Provo: A Singular Place

If Notre Dame fans pick just one road game destination to hit this season, make it Provo.

Shot by Mary Harris / Art by The Irish Tribune

Notre Dame has long established itself as a national brand, playing teams across the United States. In nearly every region of the country, the Irish have dedicated fans who show up to local games and travel great distances to watch the Golden Domers play.

Because the Irish play anywhere and everywhere, the fan base has had the chance to see the very best teams, stadiums and college football towns the sport has to offer. From Husky Stadium on the banks of Lake Washington, to the Coliseum beneath the Southern California sun, to nights in places like Miami, Clemson, Georgia and Texas – there aren’t many corners of the college football world that Notre Dame fans haven’t had the opportunity to experience.

That creates a fairly high bar when asking them to get on an airplane, book a hotel room and spend an entire weekend following the Irish to some far-flung corner of the country.

Provo, Utah clears it.

See for yourself 📸

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Shot by Mary Harris / Cody Flint

Not because LaVell Edwards Stadium is Notre Dame Stadium. It isn’t, and there would be little sense in trying to convince Notre Dame fans otherwise.

It clears it because almost nowhere else on Notre Dame’s schedule is quite like it.

When The Irish Tribune ranked Notre Dame’s road destinations ahead of the 2026 season, Provo immediately stood out for reasons that had as much to do with what surrounds the football stadium as what happens inside of it. After spending several days in Utah Valley at the invitation of Explore Utah Valley, touring the city, campus, and football facilities before eventually making our way to Sundance Mountain Resort, that distinction became considerably easier to understand.

If Notre Dame fans are going to pick one weekend this fall to leave South Bend behind and follow the Irish on the road, October 17th against BYU deserves serious consideration.

Two National Fan Bases

There are very few programs in college football whose identities extend so far beyond their immediate geography.

Notre Dame is one of them.

BYU is another.

Photo via Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame fandom has never been confined to northern Indiana. Generations of Catholics grew up hundreds or even thousands of miles away from South Bend and nevertheless inherited some connection to the Fighting Irish. Some, like my grandfather George Regan, were lifelong fans and never even set foot on campus. You can walk into a Catholic parish almost anywhere in the country and have a reasonably good chance of finding somebody who cares what Notre Dame did on Saturday.

BYU has created its own version of that phenomenon.

The circumstances are different, but the result is strikingly similar. The university’s relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has created a national — and in some respects international — audience for BYU athletics that extends well beyond Utah.

Where there is a Catholic church, there is probably somebody checking the Notre Dame score.

Where there is an LDS temple, chances are, somebody is doing the same for the Cougars.

That makes this matchup interesting before we even get to the football.

There is a familiarity between the two fan bases that exists precisely because the schools themselves are so different. Both universities are deeply shaped by faith. Both have football programs that are or have been independents, and whose relevance extends beyond their enrollment or alumni base. Both can walk into stadiums thousands of miles from home and find large pockets of people wearing their colors.

And in October, for the first time in more than two decades, Notre Dame fans get to see that dynamic play out in Provo.

The Stadium Beneath the Mountains

There are stadiums that photograph well, and there are places where photographs do a particularly poor job of communicating the scale and magnitude of what you’re actually looking at.

LaVell Edwards Stadium falls squarely into the second category.

Shot by Mary Harris

You can see the pictures beforehand. You can know that the Wasatch Mountains sit immediately behind the stadium. You can understand intellectually that BYU plays football in one of the sport’s most dramatic natural settings.

Then you walk inside.

The mountains do not feel like a distant backdrop. They tower over the place. They aren’t merely a photogenic landscape complementing the scene – they’re reminiscent of a painting commissioned for this very place.

And that, more than anything else about LaVell Edwards Stadium, is what makes it memorable.

It’s one of those arenas where, once you see it, you know pretty quickly that you must witness a game there, and if you’re lucky – it’ll be against your favorite team.

Notre Dame Stadium derives much of its power from history, from tradition. You walk through its concourse conscious of the names, teams, and moments that came before. The Golden Dome rises beyond one side of campus, while Touchdown Jesus looks down from another. The history of those hallowed grounds whispers to any who are lucky enough to experience it. It feels inseparable from more than a century of Notre Dame football.

Provo gives you something completely different. Its stadium feels inseparable from the landscape. That isn’t a comparison of which is better. It is exactly why Notre Dame fans should want to see both.

A road trip should feel like a road trip. You should know that you left home.

Standing inside LaVell Edwards Stadium and looking beyond the upper deck at mountains that seem almost close enough to touch, there is absolutely no confusing Provo with South Bend.

The stadium was originally built with just two sideline grandstands, with open cutouts at either end zone. As the program has grown and swelled in both popularity and relevance, two more stands were built on either end of the field to accommodate a growing audience. Thankfully, these additions have not compromised the view nor the spirit of “The House that LaVell Built.”

You Can See the Y From Almost Everywhere

Above BYU sits one of college athletics’ most recognizable local landmarks: an enormous white Y embossed on the mountainside overlooking all of Provo.

