This page answers two kinds of questions. First, what the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area is, and how to visit along U.S. Highway 89. Second, basic questions about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon pioneer history. Church and pioneer-history answers quote official Church pages. We do not speak for the Church.
The Heritage Area
What is the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area?
The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area (MPNHA) is a Congressionally designated National Heritage Area and a recognized 501(c)(3) organization. We preserve and share the heritage of the pioneers and Native peoples of central and southern Utah along Highway 89. Congress recognized this corridor as a significant part of the expansion of the United States. The story runs across six historic counties and about 400 miles of Utah landscape.
The Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance is the local coordinating entity and receives annual funding from the National Park Service. Read more on About and in the management plan.
Is the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
No. The Heritage Area is a separate entity from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We tell the settlement story of this corridor, including Mormon pioneers, Native peoples, and other settlers. We are not a Church office and we do not speak for the Church. See Branding & Media Style Guide and Are we changing our name?.
Are you changing the name?
No. The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area was named by an Act of Congress and will remain so named. Changing the name would require an act of Congress. The full statement is on Are we changing our name?.
Why does “Mormon” appear in the Heritage Area name?
The name is a proper name established by Congress. It refers to the Mormon pioneers who settled much of this corridor, not to the Church as an institution. The Church’s own style guide allows “Mormon” in historical expressions such as “Mormon Trail.” That is the usage our legal name follows. See our branding guide and the Church’s Style Guide: The Name of the Church.
How is the Heritage Area different from the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail and from the Church?
Three different things share similar words:
- The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area is this place: a National Heritage Area along Highway 89 in central and southern Utah. That is us. Start with About, Districts, and Plan a visit.
- The Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail is a different National Park Service product. It follows the nineteenth-century overland route from the Iowa / Nebraska winter camps to the Salt Lake Valley. It is not our auto tour.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the worldwide church whose members include the people often called Mormon pioneers. We are not the Church. For the Church’s own answers, use the quotes and links later on this page.
Can we say Mormon pioneers?
Yes, when you mean the historical settlers. The Church’s style guide says “Mormon” is correctly used “when used as an adjective in such historical expressions as ‘Mormon Trail.’” “Mormon pioneer” and “Mormon pioneers” are that kind of historical usage. Do not use “Mormon Church” or “LDS Church” as the name of the Church. On first reference, use the full name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Source: Style Guide: The Name of the Church, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/style-guide.
What is a Mormon heritage site?
In this corridor, it is a place that holds Mormon pioneer settlement heritage: towns, museums, historic buildings, and landscapes along Highway 89. Browse the five districts, museums, and Mormon colonization. We are the visit-the-places site for this Heritage Area, not a second encyclopedia of Church history.
Can you drive the Mormon trail?
You can drive our Heritage Area. That drive is the Highway 89 auto tour, with All-American Road State Route 12 and Scenic Byway State Route 24 branching from it. Download the map on the Travel Planner and see Tours.
That is not the same as driving the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail from Iowa to Salt Lake City. That trail is a separate NPS route. If you came here looking for that overland trail, we can still help you visit the Utah places where many of those families later settled.
Where is the Heritage Area, and how do I visit?
The area includes Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Wayne, Garfield, and Kane counties in Utah, along U.S. Highway 89 and Scenic Byway 12. Start with Plan a visit, the Travel Planner, Districts, Parks, and Museums. Local visitor bureaus are listed under Travel Councils.
What is Discovery Road?
Discovery Road is an award-winning documentary series about the people, history, and landscapes of the Heritage Area. Host James Nelson follows stories along U.S. Highway 89, All-American Road State Route 12, and Scenic Byway State Route 24. Since 2012 the series has produced more than 50 episodes across the six historic counties. Episodes air on Utah Education Network channels and are used in Utah history classrooms. The series has earned Utah Best of State honors. Watch on Discovery Road.
What are the five districts?
Little Denmark, Sevier Valley, Headwaters, the Boulder Loop, and Under the Rim. Each has its own towns and landscape. Open Districts, then Little Denmark and Sevier Valley if you want a place to start.
