration is Iceland Days. A listing that says Icelandic Days means the same week under an older name.
- Iceland Days dates are set by the Icelandic Association of Utah rather than by the city, so their events page is the authority.
- The 410 name wall dates from 2005, not 2000; the earlier date belongs to the sister monument in Iceland.
Harvest Moon Hurrah
One Friday evening in September · a free city arts festival at City Park
Harvest Moon Hurrah is the city's arts festival, put on by the Spanish Fork Arts Council at City Park, 49 South Main, and it is free. It falls on a Friday evening in September and runs about three hours.
It is a small event with a surprising booking history. Past headliners have included The Piano Guys and Lindsey Stirling, which is not the calibre a free evening in a city park usually attracts, and it is the reason this makes the list at all rather than sitting on the general municipal calendar.
Three hours in September, on a single Friday, in the middle of the city, with nothing to pay. It is the easiest entry on this list to plan around and the easiest to miss entirely.
Why it ranks eleventh
Because it is three hours long, once a year, and because the lineup is announced late enough that it cannot be planned months ahead. It earns its place because it is free, it is well booked for its size, and it is the one cultural evening on this city's calendar that is not tied to a rodeo or a festival crowd.
City Park is the other address in this city
City Park at 49 South Main hosts this evening and it also carries the flag ceremony that opens the June Icelandic week. That makes it the civic ground of Spanish Fork in a way the fairgrounds are not, and it is worth knowing which of the two addresses an event you have read about is actually using, because they are a few blocks and a very different atmosphere apart.
The details
Getting there
City Park sits at 49 South Main in the middle of the city, a few blocks north of the fairgrounds, with street and civic parking around it. It is walkable from most of the historic grid.
Before you go
- The lineup is announced by the Spanish Fork Arts Council rather than by the city calendar, and it comes out close to the date.
- Three hours on one Friday evening is the entire event, so it is not something you can arrive late to and still see.
- Do not confuse City Park with the fairgrounds at 475 South Main; different address, different kind of evening.
Three ways into water here
A reservoir, a hot spring and a lazy river, and none of them substitutes
Entries three, four and five all end with somebody getting wet, they get recommended interchangeably by people who have not done all three, and choosing wrong costs either a day or a tow truck. Here is the difference in the terms that decide which one you should be driving to.
| Spanish Oaks Reservoir | Fifth Water Hot Springs | Adventure Heights | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whose it is | Spanish Fork City | The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest | Spanish Fork City |
| What the water is | A city reservoir with a sand beach, listed for swimming and fishing | Natural hot pools below a waterfall, up a creek in a side canyon | Engineered play water: a splash pad, a waterfall and a lazy river feature |
| The effort | Park and walk to the sand | Ten paved miles of canyon road, then about five miles of walking round trip | Park and walk to the pad |
| Season | Spring to late fall, dawn to dusk | All year on paper; the upper road gates for winter, typically from about October | The playground is year round; the water is warm season only |
| What it costs | No posted day-use fee | A Forest Service trailhead pass, per vehicle, via Recreation.gov | Nothing |
| What to check first | The season, because it is genuinely shut in midwinter | habs.utah.gov, for the current algae advisory | The city's turn-on date for the water features |
Three different bodies run these three, on three different clocks: the city sets its park seasons each year, the Forest Service sets the trailhead fee nationally, and the algae advisory changes through the summer as the water is sampled. There is no single page that carries all of it, so confirm the one you are driving to before you go.
Before you go
What to settle first, because five different bodies run these eleven
The things that go wrong in Spanish Fork are specific rather than general: driving to a park for a splash pad that is at the other park, arriving at a tiny federal trailhead on a Saturday, and turning up at a reservoir in February. All three take two minutes to avoid.
Sort before you drive
- The Recreation.gov trailhead pass for Three Forks, because there is nowhere to buy one at the lot
- The current algal bloom advisory at habs.utah.gov, if anybody intends to soak
- Which of the two east side parks you actually want, because only one has the water features
- A booking, if you want the temple tour with six people or more in the group
- Whether you are inside the reservoir's spring-to-late-fall season
Check on the day
- The wind, which arrives on a daily cycle here and decides how a round of golf plays
- Whether the Diamond Fork winter gate is open, because a closed one adds eight miles on foot
- Parking around the fairgrounds and Main Street if you are traveling in the back half of July
- The temple's own calendar, if you are hoping to land on one of its seven festivals
- The Forest Service towing notice at Three Forks, which is enforced rather than posted for show
Turn up and it is fine
- The temple grounds on any ordinary day between ten in the morning and eight at night
- The river trail, which is paved, flat and carries no gate in any month
- The Icelandic monument on the east bench, which is a marker in the open air
- Canyon View Park, which is a good park at the best address in the city in every season
Two widely copied errors about this city's parks will send you to the wrong address, and a couple of listed attractions do not exist. A figure of 180 acres gets printed for Canyon View Park; it is actually 23.5. And the splash pad, the waterfall and the lazy river feature get attached to Canyon View, when all three are at Adventure Heights, a separate 10.4 acre park that opened in 2020 at the other end of the city. Swimming in the Canyon View pond is not something the city states, so do not assume it. A couple of attractions also show up in roundup lists for Spanish Fork, one under a personal name and one described as a sky ride, that have no verifiable address anywhere, so do not build a day around them.
What this list leaves out, and why
- The Nebo Loop. It is the best drive in the south end of this county and it does not start here: the byway leaves the valley from Payson, one town over, and it spends a long stretch of every year behind a gate. Its season, its lakes and its viewpoints are on the Nebo Loop page.
- Utah Lake and Lincoln Beach. The lake fills the ground west of this city and Lincoln Beach, out past the fields, is one of five developed access points on it. The water, its advisory system, its recovery program and all five doors are on the Utah Lake page.
- Provo Canyon, its waterfall and its resort. That is a canyon at the other end of the county, roughly half an hour north of here, and it is a whole subject rather than a day trip line. It is on the Provo Canyon page.
- The nine turbines at the canyon mouth. They are the most recognizable thing on this city's skyline and there is no tour, no viewpoint and no public access at the site, so ranking them as somewhere to go would be dishonest. What they are and why they are there is on the wind park page.
- The county's ticketed family venues and indoor attractions. Spanish Fork has none of its own, so a wet Saturday here is a drive, and the honest answer to which drive is a valley scale comparison rather than a city one. It lives on the family weekends page.