MORGANTOWN — My feet were dangling, suspended over a 500-foot drop. I wasn’t scared. “Wow,” I said. I was surrounded by miles of Utah’s beautiful mountains, a lake and waterfalls.
After a couple of moments, I accelerated my zip-line trolley forward, moving at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
It was one of the coolest experiences while visiting Provo, Utah.
In 2021, BYU was one of many schools announced to join West Virginia in the Big 12 for athletics in the future. Fast forward a couple of years, and BYU is about to begin its third year in the conference.
The Cougars have already made an impact in athletics, and don’t show signs of slowing down. BYU landed top-rated basketball recruit, A.J. Dybantsa, and was ranked the highest Big 12 team in the Learfield’s Director’s Cup. BYU has made a surge in football, too. In 2024, the Cougars finished 11-2 and tied for the best conference record. If BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff didn’t recently transfer, it’d be a Big 12 contender this season, and still may be.
On Oct. 3, Rich Rodriguez’s Mountaineers make the 1,700-mile trek to play BYU for the third time and first time in Provo, Utah, as a member of the Big 12.
Provo will be new territory for a lot of West Virginia fans, so what should they expect? I spent three days in Provo, learning what the town of 113,000 people has to offer for Mountaineer fans if they make the trip.
At first glance, Provo’s a Mormon town with strict rules, and more importantly for sports fans, no alcohol. While alcohol might not be as easily accessible as it is in Morgantown, there are some places where you can get a drink. Mormons do come in bunches, but it plays to the benefit of how friendly the community is.
You could say that won’t be the case when Mountaineer fans roll into town for the game, but BYU is one of the few schools that offer free ice cream after the first quarter to visiting fans.
Provo might be stereotyped to have a lot of rules, but there’s also a lot of fun to be had when visiting.
If you are making the trip for the Friday night game, here are a couple of highlights from my trip that might be of interest.
Restaurants
MOZZ Artisan Pizza
Located right in downtown Provo, it specializes in craft pizzas, which are sourdough. I had the Serrano Honey pizza, which had that sweet and a little bit of spice. It was easily consumable by one person and will run you under a little under $20. It could be shared with guests if not so hungry.
Black Sheep Cafe
One of the highlight restaurant spots on the trip. It’s a Native American-style restaurant, but it has your usual lunch and dinner foods. I recommend the Navajo Pork Tacos, and so will everyone in the town if you talk about Black Sheep Cafe. It’s another place in downtown Provo, and it was busy, so I’d recommend getting a reservation in advance.
Ernies Sports Deli
This is a place for sports fans. There are pool tables and televisions everywhere. This is another spot in downtown Provo. There were a lot of options for lunch and breakfast sandwiches, and it wasn’t too crowded.
Backdoor BRGR
This was a classic burger spot just a couple of blocks down from MOZZ downtown. The burgers were a bit small, but they had a neat Western vibe.
Strap Tank Brewery
This place is where West Virginia fans can get the alcohol fix. This is a classic brewery with fill-you-up bar food and craft drinks. I didn’t try any of the drinks, but the drinks menu looked like it had a bit of everything. This place is a bit outside of downtown Provo, so a car or a rideshare will be needed.
Bearclaw
At the top of Sundance is a little restaurant with some entrees but more shareables. It’s not a place to center a whole meal around, but good for a quick bite with an amazing view.
Sundance Owl Bar
There are two restaurants at the base of Sundance Mountain, and this is the 21-plus option. This bar has food, cocktails, and all beers are brewed in Utah. There’s sometimes a band that plays, and on nice days, an option to sit outside. There’s also a nice little stream surrounding the outside.
Swig/Sodalicious
One of the things Utah is most known for is its craft sodas, and something I didn’t know about before arriving there. How it works is you choose a base soda like Coke, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, etc., and then there are a couple of options where they add different flavorings to it. It’s like a virgin cocktail, if that’s easier to understand. Sodalicious is walking distance, and Swig is a little car trip outside of downtown.
Vinci Gelato
There are a couple of Gelato places around downtown. Vinci was a mile walk from downtown and had a lot of different options. It was a bit on the pricey side, but it was a nice little establishment with an outdoor seating area.
Activities
Top Golf
There are Top Golf places everywhere, but there’s no Top Golf place I’ve seen with a better view. The driving range looks right into the beautiful Utah mountains.
Dreamwalk Park
This was one of the coolest experiences on the trip, and I highly recommend it. It’s inside a mall, and the backstory is that it was created by a sci-fi set builder, whose movie was scrapped because of the pandemic. The trio of Brad Skaar, Ben McPherson, and John Pope decided to make the scrapped sets into an interactive experience. It’s hard to explain without actually experiencing it, but if you like movies like Star Wars, Avatar, or Indiana Jones, you’d appreciate this experience.
The whole experience can take you only an hour or as long as two hours. There are games at the end and interactivity all over the park. Great for all ages.
Herber Hatchets
I didn’t get to experience this, but I wanted to include it as an option. It’s an axe-throwing place with a couple of bays that’s located under Backdoor BRGR.
High County Adventures
If it’s a nice day, this is a beautiful and peaceful experience. Provo River runs through the valley, and there’s a section that you can either tube or raft on. You can take in the beautiful mountains and scenery in either a tube, a raft or a guided tour. The water is freezing, though, because it comes from a reservoir, even when it’s 90-plus degrees outside.
Ziplining
This was by far the coolest experience on the trip. At the top of Sundance Mountain Resort, three ziplines run from the top of the peak to the bottom. These are self-braking ziplines, allowing you to control your speed and take in the scenery, including Mt. Timpanogos, which is the ninth-tallest mountain in Utah. This experience is very pricey, but if you have the money to spend, I highly recommend it.
Art Studio Sundance
For the more creative people, there’s an art shop at the base of Sundance Mountain. The art shop has classes on making pottery, perfume, candles, painting, soap, glass, pretty much anything art-related. The candle-making class wasn’t long, and it wasn’t too expensive.
Y Hike
This hike definitely wasn’t for the weak. It’s pretty steep, but a very doable hike that’s very active and not too long. Even with frequent stops, I completed the hike in 90 minutes. It might seem daunting, but the view over Provo was worth it. You might be sore the next couple of days, though.
Stewarts Falls Hike
I ran out of time for the Stewarts Falls hike. It’s located at Sundance Mountain. It’s not as steep as the Y Hike, but it has a little more distance. From the zipline, the waterfall looked really pretty.
