Pick apples and cider at Zollinger Fruit and Tree Farm
1000 E River Heights Blvd Priced by the item Fall for cider
Zollinger is the one thing you can only do in River Heights, and it goes first for the same reason the town holds Apple Days in its name. William Zollinger, a Swiss immigrant, planted one of the first commercial orchards in Cache Valley in 1904, and four generations later the family still works the same ground. It carries Utah Century Farm status, and in 2006 a state conservation easement locked the land in as a farm rather than a subdivision, which is why an orchard still sits inside a built out town.
What you actually come for depends on the season. In the fall the stand sells fresh apple cider pressed from a blend of the farm's thirteen apple varieties, along with caramel apples, cider slushies and the apples themselves straight off the harvest. The rest of the year the draw is the tree nursery, thousands of fruit trees you can walk, choose and take home to plant. It is a working farm and not a staged attraction, so the hours follow the crop.
Because the schedule shifts with the season, confirm the current days and hours at zollingerfarm.com before you drive over. The wider story of Cache Valley's orchards, dairies and cheese makers is on the region farm country page; this entry is just the cider and the trees at the edge of town.
The details
Getting there
From the middle of town, follow River Heights Boulevard east toward the foothills; the farm sits on the north side near 1000 East, with parking at the stand. It is an easy first or last stop on the way in from Logan or Providence.
Before you go
- The cider is the fall signature; September and October are the reliable weeks for it.
- The nursery is the spring side of the business, when you can walk the rows and buy a fruit tree to plant.
- Hours are not always posted cleanly, so check zollingerfarm.com the morning you plan to go.
- The same harvest is why the town's festival is called Apple Days, covered at number four below.
Spend an afternoon at Heber Olson Park and Ryan's Place
400 S 600 E Free Year round
Heber Olson Park is the town's front yard. It runs about five acres at the corner of 400 South and 600 East, and it is where River Heights gathers: the ballfields, the tennis and pickleball courts, the pavilion, and the open grass that fills up on a summer evening. When Apple Days comes around every August, this is the ground it lands on, from the tennis tournament to the movie in the park.
The heart of it for families is Ryan's Place, the large playground built into the park. It is the kind of destination play area that pulls kids from around the valley, with room to run alongside it and shade at the pavilion when the sun is high. Between the courts, the fields and the playground, this one park carries most of what a visitor with children needs in River Heights.
The full roster of the town's parks, the tennis and pickleball tournaments, and the joint use fields it shares with the school district is on the sibling parks and recreation page. This entry is the one park you would build an afternoon around.
The details
Getting there
The park sits on the corner of 400 South and 600 East, a couple of blocks off the main way through town, with parking along the park edge. It is close enough to walk to from most of River Heights.
Before you go
- Ryan's Place is the main draw for young children; the pavilion is the shade when the grass is hot.
- The courts host the town's tennis and pickleball play, including the Apple Days doubles tournament.
- During Apple Days week in August, expect the park to be the center of the whole celebration.
- For the other neighborhood parks, see the parks and recreation page linked above.
Walk the greens of Stewart Hill Park
Stewart Hill Park Free Year round
If Heber Olson is the town's front yard, Stewart Hill is its quiet corner. At about three and a half acres it is the second of the River Heights greens, a neighborhood park rather than an event space, and that is exactly the point of it. It is the place to take a slower walk, let a dog stretch, or spread a blanket away from the crowd that gathers at the bigger park.
River Heights is a compact town of small parks rather than one large one, and Stewart Hill is a good example of the pattern: a green tucked into the residential grid, within a short walk of the homes around it. On a warm evening it is the kind of low key stop that tells you more about how a place actually lives than any single attraction does.
The full list of the town's parks, from Stewart Hill down to the smallest half acre greens, and how residents use the school district fields, is on the sibling parks and recreation page.
The details
Getting there
Stewart Hill sits within the residential streets of River Heights, a short drive or walk from the middle of town. It pairs naturally with the bench overlook walk at number six, since both are about slowing down rather than ticking off a landmark.
Before you go
- This is a small neighborhood green, so set expectations for a quiet walk rather than a full playground day.
- For a destination playground, go to Ryan's Place at Heber Olson Park instead.
