Parks: Free, State, and National!

FREE
South Fork Park
30 minutes away
Up Provo Canyon past Vivian Park, big open grassy areas, fire pits, pavilions, grills, and a shallow stream great for kids to throw rocks in. Some hiking trails as well.

Bridal Veil Falls
26 minutes away
Up Provo Canyon. Short paved trail hike to the falls. Great for all ages and stroller friendly. Shallow water where kids can play. Also you can hike up the falls.

State Parks

(Fees vary by park, most are $6–$10.)

Antelope Island State Park

1 hour, 20 minutes

Drive around and see antelope, bison (buffalo), coyotes, jack rabbits, and a variety of birds. If you are highly adventurous, swimming in the Great Salt Lake is the experience of a lifetime. The water is very warm and very buoyant. But it is also full (really full) of brine flies and brine shrimp (sea monkeys). This takes a very high sense of adventure and tolerance of potentially gross things, but this is definitely one of my favorite family trips. The kids LOVE it. Free outdoor showers are available or bring quarters for private showers. The bison burgers at the grill are highly disappointing, so maybe pack a picnic. 

Deer Creek State Park

38 minutes away

Great for picnics, camping, and water sports.

Utah Lake State Park

17 minutes away

Great for water sports. 

Yuba Lake State Park

1 hour away

Swimming, camping, and fire pits! You can drive your car (4-wheel drive!) right onto the beach. Decent sand for a lake beach. Very fun place to visit! Caution: It might be windy!!

Alpine Loop

Not sure if this is a state park, but you do have to pay a fee to stop and use any of the facilities. If you have not done this drive in the fall when the leaves are turning, you are missing out! For summer, see below:

Cascade Springs

Beautiful, easy paved and boardwalk hike along the Alpine Loop. Some stairs, but those parts of the hike can be skipped if you have a stroller or wheelchair. NO PICNICS ALLOWED here. 

Silver Lake

Along the Alpine Loop. Swimming, fishing, canoeing/kayaking. You'll probably want 4-wheel drive to access this area. Also google Silver Lake hikes to see hikes around this area. 

Tibble Fork Reservoir

Swimming, canoeing/kayaking, fishing. Beautiful! No 4-wheel drive needed.

National Parks & Monuments

Timpanogos Cave National Monument

45 minutes away

$6/car to enter the area. Cave tours for $8/adult. 

Golden Spike National Monument

2 hours, 20 minutes away

Learn about the first Transcontinental Railroad. Combine this trip with a visit to the Spiral Jetty!

Dinosaur National Monument 

3 hours away

Miscellaneous

Spiral Jetty

3 hours 7 minutes away

An art installation on the Great Salt Lake. Combine this with a trip to the Golden Spike National Monument, listed above.

Date Night + Activities for Teens

Rooftop Concert Series
Free concerts in Provo every first Friday of the month. Kid-friendly. Bring your own camping chairs and blankets.

Art Stroll
Provo galleries open their doors the first Friday evening of the month. Fun to walk through the different galleries and see what is on display.

Fun at Home

33 Activities under $10 that will keep your kids busy all summer: Buzzfeed.

Free Fishing Day!

Saturday, June 7th, is FREE fishing day in the entire state of Utah! No licenses are required. All other laws and regulations still apply.

Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, the state fish of Utah

Utah Lake Festival

From utahlake.gov:

"It’s time for the 10th annual Utah Lake Festival! The festival will be held on Saturday, June 7, at Utah Lake State Park from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. The address for the park is 4400 West Center Street Provo, Utah, 84601.

The Utah Lake Festival is free to the public, and will offer a variety of activities for everyone. Some of these include a boat show featuring some fun and unique boats, a sail boat regatta, games and activities for kids, boat making demonstrations, and boat tours.

At the festival, attendees will receive a “Utah Lake Festival Passport.” The passports are used to collect stamps from educational and activity booths. Once attendees obtain all of the required stamps, they will receive a free prize.

The main goals of the Utah Lake Festival are to educate the public about what is being done to improve the lake, promote recreational activities, and allow the attendees to enjoy a beautiful Saturday at one of Utah’s greatest natural resources.

Come experience what Utah Lake is all about! We hope to see you there. For questions, call the Utah Lake Commission at 801-851-2900."

Utah Pasifika Festival

Celebrate Polynesian heritage and culture in Provo May 23-25th, 2014. Local artists display their vocal and dance talents at this free event. A blood drive and visit from Cosmo the Cougar are also scheduled.

Location: 100 East Center Street, Provo
Times: Friday, May 23 6-10pm; Saturday, May 24th 9am-6pm; Sunday, May 25th 7pm at the Wasatch Tongan Stake Center (1625 S Slate Canyon Drive, Provo)

Please see http://utpasifikafestival.com/UPF2014Schedule.pdf

Nearby Hikes and Trails

Grotto in Payson
Great for kids. Not stroller friendly. Very fun small grotto waterfall at the end where young kids can splash and play and older kids can climb and play. (I took Oliver and Joan when they were 2.5 and 4.5. Some parts of the hike made Mike uncomfortable, but nothing made me uncomfortable.)

Y

Timp Cave

Summer Recipes

S'mores ideas
Salads
Campfire meals

Outdoor Fun

Bug Collecting
Leaf Collecting
Flower Collecting
Slip and Slide and kiddie pool party

Scheduled Public Events

Take it away, Sarah!

Parks and Splash Pads

Spanish Fork splash pad
Springville splash pad
Provo Center Street splash pad
Discovery Park, Pleasant Grove

Cheap Museums, Libraries

Hill Air Force Base
Bean Museum
Springville Library

Fun in the Backyard

Science Experiments
Outdoor Movies
Fire pit

Overnighters

Maple Canyon
Hobble Creek Canyon

Full Day Trips

Antelope Island
Yuba Lake
Spiral Jetty
Golden Spike
Bear Lake
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Free Museums

Hill Aerospace Museum
Great museum and fun for the whole family! Very stroller friendly. Lots of airplanes to see outside and inside. Fun room for children to climb, play, and experiment.
Free admission
open Tues–Sat, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
1 hr 20 min away
all ages

Bean Museum
Fun museum full of taxidermied animals. We call it the "dead zoo." Stroller friendly, tons to see, and newly remodeled! Also do live animal shows. Check their calendar.
Free admission
open Mon–Sat, hours will be available after official reopening, June 7
all ages