Millard: ATV trails and lots more

A lot of people have passed through Millard County on their way to and from places like Salt Lake City and St. George along I-15.

They even may have stopped for fuel or a hamburger in Fillmore and commented on the pretty little golf course to the east of the freeway. And it's likely they saw signs to historic Territorial Statehouse and Cove Fort on their drive.

All this, however, is little more than an introduction to a whole volume of activities available within county lines.

What you know:

The county is, in fact, a textbook of Utah history, starting with the fact that Fillmore was once the center of government for what was the State of Deseret, which would later be transformed into the state of Utah.

The Territorial Statehouse still stands in Fillmore. In 1851, then-Gov. Brigham Young announced plans to move the state's government to Fillmore. One reason given was that it was near the center of the territory.

The same man who designed the LDS temple in Salt Lake City designed the Fillmore Statehouse. The first wing of the building was finished in 1855-56. Wings two through four were never finished because in 1858 the government offices were moved back to Salt Lake City.

For a time, the Deseret News published out of a Fillmore office. In 1858, fearing the federal troops sent to Utah by President James Buchanan, and the possible loss of its printed voice, the News moved to Fillmore for four months.

A few miles down the freeway is Cove Fort, so named after the fort built by early Mormon settlers in 1867. The fort served as a way station for travelers. Despite its purpose, the fort never encountered an Indian attack. Chief Kanosh of the Blackhawks became a friend of the settlers and was even baptized into the LDS Church.

Today volunteers, dressed in period clothing, give tours and tell stories of the old fort.

Heading west from the freeway opens up a whole new list of activities, starting with some of the state's best off-highway riding.

Cutting through the eastern side of the county is the Paiute ATV Trail.

This spiderweb-like trail system has more than 3,000 miles of dirt roads. The Paiute Trail is open to all-terrain vehicles — motorcycles, four-wheelers, even some areas for four-wheel drive vehicles — along with hikers, horsemen and mountain bikers, if they choose.

The trail itself is a 200-plus-mile loop in the heart of Utah. Surrounding it are a number of small towns — Salina and Aurora to the north; Cove Fort, Fillmore and Beaver to the west; Circleville and Kingston to the south; and Fremont, Loa and Bicknell to the east.

Connecting this loop like the root system of an old tree are more then 2,800 miles of mountain roads that riders and hikers can take to anywhere in the area.