The Church and Mormon pioneer history
What is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
The Church states on its website that its official name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Newsroom style guide says: “The official name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The full name was given by revelation from God to Joseph Smith in 1838.”
The same guide asks writers to use the full name on first reference, then “the Church” or “Church of Jesus Christ.” It says “Mormon Church” and “LDS Church” are not authorized titles. On the Church’s Common Questions page, Latter-day Saints say they ask people to use the full name because it “helps confirm that Jesus is the core of our religion and beliefs.”
Sources: Style Guide: The Name of the Church, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/style-guide. Common Questions, churchofjesuschrist.org/welcome/common-questions.
Who were the Mormon pioneers?
Church History describes them as Latter-day Saint pioneers who gathered to Zion in the Salt Lake Valley. The Church History Museum exhibit Mormon Trails states: “Beginning in 1846, tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints left homes, friends, and families and endured the rigors of travel by ship, wagon, handcart, and train to gather with fellow Saints in the Rocky Mountains of North America.”
The same exhibit says Brigham Young “led the Camp of Israel out of Illinois in the snows of February 1846,” and that “Brigham Young’s vanguard company set out in April 1847 and arrived at the Great Salt Lake Valley that July.”
A Church Newsroom article, Mormons Celebrate Their Pioneer Heritage, says the first company “was led by Church President Brigham Young,” and that “under Brigham Young’s direction, an estimated 70,000 Latter-day Saints made the difficult journey to Utah between 1847 and 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed.”
Many of those families later settled the valleys that are now this Heritage Area. For the corridor story, see Mormon colonization and About.
Sources: Mormon Trails, history.churchofjesuschrist.org/exhibit/mormon-trails. Mormons Celebrate Their Pioneer Heritage, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/mormons-celebrate-their-pioneer-heritage.
Why did the Mormon pioneers come to Utah?
The Church’s Newsroom article on pioneer heritage states that the nineteenth-century migration “beginning in 1846 in Illinois, then through Iowa and Nebraska and eventually to a place of refuge in the Rocky Mountains, was one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the United States’ great western migration.” It then says: “Unlike the thousands of migrants streaming west to California and Oregon looking for a better life, the Mormon pioneers migrated involuntary — the result of expulsion from Illinois and Missouri by hostile neighbors. Later, the Mormon pioneer trail would be filled with converts coming from Europe.”
The same article quotes President Gordon B. Hinckley: “They came not for riches or gold, but rather to find a place where they could worship God under the revelations which are the foundation of this work.”
Source: Mormons Celebrate Their Pioneer Heritage, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/mormons-celebrate-their-pioneer-heritage.
Are Mormons Christian?
People type “are Mormons Christian,” “are LDS Christian,” and “Mormon vs Christian.” We do not decide that question. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states its own answer on its website. Latter-day Saints say they are Christians. Some other groups use a narrower, creedal definition. We quote the Church and link the pages. Read the Church’s words, not ours, for the claim.
Are Mormons Christian? Are Mormons Christians?
The Church states on its FAQ page:
“Yes. Mormons, more properly referred to as Latter-day Saints or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, unequivocally affirm themselves to be Christian, or in other words, followers of Jesus Christ.”
Source: Are Mormons Christian?, faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/are-mormons-christian.
The Church’s Gospel Topics essay Are “Mormons” Christian? states:
“Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unequivocally affirm themselves to be Christians.”
Source: Are “Mormons” Christian? (Gospel Topics Essays), churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/christians.
On Common Questions, the Church answers “Are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Christians?” with: “Yes! We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and we strive to follow Him.”
Source: Common Questions, churchofjesuschrist.org/welcome/common-questions.
Are LDS Christian? Are Latter-day Saints Christian?
Those searches ask the same question under the nicknames “LDS” and “Latter-day Saints.” The Church asks writers not to use “LDS” as a substitute for the name of the Church. Latter-day Saints, on the Church’s own pages, give the same answer quoted above: they “unequivocally affirm themselves to be Christians.”
Sources: Are Mormons Christian? (Church FAQ). Style Guide: The Name of the Church.
Is the Mormon church Christian? Is the LDS church Christian? Is Mormonism Christian?
