Springville, UT Outdoor Activities

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.

As the name implies, Cahoots Duo Challenge's overland obstacle-course races principally challenge teamwork. Pairs of runners—who spend just as much time climbing and crawling as jumping, swinging, and tumbling—rely on each other's strength and wits to complete a series of challenges laid out over a 3- to 4-mile course. Along the way, racers get wet, muddy, and sweaty as they test their endurance or the likelihood that their partner is a golem.

Captivated by the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a young Dan Whiting signed up for a wilderness survival hike in search of similar swashbuckling. It didn’t turn out as he had hoped. “The only thing I learned was that you can get really hungry and really thirsty in the desert.” Whiting vowed to approach his own outdoor adventures differently. He now believes nature can be abundant and nurturing rather than barren and trying—provided you have the tools to understand it, that is.

Although Whiting has studied dozens of field guides, he learned his most valuable lessons via firsthand experience. To wit: he has eaten 78 plants to date and knows just as many recipes. On one expedition, Mr. Whiting was delighted when a participant turned to him and said, “I had no idea there was so much food up here.”

The wilderness expert acknowledges that people may learn skills that could one day save their lives. But his ultimate goal is to transform the way people think about being outdoors. “When you are familiar with animals and plants, you feel free. When you have intimate knowledge of how something tastes, feels, smells, then there’s no fear of it anymore. It’s just everyday life."

The couple clasps hands as they begin to fall 150 feet, the far off mountains a silent witness to their impending plummet. Luckily, their descent is controlled—the duo is safely strapped into an electromagnetic zipline that speeds them from a platform along its wiry track back down to terra firma. Below their feet, Miller Motorsports Park’s upwards of 500 acres unfolds from the Larry H. Miller Total Performance Auto Museum to the 23 curves of the racetrack awash in the controlled chaos of zooming sports cars. Dedicated to celebrating fast-moving motor vehicles while schooling nascent Earnhardts in the art of speeding, Miller Motorsports Park upholds its vision via a variety of state-of-the-art facilities and thrilling classes.

Since its opening in 2006, Miller Motorsports Park’s 4.5-mile track has fielded the wheeled circuits of countless high-energy events, from the NASCAR Utah Grand Prix to the FIM Superbike World Championship. Expert instructors helm classes at the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School and Yamaha Champions Riding School, teaching pupils the essentials of racing, including safety precautions and how to paint tunnels on rock faces to outsmart cartoon coyotes. Drivers of all ages can choose to zip around the go-kart track, burning rubber down its 900-foot straightaway.