It's called the Adventure Passport, created by the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau to highlight the county's mix of recreational, historic and cultural attractions.

"As people are looking for ways to vacation and recreate close to home because of soaring gas prices, we'd love to have people from throughout the state really learn what Utah County has to offer," Bureau President Joel Racker said Wednesday.

By week's end, the bureau plans to mail 140,000 copies of the free passport to Utah County households. Another 40,000 will be held in reserve for requests received at its Web site, www.UtahValley.org.

The passport packages activities into 10 family adventures. Participants can get a stamp at each featured stop. Anyone getting all 10 is eligible for a prize from the bureau.

Coupons in the back offer discounts on entrance fees, golf tee times and food from area restaurants.

"People in Utah like discounts," Racker said, adding quickly, "I don't think that's common [only] to Utah. Everyone appreciates a discount."

This year's passport contains perennial favorites, such as Timpanogos Cave National Monument and scenic drives on the Nebo Loop or up Provo Canyon to Sundance.

There are new attractions as well - the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitor Center at Brigham Young University, Covey Center for the Arts in Provo and Utah Valley University's Woodbury Art Museum.

Inclusion is important to Woodbury Art Museum, which this summer has an exhibit of 60-plus machines based on the drawings and ideas of Leonardo da Vinci, said registrar Robin DeSpain.

"I'm glad they recognize there is amazing art in Utah County," she said. "There's more than football in the world. There are wonderful paintings and sculptures, music and theater, that go on all over this valley."

The passport helps spread the word. The section highlighting Woodbury Art Museum, for instance, also emphasizes that Utah Valley University will open a new $48 million library next month, has theater and dance productions and is home to two professional minor league teams - baseball's Orem Owlz and basketball's Utah Flash.

Similarly, the Provo River Parkway adventure calls attention to rock climbing in Rock Canyon, rafting and fly fishing on the Provo River, hiking and mountain biking trails, and human-made facilities such as Peaks Ice Arena, Seven Peaks Water Park and Cabela's.

mikeg@sltrib.com