- The mild shoulder seasons, spring and fall, are the pleasant windows before the winter cold settles in.
- The parks and recreation page lists every green in town if you want the full map.
Time a visit for Apple Days
Heber Olson Park Free to attend Each August
River Heights calls Apple Days the biggest parade in the littlest town, and that line is the whole spirit of it. It is the town's own festival, held each August and centered on Heber Olson Park, and it draws far more people than a place this size would seem to hold. It grew out of an older Food and Fun Festival and took the apple name from the harvest the town is built around.
The week carries the parade, a 5K Apple Run, children's bicycle barrel races, a doubles tennis tournament, a talent contest and food, spread across several days. It is the one time of year the whole town is out at once, and it is free to attend, which makes it the single best day to see River Heights as a place rather than a set of stops.
The dates move from year to year, so check the current schedule before you plan a trip around it. The full run of the festival, its events and its history, is on the sibling Apple Days page.
The details
Getting there
The parade runs the town streets and the events cluster at Heber Olson Park, so park a little out and walk in on the parade morning. Check riverheights.gov for the current year's route and schedule before you come.
Before you go
- The festival runs each August, but confirm the exact dates on the city site before booking a trip.
- The parade is the headline; the Apple Run, barrel races and tennis tournament fill out the week.
- Apples ripen in the fall, so August is the celebration and Zollinger's cider comes a little later.
- The Apple Days page has the event by event breakdown and the story behind the name.
Find the 1891 Olson House
490 E 600 S Free to view Private residence
On a quiet corner at 490 East 600 South stands the oldest landmark most visitors miss: the Erick Lehi and Ingrid Larsen Olson House, an 1891 Queen Anne home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Erick Lehi Olson was a Swedish immigrant who settled the bench in the town's early years, and the house he built has outlasted almost everything else from that era in River Heights.
Set your expectations right: this is a private home, not a museum. There is no tour and no gift shop, and the yard belongs to the people who live there. What you can do is drive or walk past and take in the architecture from the public street, the steep roofline and the porch detail that mark it as a genuine Queen Anne rather than a later imitation. It takes five minutes and it anchors the town's history in something you can actually see.
The wider settlement story of River Heights, the 1882 origin on the dry bench and how the town grew from a hillside dugout, sits on the sibling living in River Heights page.
The details
Getting there
The house is on the corner at 490 East 600 South, an easy add on any loop through the residential grid. View it from the public street and keep off the private lot.
Before you go
- This is a private residence; look from the street and respect the owners' yard and privacy.
- The house was listed on the National Register in 1997, which is why it is worth naming here.
- Pair it with the bench walk at number six; both are short and both are about the town's own character.
- The living in River Heights page carries the fuller founding history if the era interests you.
Walk the bench for the view over Cache Valley
West edge of the bench Free Best near sunset
The name River Heights is the honest one. The town sits up on the dry bench, the flat shelf above the Logan River bottoms, at about 4,567 feet, and that elevation buys the best free thing to do here: the view. From the streets along the western edge the whole of Cache Valley opens out, Logan spread below to the northwest, Providence to the south, and the Wellsville Mountains standing across the far side.
Turn the other way and the Bear River Range foothills climb east behind the town, the range that walls the valley on that side. A slow evening walk on the bench, with the valley going gold to the west and the foothills darkening to the east, is the quiet counterpart to everything else on this list, and it costs nothing. It is a neighborhood walk on public streets, not a formal trail, so wander the grid and let the views find you.
One honest note: the paved Logan River Trail that people associate with the area runs down in the canyon mouth and belongs to Logan, not River Heights. The town overlooks the river rather than touching it. For the trail itself and the rest of Logan's outdoors, see the Logan things to do list two minutes north.
The details
Getting there
From anywhere in town, head to the western streets on the lip of the bench where the ground falls away toward Logan. There is no marked overlook; the view is simply what you get walking the west edge, so park and walk.
Before you go
- These are residential streets, not a park, so keep to the public sidewalks and roads.
- Sunset is the payoff, when the valley to the west catches the last light.
- On a cold, clear winter day the air is sharp and the view runs the length of the valley.
- The Logan River Trail is down in the canyon mouth and is Logan's, not River Heights'; do not go looking for it up here.