You notice it fairly quickly.

Then, if you’re apparently unable to leave it as merely “seen,” you decide to climb to it.

Shot by Mary Harris

You may consider yourself an athlete, but if you’ve ever wanted to put that to the test, braving the considerable altitude change to climb more than 1,000 vertical feet along a trail of rocky switchbacks up to this iconic local landmark may make you reconsider that notion. 

Just be prepared to be humbled by an aging dog, a group of children, or someone’s grandmother passing you briskly with a warm hello. (I will let you wonder if that happened to me more than once).

The hike itself is more intimidating than it actually is. You’ll see families with kids, grandparents, and plenty of dogs making the climb, and it's known as a sort of rite of passage in Provo. Everyone we told our hiking plan to said, in some capacity, that you “have to do it at least once!” The climb to the top took roughly an hour, with plenty – and I mean plenty of “stops” along the way to soak in the “nature.”

Once at the peak, the view helps explain why Provo works so well as a destination rather than merely a place where Notre Dame happens to have a football game.

From above, the entire valley opens beneath you. BYU’s campus sits below. LaVell Edwards Stadium is easy to pick out. Utah Lake stretches into the distance. Mountains surround nearly everything else.

And suddenly the relationship between the stadium and the rest of Utah Valley makes considerably more sense. In most college towns, the stadium is the centerpiece of the trip.

In Provo, it feels more like the centerpiece of something much larger.

A College Town Worth Actually Exploring

I had some preconceived ideas about Provo before getting there.

When I thought of Utah, I pictured national parks, red rocks, deserts and very small towns with a distinct lack of “adult” beverages.

What I found instead was a singular destination: a cozy, welcoming mountain town, a place where daily life feels surrounded by nature rather than merely adjacent to it, and a vibrant downtown with a fresh breath of life.

During our trip, we stayed at the downtown Provo Marriott Hotel. Nine floors of rooms with a bird’s-eye view of both the city and surrounding mountains. We kicked off the trip by escaping the August heat into one of the most unique attractions I’ve had the pleasure of visiting – Dreamwalk Park. The 50,000-square-foot, indoor immersive art and walk-through entertainment venue is located inside the University Place mall. It’s a family-friendly walk of nearly half a mile through hand-sculpted, cinematic sci-fi and fantasy environments. 

Shot by Mary Harris

We then toured downtown Provo with local legend Quinn Peterson, who is the Executive Director of Downtown Provo Inc. and is the kind of guy who does just about everything and can’t go anywhere without seeing a friend. He picked us up in his one-of-a-kind, open-top dune buggy and guided us through a city that has developed considerably around the university while cementing itself as a standalone destination with a small-town feel. 

We stopped at the famous recording studio “June Audio,” where some of your favorite artists like Post Malone, John Legend, and Olivia Rodrigo have recorded. From there, we went on a vintage clothing excursion to the one-of-a-kind local haunt “Thrift Hood,” the perfect spot to find a highly curated selection of streetwear, vintage styles, and old school athletic apparel. They are known for their highly sought-after BYU gear from decades past, and they have a surprisingly excellent selection of Notre Dame pieces Irish fans are sure to snatch up.

Outside of shopping, we got the chance to eat our way through a considerable portion of Provo.

Guru’s

Owner Dean Judd took us through his restaurant’s extensive menu, covering nearly every possible option you could think of. They have soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, pizzas, fish plates, pasta bowls, tacos, burritos – there’s something for everyone to enjoy. If I had to suggest just a single item, get their renowned sweet potato fries with the locally famous “fry sauce” that is sure not to disappoint. Dean also made sure we experienced their warm skillet cookie, which I may or may not have eaten 90% of.

Shot by Mary Harris

Black Sheep Cafe

Black Sheep was arguably the most unique restaurant we had the pleasure of eating at. This upscale-casual spot has a variety of food, but is known especially for its Native American dishes like the Navajo tacos and their delicious traditional fry bread. They have a full bar, so you can enjoy some libations while enjoying downtown Provo, as well as their refreshing Prickly Pear lemonade. Be sure to try their green chili frites and the hog jowl tacos for a taste of some local fare.

Shot by Mary Harris

Swig

To some of you, Swig may not be new, but this insanely popular drive-thru beverage chain has taken the country by storm. Known as the “Home of the Original Dirty Soda,” Swig takes standard fountain drinks and customizes them with an endless array of flavored syrups, fresh fruit purées, and heavy creams. Founded in St. George, Utah, it has gone from a local favorite to a national up-and-comer. It’s an absolute must-try. Give the “Texas Tab” (Dr Pepper, vanilla, and coconut cream) or the “Hula Girl” (Sprite + Lemonade + Mango + Pineapple + Strawberry + Coconut Cream) a try!

Photo via Swig Drinks

Provo has the walkable downtown, local businesses, and college-town energy you want on a football weekend, but a unique selling point is how quickly everything changes once you begin driving a short distance from it.

