Lindon, UT Outdoor Activities

Max Zipline's tours and expeditions illuminate the beauty of Provo Canyon from riverbed to treetop. Zip lines send airborne tourists careening over tree and field, with mid- and high-speed courses all ending at wooden platforms manned by professional guides. In the valley, the Heber Valley Railroad winds through the glacier-carved canyon as riders snap pictures of Mt. Timpanogos.

Whether mounds of freshly fallen snow or fields of verdant grass blanket its ranges, Soldier Hollow hosts outdoor excursions that help visitors stay active year-round. The spring’s warm winds herald the opening of the resort’s championship-level golf course—whose 36 holes overlook Heber Valley and Mount Timpanogos—and the outset of scenic trail rides atop Rocky Mountain Outfitters’ trained horses. Meanwhile, mountain bikers traverse the marked trails, exploring the rugged wilderness and challenging tree stumps to races during self-guided tours.

When winter coats the slopes with fresh powder, Soldier Hollow adapts its activities for the frozen landscape. Using the mountain’s equipment, visitors hurtle down 1,200-feet of tubing lanes during two-hour sessions as wooded cross-country trails let skiers follow the tracks of deer who’ve stolen hikers’ sleds.

The 18-hole course at TalonsCove Golf Club hugs the northwest rim of Utah Lake, leading golfers on a shamrock-shaded jaunt backdropped by the craggy skyline formed by the Timpanogos Mountain. Architect Gene Bates designed the course in a links-style format, the ancient design scheme that features numerous deep bunkers, frustratingly high rough, and few trees bent on blocking flight paths and asking for group pictures right before an important shot.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Total length of 7,096 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 72.5 from the back tees
• Course slope of 127 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard

A waterfall cascades over a towering cliff. A few acres away, hundreds of thousands of tulips sway in the desert breeze where hay and barley once grew. Originally a dairy farm, the 55-acre Thanksgiving Point has bloomed into a museum complex and attraction with one-of-a-kind experiences, shopping, dining, and seasonal festivals. In Thanksgiving Point Gardens, trees and shrubs form divisions between 15 themed gardens modeled after a country estate, 13 acres of turf grass, and a 4,000-seat amphitheater beside a manmade waterfall—all of which flourish under the hands of 26 gardeners. Gardeners feed their plots using an intricate water-reclamation system, which harvests millions of gallons of runoff water and lizards' tears annually to transform the desert landscape into an assembly of global ecosystems.

The outdoor park is also home to Farm Country, a working farm where goats, pigs, and draft horses mingle with peacocks and wildlife photographers disguised as ostriches. Visitors delve into farm culture as they pet and feed the animals, ride ponies, and look in on the process of bottling milk. The Museum of Ancient Life explores life long before agriculture, exhibiting 60 complete dinosaur skeletons to a soundtrack of gurgling steams, insect chirps, and one jazz saxophonist. The museum also contains more than 50 interactive exhibits, including a simulated fossil dig.

After years of training and diving around the world, owners Colby, Darren, and Tony decided to spread their love of scuba by opening North American Divers. They instruct classes such as Discover Scuba Diving, where be-finned students try breathing underwater for the first time. During Advanced Open Water classes, more experienced divers earn certification across five dives at locales such as Sand Hollow and the California Channel Islands. They also rent out gear such as regulators, oxygen tanks, and wetsuits. Additionally, the trio’s team of in-house certified technicians fixes nearly all makes and models of scuba and snorkeling equipment with a simple twitch of their nose.

From its origins in the Uinta Mountains’ Washington Lake, the Provo River descends to Utah Lake. On its way, thousands of years’ worth of the river’s water has carved the nearly 7,000-feet-deep Provo River Canyon. The water carries adventurers as well, bearing expeditions toward the landmark’s geological contours in vessels furnished by Runoff River Adventures.

Owned and operated by its guides, Runoff River Adventures has attracted some of the best river navigators in the business. Each guide has personally traversed more than 200 rivers, whose collective currents criss-cross countries across the world. The aquatic experts wield this experience as they guide kayaking and rafting expeditions down courses that can pass through roiling rapids or stick to calmer areas, such as goldfish bowls. Instructors also helm paddling and rafting courses, which focus on oar work and the art of the lake roll and river roll. Once they have mastered the basics, adventurers can confidently sally forth for self-guided tours in inflatable or non-inflatable kayaks, rafts, and innertubes that function as both flotation devices and very large headbands.