People type those nicknames. The Church’s style guide says “Mormon Church” and “LDS Church” are not authorized titles, and that “the term ‘Mormonism’ is inaccurate and should not be used.” The Church’s preferred name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On the question of Christianity, the Church points to the same pages quoted above.
The Newsroom commentary Christianity: Following Jesus in Word and Deed states: “For Latter-day Saints, being a Christian means being a disciple of Jesus Christ, loving and worshiping Him above all.” It also says: “To describe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a non-Christian church to any audience spreads a misconception that there is something other than Jesus Christ at the heart of the Mormon faith.”
Sources: Style Guide: The Name of the Church. Christianity: Following Jesus in Word and Deed, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/christianity-following-jesus-in-word-and-deed.
Mormon vs Christian. Difference between Mormons and Christians.
We do not adjudicate “Mormon vs Christian” or “LDS vs Christian.” The Church states that its members are Christians. The Gospel Topics essay notes that “in recent decades, however, some have claimed that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a Christian church,” often because Latter-day Saints do not accept post–New Testament creeds, do not descend from Catholic or Protestant lines, and have an open canon that includes the Book of Mormon.
A Newsroom blog post, Are Mormons Christian?, says that for some other Christians “the term ‘Christian’ is often a reference to the more narrow term ‘creedal Christian.’” The same post says Latter-day Saints mean something simpler when they use the word: “What Mormons mean when they say they are Christian is that they follow Jesus Christ.”
If you want the Church’s own comparison, read those two pages. We will not add a third verdict.
Sources: Are “Mormons” Christian? (Gospel Topics Essays). Are Mormons Christian? (Newsroom blog), newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/are-mormons-christian.
Do Mormons believe in Jesus? Do Mormons believe in Jesus Christ?
The Church states on its FAQ page:
“Yes. Mormons, more properly referred to as Latter-day Saints or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believe in Jesus.”
The same page says Latter-day Saints “believe in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and believe that salvation comes only through Him.” On Common Questions, the Church writes: “Yes! Jesus is the foundation of our faith—the Son of God and the Savior of the world.”
The Newsroom resource What Latter-day Saints Believe About Jesus Christ opens: “Latter-day Saints are Christians on the basis of our doctrine, our defined relationship to Christ, our patterns of worship and our way of life.”
Sources: Do Mormons believe in Jesus?, faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/do-mormons-believe-in-jesus. Common Questions. What Latter-day Saints Believe About Jesus Christ, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/what-mormons-believe-about-jesus-christ.
Who do Mormons worship?
The Church states on its FAQ page:
“Mormons, more properly referred to as Latter-day Saints or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, worship God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.”
The Newsroom commentary Christianity: Following Jesus in Word and Deed says: “Jesus Christ — not Moses, Paul or Joseph Smith — is the object of Mormons’ devotion and worship.”
Sources: Who do Mormons worship?, faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/who-do-mormons-worship. Christianity: Following Jesus in Word and Deed.
Are Mormons Protestant? Are Mormons Catholic?
The Church states that it is neither. The Gospel Topics essay says: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not descend through the historical line of traditional Christianity. That is, Latter-day Saints are not Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant.”
The Church FAQ Are Mormons Christian? says typical Christian religions “have been formed, or reformed, from a traditional line of Churches: Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox or Protestant etc. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, however, did not descend from any other faith.” Latter-day Saints say Jesus Christ restored His original Church through Joseph Smith.
Newsroom staff, summarizing the Church’s position, write: “Put plainly, the Church is neither Catholic nor Protestant, but to describe it as anything other than Christian is simply inaccurate. We believe in a restoration of the ancient Christianity and Church that Christ established with twelve apostles and God’s authority.”
Sources: Are “Mormons” Christian? (Gospel Topics Essays). Are Mormons Christian? (Church FAQ). Washington Post Commentary Highlights Mormon Christianity, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/washington-post-commentary-mormon-christianity.
For visits, start with Plan a visit and the Travel Planner. For the Church’s own questions beyond this page, use faq.churchofjesuschrist.org and Common Questions.