The park Naples
One block of 1900 South holds the park, the splash pad and the school
Naples City Park and the splash pad, the town's one big green block
Naples City Park is roughly 34 acres on one block of 1900 South, with three softball diamonds, a soccer field, two playgrounds, two reservable pavilions, a music park and a walking loop, run by a county recreation district on oil and gas royalty money. The splash pad beside it costs two dollars a head in an ordinary season; it stayed closed for all of 2026 on water shortage, a decision the district makes each year, so check the current season with the city before you plan around it.
By Scott Buehler, Moving Utah
Updated October 2026
The short answer
Naples City Park is the one block that anchors this town: roughly 34 acres on 1900 South with three softball diamonds, a soccer field, two playgrounds, two reservable pavilions, a music park and a walking loop around the whole of it. It is the closest thing Naples has to a village green, and the county recreation district runs it, not the city.
The splash pad beside it is the summer draw, two dollars a head in an ordinary season. It never opened for the 2026 season because of the drought, and the district makes the call each year on the water supply, so confirm the current season's status with the city before you plan a day around it. Below are the booking numbers, the rates and the oil and gas royalties that pay for a park this size.
The size of it
Roughly 34 acres, most of a whole town's park target in one field
There is a national yardstick for park land, and Naples City quotes it in its own 2021 general plan: 15 to 17 acres for every thousand residents. Run that for a city of about 2,490 and the whole municipality lands near 40 acres as a target. Naples City Park is roughly 34 acres on its own, before the pocket parks in the neighborhoods or the eighteen hole golf course at the top corner of the city are counted.
So the honest description is not that the park is nice for a small town. It is that a small town has, by a national measure, met nearly all of its park obligation in a single field and then kept going. Understanding why is worth a minute, and the answer is not the property tax. The park is owned and paid for by the county recreation district, on oil and gas royalty money, which is the subject of the section on who pays.
The block sits on 1900 South with Naples School on one side and the splash pad on the other, which puts the elementary school, the town's water play and the town's field sports on one stretch of street. That is the closest thing Naples has to a village green, and people who live here tend to say the park when they mean the middle of town.
The day to day list is longer than the ball diamonds suggest. Two reservable pavilions and two playgrounds sit on the grass, a music park holds instruments that are permanent outdoor fixtures, and there are horseshoe pits with fire pits at the pavilions. Restrooms, a drinking fountain, a water station for dogs and a walking trail run the perimeter, and a counter lends horseshoes, a volleyball, a football, a softball and a frisbee at no charge.
Naples City Park, the working numbers
~34 acres
in one park, on one block of 1900 South
15 to 17
acres per thousand people, the national yardstick
2
pavilions, booked through two different agencies
250
the capacity of the West Pavilion, per the district
Booking a pavilion
Two pavilions, two booking desks and two phone numbers
The two pavilions at this park are not booked by the same body, they do not carry the same rate card, and ringing the wrong one wastes an afternoon. The East Pavilion goes through Naples City; the West Pavilion goes through the county recreation district, and each has its own number.
| East Pavilion | West Pavilion | |
|---|---|---|
| Booked through | Naples City, on 435-789-9090 | Uintah Special Service District 1, on 435-781-0982 |
| Full day | 30 dollars | 30 dollars for a group of 75 or fewer, 09:00 until dark |
| Half day | 20 dollars, either 09:00 to 14:00 or 15:00 until dark | Not published; the district rate depends on group size |
| Larger groups | Ring the city | Rate depends on size; the district lists a 250 person capacity |
| Notice required | Ring the city; any day of the week can be booked | Seven days in advance, and for the current year only |
| Closed season | Ring the city | Reservations closed entirely from 1 October to 1 April |
| Listed amenities | Ring the city | Electricity, picnic tables, a fire pit and water |
Figures above are what the two agencies published as of September 2026 and neither is a quotation for your event. Confirm the rate, the capacity and the availability on the phone, because the district is explicit that its pavilion rate depends on group size and that it will only take bookings inside the current calendar year.
No residential fireworks at any Uintah County or city park, at any time. This is a standing recreation district rule and it stands separately from whatever the state calendar permits and from whatever the city has ordered for a given season. It applies to Naples City Park all year. In 2026 Naples City layered its own order on top of it, banning aerial fireworks inside the entire city limits, so on the 24th of July the only aerial display anywhere in Naples was the one the city ran itself with fire trucks on the grass.
