Small town at the mouth of Twelve Mile Canyon and Arapeen trails. Homes for sale, local market insight, and expert representation in Mayfield from the Donavan & Tyson Team.
Mayfield is a town of 556 people (2020 Census) tucked against the mountains at the mouth of Twelve Mile Canyon, about 8 miles east of Gunnison and 10 miles south of Manti. It is one of the smallest incorporated towns in Sanpete County and one of the most scenic, with the Wasatch Plateau rising directly behind it and Twelve Mile Creek running through.
The canyons south of Manti were named for their distance from the Manti Temple, and Twelve Mile is the farthest. The ground where Mayfield sits was set aside in the 1850s as an Indian farm known as Arrapine or Arropeen, named for a brother of Ute chief Walkara, before settlers established the town in the 1870s. Farming and livestock have sustained it ever since.
Mayfield residents are ranch and farm families, retirees who wanted quiet and a mountain view, a growing number of Gunnison-area workers who prefer a small-town address, and recreational buyers drawn by direct access to the Arapeen OHV trail system.
Mayfield's main draw is Twelve Mile Canyon. The road up the canyon reaches Skyline Drive and connects to the Arapeen trail network, hundreds of miles of designated ATV and side-by-side routes across the Manti-La Sal National Forest, with camping, fishing at Twelve Mile Flat and Ferron Reservoir over the top, and big-game hunting in the fall. The Mayfield town park and rodeo grounds host the summer celebration, and the town's Pioneer Day events draw families home. The town's summer celebration and Memorial Day weekend still draw extended families back to Mayfield, and Twelve Mile Creek keeps the old fields along the canyon mouth green through the season.
Services are in Gunnison, about 10 minutes west: Gunnison Valley Hospital, grocery, pharmacies and the South Sanpete School District's Gunnison Valley Elementary, Middle and High School. Manti and the county offices are about 15 minutes north. Mayfield has a church, a post office and a small store, and that is about it, which is exactly why some people choose it.
Richfield is about 40 minutes via Gunnison and Salina, I-70 at Salina about 25 minutes, and I-15 at Nephi about an hour. Provo is roughly two hours.
Mayfield's housing is limited and rural. In town you will find pioneer-era farmhouses, a scattering of mid-century homes, manufactured homes on owned lots, and a few newer custom homes built for the canyon views. Lots are large and many include irrigation water and outbuildings. Toward the canyon mouth and along Canyon Road, larger parcels and recreational properties come up, and a small new development on the north side around 200 West has added building lots in recent years. Homes with canyon views and irrigation water command a premium, and properties with room for trailers, horses and side-by-sides are what most of our Mayfield buyers ask for first.
Buyers are retirees, Gunnison-area workers, and recreational buyers who want a cabin-style base with year-round road access rather than a remote mountain lot. Sales are infrequent, often one or two a month, so town statistics are thin. As of August 2026, Redfin lists a trailing three-month median sale price around $314,000, and homes have tended to sit longer and sell below list compared with Gunnison. Building lots and acreage trade separately and are a large part of the local market.
Mayfield is typically eligible for USDA Rural Development financing for primary residences. Buyers should check irrigation shares, well or town water status, septic systems, and flood zone status near Twelve Mile Creek.
It is one of the best in central Utah. Twelve Mile Canyon connects directly to the Arapeen trail system and Skyline Drive, and many riders trailer nothing; they ride from their driveway to the forest boundary.
Gunnison Valley Elementary, Middle and High School in the South Sanpete School District, about 10 minutes west in Gunnison.
Yes. Lots have been platted on the north side of town in recent years and larger parcels near the canyon come up periodically. We help buyers confirm water connections, septic feasibility and access before they buy land.
Free home valuations, full MLS access, and two agents who know Sanpete County street by street.