Box Elder Canyon is a short canyon drive east of Brigham City, climbing into the Wellsville Mountains through a narrow gorge of limestone and oak. The road follows a creek through stands of maple, box elder, and cottonwood that turn brilliant orange and gold in late September and October — this is one of the better fall colour drives in northern Utah, close enough to reach in under 30 minutes from downtown.
The canyon road connects to a Forest Service campsite and trailhead higher up. Several hiking trails lead into the Wellsville Mountains, which are part of the Cache National Forest. The Wellsvilles are said to be the world's narrowest major mountain range — unusually steep for their width, rising nearly 5,000 feet above the valley floor in just a few horizontal miles.