The splash pad
Two dollars a head, when there is water to run it
The Naples Family Splash Park sits at 1701 East 1900 South, on 435-789-1010, immediately beside the park, and it is run by the same recreation district. In an ordinary season it is one of the cheapest afternoons in the county. Sessions run Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 17:00 at two dollars a participant. Spectators pay nothing, and neither do children under one, which matters when only one member of a group is going in.
Beyond the public sessions there are two other ways to use it. Parties book the evening slot from 17:30 to 19:30, at 50 dollars an hour for 25 participants or fewer and 75 dollars an hour for 26 to 100, up to the capacity of the pad. A family reunion that would rather come in during normal session hours can do so at 1.50 a head instead of two, which requires advance notice and a minimum of 25 people.
In 2026 none of it ran. The district kept the splash park closed for the whole season because of drought and water shortage, with no partial opening and no reduced hours. Whether it runs in any given year is a season by season decision made on the water supply, so before you plan a visit around it, confirm the current season's status with the city.
| Use | When | Published cost | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public session | Monday to Saturday, 11:00 to 17:00 | 2 dollars a participant | Spectators and children under one are free |
| Party booking | Monday to Saturday, 17:30 to 19:30 | 50 dollars an hour, 25 or fewer | After the public sessions close |
| Larger party | Monday to Saturday, 17:30 to 19:30 | 75 dollars an hour, 26 to 100 | Up to the capacity of the pad |
| Family reunion | During normal session hours | 1.50 a head | Advance notice and a minimum of 25 people |
| The 2026 season | None of it | Not applicable | Closed for the whole season for water shortage |
The first four rows are the district's published card for an ordinary season; the last row is what 2026 actually ran. Confirm the current season with the city or ring 435-789-1010 before you plan anything around the pad, because a closure is a season by season decision made on the water supply rather than a permanent one.
A splash pad uses very little water next to a lawn. Closing one is a decision about what the town is willing to look like.
Who pays for it
The parks here run on oil and gas royalties
This is the answer to the acreage question above, and it shapes what the recreation budget can do across the whole valley.
Naples City does not own Naples City Park. Uintah Special Service District 1 does, along with the splash pad, the recreation center, the indoor pool and Dinaland Golf Course. It is a special service district covering Vernal and the surrounding communities, guided by a seven member board of directors, and it funds its parks through mineral lease money.
Mineral lease money is the state and local share of royalties paid on energy production from federal land. In a county where oil and gas extraction accounts for 26 percent of employed residents, that stream is substantial, and it is why a valley of this size runs a 70,000 square foot recreation center with two gymnasiums, an indoor track and a climbing wall, an eighteen hole golf course, and a park inventory far larger than the population would suggest.
The consequence, and it is a real one for anybody weighing a move, is that the recreation budget rides the same cycle as the local economy. Royalties fall when production falls. Nothing published suggests the district is in difficulty, and the point is not alarm; the point is that when somebody tells you the recreation here is remarkable for the size of the place, this is the reason, and the reason is not the local property tax rate.
Planned additions
Five additions, none of them dated yet
The recreation district's list for Naples City Park carries five items: pickleball courts, a softball concession stand with a score tower, batting cages, disc golf and four new single use restrooms. As of September 2026 none of them had a published date. That is normal for a district doing capital work across a whole county, and it is the reason to ring rather than to plan around a drawing.
The city's own 2021 general plan points the same way from the other side. It asks for more prescribed play space for soccer, baseball and softball, for park improvements to be as universally accessible as possible, for play structures to meet or exceed current safety standards, and for a city wide parks and recreation plan that feeds priority projects into the capital budget. It also asks Naples to keep encouraging the recreation district to look for park locations on the west side of the city, the part with the least of it.
The other half of the plan is paths rather than pitches. Naples has very few footways: the general plan says plainly that many local roads have no sidewalk and pedestrians use the shoulder, and that the city is working with developers to change that as new streets go in. The county trails plan of 2018 identified a route from the park toward the recreation center along 200 East to 500 South, footways along US-40 to 1500 South and along 1000 South and 2000 South, and a bike lane on 2500 South. That last one has money behind it: on 9 July 2026 the council resolved to issue up to 1,500,000 dollars of street improvement revenue bonds, over not more than ten years, for improvements on 2500 South, with a public hearing set for September 2026.
