Things to Do in Provo, United States: Walking Guide

The best things to do in Provo include exploring Brigham Young University, discovering museums and public sculptures, and visiting historic churches and buildings connected with the city’s past. Set at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, Provo combines a university atmosphere with sites that reflect its religious, architectural, and settlement history. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Provo with 14 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to See in Provo

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private research university at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. It began in 1875 as Brigham Young Academy, and its Provo campus now covers about 600 acres with 333 buildings.

Education, religious identity, and student life come together across the campus. BYU focuses primarily on undergraduate education, while also offering graduate study, including 68 master’s programs and 25 doctoral programs. The university also provides foreign-language classes, and its multi-sport athletic club is known as the BYU Cougars.

Several of Provo’s most distinctive museums and sculptures are located here, making the campus a central stop for visitors interested in art, science, and local landmarks.

Tree of Wisdom

The Tree of Wisdom is a sculpture on the Brigham Young University campus. Its name invites reflection on the idea of wisdom, giving the artwork a simple but thoughtful place within the university setting.

Statue of Massasoit

The Statue of Massasoit is another campus landmark in Provo. Together with the Tree of Wisdom, it adds a public-art dimension to a visit through the university grounds.

Brigham Young University Museum of Art

The Brigham Young University Museum of Art, also known as the BYU Museum of Art, is the university’s primary art museum. It is one of the best-attended university campus art museums in the United States.

The museum opened in October 1993, following more than fifty years of discussion about creating it. Its first exhibition focused on the Etruscans and was presented in a 10,000-square-foot space. It remains one of the main places to experience Provo’s cultural and artistic side.

Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum

The Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum is a natural history museum at Brigham Young University. Its focus is the life sciences, offering a different perspective on the natural world from the university’s art and cultural institutions.

BYU Museum of Paleontology

The BYU Museum of Paleontology is home to a large collection of dinosaur bones and other fossils, and it is open to the public. The museum began in 1976 around the collection of James A. Jensen.

For many years, it was known as the BYU Earth Science Museum, while much of the collection was stored beneath LaVell Edwards Stadium. New facilities opened in October 2009 during BYU homecoming week. A 5,000-square-foot addition allowed most of the collection to be displayed, while the new name made the museum’s paleontological focus clear.

Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Utah Temple, also known as the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple, stands just north of Brigham Young University. It was the first temple built in Provo and Utah County.

The temple was announced on August 14, 1967. Construction began after a groundbreaking ceremony on September 15, 1969, and the building was dedicated in 1972. Its modern design, created by architect Emil B. Fetzer, features a single spire rising from a rounded base on a rectangular foundation.

The temple closed for reconstruction in February 2024. Plans for the reconstruction were announced in 2021, after the nearby Orem Utah Temple was dedicated.

Provo City Center Temple

In central Provo, the Provo City Center Temple occupies the site of the former Provo Tabernacle. The building’s story changed in December 2010, when the tabernacle was damaged by fire. Much of the external shell survived and was incorporated into the temple, which was completed in 2016.

The exterior includes Gothic-inspired stained-glass windows. They give the building a distinctive appearance while showing the connection between the former tabernacle and its new purpose. The plan for the temple was announced by Church President Thomas S. Monson on October 1, 2011, and a groundbreaking ceremony followed on May 12, 2012, conducted by Jeffrey R. Holland.

Provo Community Congregational Church

The Provo Community Congregational Church is a historic church building and an important part of Provo’s architectural landscape. Its enduring presence makes it a useful stop for understanding the city’s religious and built heritage.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church dates from 1907 and belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, part of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

More than five decades after the original building was completed, a 4,800-square-foot addition created space for a church office, parish hall, Sunday school, and church library. The church adds another layer to Provo’s history of religious buildings and congregations.

Superintendent’s Residence at the Utah State Hospital

The Superintendent’s Residence stands at the Utah State Hospital in east Provo. Built in 1934 in the Colonial Revival style, the house offers a glimpse into the institution’s history and the city’s architectural heritage.

Its construction formed part of a wider period of public building in Utah, when 232 structures were built during the 1930s under the WPA and various New Deal programs. The residence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and designated for inclusion on the Provo City Historic Landmarks Registry in 1996.

Recreation Center for the Utah State Hospital

The Recreation Center for the Utah State Hospital is a historic amphitheater in eastern Provo. Its connection with the Utah State Hospital and its listing on the National Register of Historic Places give it a recognized place in the city’s heritage.

Fort Utah

Fort Utah, also known as Fort Provo, marks the site of Provo’s original European American settlement. The settlement was established on March 12, 1849, when President John S. Higbee led approximately 150 people from Salt Lake City to Provo at the direction of President Brigham Young.

The fort stood west of present-day downtown Provo. It contained log dwellings enclosed by a 14-foot palisade, with an enclosure measuring about 330 by 660 feet. Gates stood at the eastern and western ends, and a middle deck held a cannon. Flooding soon changed the settlement’s course, and in 1850 it moved to the area now known as Provo’s North Park.

Petroliana Museum

The Petroliana Museum is dedicated to petroliana. Its collection provides a more unusual addition to Provo’s museum scene, alongside the university’s art, life-science, and paleontology museums.

Explore Provo with a Self-Guided Walking Tour

A Provo self-guided walking tour is a flexible way to connect the city’s main landmarks without joining a group. Neywo has two walking tours in Provo:

• Brigham Young University: Dinosaurs, Art and Mountain Views — 4.53 km, 100 minutes, and 7 narrated stops, including the Tree of Wisdom, Statue of Massasoit, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, BYU Museum of Paleontology, and Provo Utah Temple.
• Downtown Provo: A Burned Tabernacle and a State Hospital Landmark — 3.91 km, 84 minutes, and 5 narrated stops, including Provo City Center Temple, Provo Community Congregational Church, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Superintendent’s Residence at the Utah State Hospital, and Recreation Center for the Utah State Hospital.

Download Neywo to explore Provo with its free audio guide. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. After Provo, continue exploring Utah, discover more of the United States, or plan another stop in Salt Lake City, Park City, or Moab.