Much of Sanpete County is centered on the Sanpete Valley, a string of twelve towns between the Sanpitch Mountains on the west and the Wasatch Plateau on the east. The Heritage Area’s Little Denmark district encompasses the historic Scandinavian-settled communities of Sanpete County. Manti, founded in 1849, is the earliest of those communities.
Manti was the first Anglo settlement in the area. A November 1849 party came south after Ute Chief Wakara invited Brigham Young to send settlers to Sanpete Valley. Communities were often seven to ten miles apart, laid out on a City of Zion grid with Main Street and Center Street, gardens, orchards, and community fields, and churches, schools, and civic buildings in the center.
Scandinavian settlement still shows in the towns, along with pioneer grids, historic architecture, and Main Streets. Agricultural heritage is part of that landscape, including Fountain Green’s sheep industry and Moroni’s turkey industry. Museums include the Fairview Museum of History and Art and Mount Pleasant’s Old Pioneer Museum, the Relic Home. Spring City’s whole-town National Register listing and Mount Pleasant’s Preserve America and National Main Street work are the preservation landmarks visitors see first.
Towns
The towns below are selected visitor highlights. For the full community list, including Mayfield, Sterling, Fayette, and other Sanpete communities, see Little Denmark.
Ephraim
Ephraim is the largest city in Sanpete County. It hosts the Scandinavian Festival and is home to Snow College, a public state college with associate and bachelor’s programs. Discovery Road filmed the festival in Scandinavian Days.
Watch Scandinavian Days on Discovery Road.
Manti
Manti, the county seat, sits five miles south of Ephraim on Highway 89. The Manti Temple stands on Temple Hill, the town’s landmark. The Mormon Miracle Pageant ended in 2019. For the pageant history, see the Manti pageant page. For the temple and cemetery stories, see Manti Temple.
Spring City
The whole town of Spring City is on the National Register of Historic Places, listed as a well-preserved Mormon settlement. Artisans keep studios and galleries there. Some houses are about 150 years old.
Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant is a Preserve America and National Main Street community, on the highway between Ephraim and Fairview. At the old National Guard Armory, on the northeast corner of State Street and Main Street, Jason Quinn painted larger-than-life murals of seven U.S. soldiers, each painted to resemble a bronze statue. A September 22, 2008, Salt Lake Tribune account by Jeremiah Stettler said the figures mark the military conflicts that brought Sanpete County residents to arms, from the Black Hawk War and the Mexican-American War through both world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and later conflicts in the Middle East. Wasatch Academy, opened here in 1875, is the Presbyterian school that grew up in that pioneer town.
Fairview
Fairview is the northern Highway 89 town in the valley. The Heritage Area markers list the Fairview Museum of History and Art.
Fountain Green
Fountain Green is home to Sanpete’s sheep industry. The markers list includes the Fountain Green Social Hall, 1891.
Moroni
Moroni is home to Sanpete’s turkey industry and the Moroni Opera House, built in 1890.
Gunnison
Gunnison and Sterling mark the southern end of the Sanpete Valley.
Things to do in Sanpete County
- Drive the Highway 89 towns from Fairview to Gunnison.
- Walk Temple Hill in Manti, the county seat, for the Manti Temple landmark.
- Turn east into Spring City, listed in full on the National Register.
- Stop at the Fairview Museum of History and Art.
- See Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant.
- Ride or watch events at ConToy Arena and the Equestrian Center.
- Time a visit for Ephraim’s Scandinavian Festival.
How to visit
Print the Travel Planner. For riding, see the Equestrian Center and ConToy Arena. For a day on this valley’s highway, use the Highway 89 road trip page. The other valleys are on Districts.