One more path idea in the plan follows the water. In the survey behind the 2021 general plan, residents backed nature trails along the creeks at roughly 1200 South and 1700 South, and the plan sketches a possible trail corridor through the floodplain around 1250 South. None of it is funded. It is worth knowing anyway, because that corridor is the low ground on the eastern side of the city, it is the same ground the flood mapping is being redrawn over, and a trail is one of the few things you can honestly build on a floodplain.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
Keep reading
More of Naples on The Local
Things to do
The top 5, ranked
Five honest entries, a golf course nobody calls Naples, and why the list is short.
Read the guideThe 24th of July
Summerfest
One free day at the park on the 24th of July, in the year aerial fireworks went.
Read the guideThe water
Ashley Creek
Two miles of creek across the east side, the springs it feeds, the frogs it named.
Read the guideWhat it does
The working valley
Twenty six percent in oil and gas, and a main street the city wants to change.
Read the guideMoving here
Naples or Vernal
One zip code, one school district, two tax rates and two water systems.
Read the guideThe companion
Naples, the whole picture
The park, the party, the creek, the working ground and the address question, together.
Read the pageQuick answers
The park, answered
Roughly 34 acres, per the Naples City 2021 general plan. That is an unusual amount of park for a town of about 2,490 people: the national recreation guidance the plan cites is 15 to 17 acres per thousand residents, which points a whole municipality of this size near 40 acres. Naples reaches most of that in one park, before the pocket parks in the neighborhoods or the eighteen hole golf course at the top corner of town are counted.
By calling the right agency. Naples City on 435-789-9090 books the East Pavilion, and Uintah Special Service District 1 on 435-781-0982 books the West. The district asks for a week's notice, books only inside the current calendar year, and closes reservations over the winter. Rates are in the comparison table on this page, and both agencies quote larger groups individually, so confirm on the phone rather than from any published figure.
From 1 October to 1 April. The recreation district closes pavilion reservations over that stretch and only books inside the current calendar year, so you cannot reserve next summer in the autumn. It also notes that not all restrooms in county and city parks are usable during the winter months. The park itself stays open and unfenced all year; it is the reservation system and the plumbing that go away.
In an ordinary season, two dollars a participant for a public session running Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 17:00, with spectators and children under one free. Party bookings run 17:30 to 19:30 at 50 dollars an hour for up to 25 participants and 75 dollars an hour for 26 to 100. A family reunion during normal session hours pays 1.50 a head with advance notice and a minimum of 25 people. The number to call is 435-789-1010.
Because of drought. The recreation district kept the splash park closed for the whole 2026 season on water shortage, with no partial opening and no reduced hours. The same summer the Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District adopted conservation rates and Naples City banned aerial fireworks over fire danger. The pad's season is decided year by year on the water supply, so confirm the current season's status with the city before planning a visit.
Uintah Special Service District 1, the county recreation district, rather than Naples City. The district also runs the splash pad, the Uintah Community Recreation Center at 610 South Vernal Avenue, the indoor pool, Dinaland Golf Course and roughly a dozen parks across the county, guided by a seven member board. The one thing Naples City books itself at the park is the East Pavilion, which is why there are two phone numbers.
Through mineral lease funds, the state and local share of royalties paid on energy production from federal land. In a county where oil and gas extraction accounts for 26 percent of employed residents it is a substantial stream, and it is the reason this valley supports a 70,000 square foot recreation center with two gymnasiums, an indoor track and a climbing wall, an eighteen hole golf course and a park inventory well beyond what the population would suggest.
The recreation district lists five additions: pickleball courts, a concession stand with a score tower for the softball diamonds, batting cages, a disc golf layout and four single use restrooms. None of them carried a published date as of September 2026. The city's 2021 general plan separately asks for more prescribed play space for soccer, baseball and softball, for improvements to be as universally accessible as possible, and for a city wide parks plan feeding priorities into the capital budget.
One established loop: the trail that circles the perimeter of Naples City Park. Beyond that the city's own general plan says many local roads have no sidewalk and pedestrians use the shoulder. The 2018 county trails plan identified a route from the park toward the recreation center along 200 East to 500 South, footways along US-40 to 1500 South and along 1000 South and 2000 South, and a bike lane on 2500 South. Residents also backed nature trails along the creeks near 1200 South and 1700 South.
Buying near the park? Ask what the block becomes next
Five additions sit on the recreation district's list with no dates attached, the city has approved street improvement bonds for 2500 South, and the flood mapping over the low ground east of here is being redrawn. All of it is answerable in advance from public documents. Tell me the address you are weighing and I will put you with a Uintah County partner agent who can pull the file, then stay on for the homework and the financing side.
Or call Scott: (435) 357-4345or send Scott a message
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