Twenty Minutes Later, You’re Somewhere Else Entirely

One of the strangest things about Utah Valley is how quickly civilization seems to disappear behind you. Not long after leaving Provo, we were driving through Provo Canyon.

Then came Bridal Veil Falls.

Shot by Mary Harris

This 607-foot-tall double-cataract waterfall, a short way up Provo Canyon, felt like we’d entered a completely different world. Water cascades down the rugged cliffs of the Wasatch Range into a pool below, with the Provo River rushing swiftly by at its base. That’s another thing that makes this area remarkable – in just a matter of minutes, we left behind downtown Provo and found ourselves completely immersed in nature. 

If you go just a bit further into the mountains, you’ll find Sundance. This is where the trip stopped feeling much like a college football media trip at all.

The late Robert Redford, Hollywood icon and noted conservationist, fell in love with the area and its views of Mount Timpanogos in the 1960s, beginning with a small cabin on two acres before acquiring thousands of acres with the intention of creating a resort and artists’ retreat. He named the area “Sundance” after his classic character from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and it gradually turned into a national destination.

We were lucky enough to be invited for a stay, and it more than lived up to its billing.

After a quick 20-something-minute drive from downtown Provo, we were welcomed by much more than a resort; we entered a haven of nature and recreation. 

Shot by Mary Harris

Over the course of our stay at Sundance Mountain Resort, we enjoyed an incredible fly fishing outing along the Lower Provo River with uninterrupted views of the Wasatch Mountain Range. 

Then, we got in touch with our wilder side on Sundance’s ZipTour, which descends more than 2,100 vertical feet – the largest vertical drop of any zipline tour in the country – with sweeping views of Mount Timpanogos. 

We capped off our activities with a scenic guided horseback ride through the backwoods of the property, with every turn revealing yet another picturesque landscape. It was the closest any of us had ever come to feeling like a real cowboy, and we were happy to play the part.

Shot by Mary Harris

At the end of the night, we laid our heads in stately riverside guest rooms in the heart of a resort that has earned a coveted Michelin Key award for exceptional architecture, interior design, service, and personality. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like having the babble of a mountain river lull you to sleep.

On our final night at Sundance, as I sat with a cocktail in hand by the fireplace in Redford’s renowned “Owl Bar,” it occurred to me how ridiculous this itinerary would sound if you stripped away the context.

We had come to Utah to see where Notre Dame would play football in October.

Now we were taking part in multiple activities that would be the primary highlight of nearly any other trip.

But that is also the point.

If somebody asked me to fly across the country solely to look at another football stadium, that would be a considerably harder sell.

If you tell me I can spend Friday hiking above the city, eat downtown that night, watch Notre Dame play BYU on Saturday, and spend another part of the weekend fly fishing, riding horses, or disappearing into the mountains around Sundance?

Now you’ve got my attention.

This Is the Road Trip

Notre Dame fans have no shortage of options.

That is a blessing — and an occasional financial curse of following a blue-chip independent program that plays across the entire country. Every season presents another collection of road games, and almost nobody can attend all of them. At some point, you start making choices.

Which opponent do I most want to see? Which stadium have I never visited? Which city can turn three hours of football into an entire weekend worth remembering?

And that is where I think Provo separates itself this season.

The October 17th game against BYU doesn’t require us to pretend LaVell Edwards Stadium is better than Notre Dame Stadium.

It would be ridiculous to frame it that way. Notre Dame Stadium is home. Provo is somewhere worth leaving home to see.

There’s a difference.

Come for the Fighting Irish. Stay for Utah.

Maybe you fly in and spend the entire weekend around BYU and all that downtown Provo has to offer.

Maybe you take the plunge and hike the Y on Friday morning.

Maybe you stroll through a campus that holds its own special blend of history and fresh energy.

Maybe you drive through the canyon and stop beneath Bridal Veil Falls as the sun sets.

Maybe you make the trip into an excursion and head farther up the canyon toward Sundance.

Maybe you’re the kind of person who wants nothing more than a great college football atmosphere and a view unlike anything you’ll find across the country.

The beauty of it lies in the fact that there really isn’t a wrong way to do it.

And I think that’s ultimately what sold me on Provo.

Shot by Mary Harris

Before the trip, I understood why the Notre Dame-BYU game looked interesting on a schedule. Two teams positioned to make a considerable amount of noise in the race to the 2026 CFP.

Afterward, I understood why the location and Provo specifically deserved to be part of the conversation.

Notre Dame fans have traveled everywhere. They’ve seen nearly everything. So if you’re going to convince them to choose one more flight, one more hotel and one more road game, there better be something waiting there that they cannot get at home.

In Provo, there is.

Actually, there are mountains of it.

We want to thank Explore Utah Valley for the opportunity to experience everything Provo has to offer to give Irish fans a sneak peek at what a trip to Utah to watch Notre Dame play BYU may look like. If you couldn't tell, we highly recommend it. Start planning your trip for the October 17th game at utahvalley.com before it's too late!