Ranked Naples
Ranked, and five is the count rather than a rounding
The 5 best things to do in Naples.
A 34 acre park with a music park in it, eighteen holes of golf on an address everyone files under Vernal, one free town party on the 24th of July, a blacklight mini golf course, and a splash pad that stayed shut all summer. Ranked in the order I would work through them, with what each one asks of you.
Southern Utah is my home turf. Naples is not, so these pages are researched rather than lived: checked against city, county and venue sources, and dated so you can see how fresh they are. For the on-the-ground work here I lean on a Uintah County partner agent.
The list at a glance
| What | Where | When it works |
|---|---|---|
| Naples City Park | 1700 E 1900 S | Year round, pavilions 1 April to 1 October |
| Dinaland Golf Course | 675 S 2000 E | Weather dependent; ring for the season |
| Naples City Summerfest | Naples City Park | One day: 24 July |
| Blacklights Ignite | 1715 S 1500 E | Year round, closed Sundays |
| The Naples Family Splash Park | 1701 E 1900 S | Closed for the whole of the 2026 season |
Five is the count, not a rounding. Naples is a residential city of 2,280 people three miles from the county seat, and everything this area is famous for, the dinosaur quarry, Flaming Gorge, the reservoirs, the Field House and the bike trails, sits outside these city limits. Confirm hours, fees and closures with the venue before building a day around a row in this table, because two of the five moved in 2026.
Spend an afternoon at Naples City Park
1700 E 1900 S · Free · Year round
The best thing in Naples is 34 acres of grass with a music park in it, and the reason it exists at all is worth knowing before you walk in. The National Recreation and Park Association's guidance for park land is 15 to 17 acres per thousand people. Naples has 2,280 people. On that yardstick a town this size would be doing well to hold 35 acres of park in total, and it holds very nearly that much in one place, plus a golf course, plus a share of everything else the county recreation district owns.
What you actually get on the ground is two reservable pavilions, two playgrounds, three softball diamonds, a soccer field, horseshoe pits, fire pits, restrooms, a drinking fountain, a water station for dogs, a walking trail that circles the whole perimeter, and a music park where the instruments are outdoor fixtures. There is no admission. There is a counter that will lend you horse shoes, a volleyball, a football, a softball or a frisbee.
The two pavilions have two different landlords
This trips people up every summer. The East Pavilion is booked through Naples City on 435-789-9090, at 30 dollars for a full day or 20 dollars for a half, with the halves running 09:00 to 14:00 or 15:00 until dark. The West Pavilion is booked through Uintah Special Service District 1 on 435-781-0982, whose published rate is 30 dollars for an all day rental for groups of 75 or fewer, with the rate above that depending on size. The district needs seven days notice, takes bookings for the current year only, and closes reservations entirely from 1 October to 1 April.
What is being built next
Pickleball is on the way here, along with batting cages, a disc golf layout, a concession stand with a score tower for the diamonds and four single use restrooms. All five appear on the district's coming soon line with no date beside any of them as of 7 August 2026, which in a county agency usually means designed and queued rather than under way. Ring 435-781-0982 if one of them would tip a purchase, and the park page carries the wider build out picture.
The details
Getting there
From US-40 through Naples, turn east and follow the grid to 1900 South. The park runs alongside Naples School and the splash pad, so if you have found one you have found all three. The recreation district writes the address as 1970 South 1700 East, which is the same block written in the other order.
Before you go
- Book the East Pavilion through the city and the West through the district. They are genuinely different phone numbers.
- Not all restrooms in county and city parks are functional in winter, and the district says so rather than pretending otherwise.
- Residential fireworks are banned at every Uintah County and city park, all year, regardless of what the state calendar permits.
- Ask at the counter about the loan equipment before you buy a ball. Horse shoes, volleyball, football, softball and frisbee are all there.
- The perimeter walking trail is the closest thing Naples has to a public path, because most local streets have no footway at all.
Play eighteen at Dinaland
675 S 2000 E · Ring for rates · Season dependent
Dinaland Golf Course is an eighteen hole, par 72 course of roughly 6,800 yards with a driving range, opened in 1993 and run by the county recreation district on 435-781-1428. Every golf directory in the world files it under Vernal. Geocode the clubhouse address against the 2020 Census boundary for Naples city and it lands inside the Naples line, which makes it, on paper, the largest single piece of recreation inside this city after the park.
It is also the clearest illustration of what mineral lease money buys a valley of this size. A course of this length in a town of 2,280 people is not a thing the tax base pays for. It is a thing energy royalties pay for, through a special service district with a seven member board, and that is worth knowing whether you play or not, because the same funding stream is behind the park, the pool and the recreation centre.
Which city is it in, really
The honest answer is that the clubhouse address sits inside the Naples city limits and nobody local says so. Course grounds are large and city boundaries in this valley run along old section lines rather than anything visible, so it is entirely possible that fairways sit on both sides. If it matters to you for a reason beyond trivia, and on a neighbouring purchase it might, the Uintah County Recorder is the office that can tell you which parcels fall in which city, and the county is the authority on that rather than any map on the internet.
The season is a water question now
Nothing published as of 7 August 2026 says the course changed its season or its condition because of the drought, and this page will not invent a claim it cannot source. What is on the record is that the same valley's water utility adopted conservation rates on 29 April 2026, that the splash pad two miles south did not open at all, and that a full length golf course is the largest irrigated surface in this city by a distance. Ring the course for current conditions and rates rather than relying on a review from a wetter year.
The details
Getting there
From US-40, head northeast on the grid toward 2000 East. It sits at the top corner of Naples with the recreation district's other facilities scattered across the valley beyond it, and the district office in Vernal handles bookings and memberships for the whole system.
Before you go
- Ring for rates. The district publishes membership and day rates centrally and they change between seasons.
- This is a high desert course at over five thousand feet, so the ball goes further and the mornings are colder than the calendar suggests.
- There is a driving range on site, which is the practical answer if you only have an hour.
- The course is district run, so the same membership conversation covers the recreation centre and the pool in Vernal.
- Check current conditions before a summer visit. This was a drought year and the whole valley's irrigation ran short.
Come on the 24th of July for Summerfest
Naples City Park · Free · One day a year
Utah keeps Pioneer Day on the 24th of July and most towns mark it somehow. Naples marks it by handing the whole park over for twelve hours. Naples City Summerfest ran from 11:00 to 23:00 on 24 July 2026 at Naples City Park, with live music, food trucks and vendors, free bounce houses and a fireworks show at 22:00, and admission cost nothing.
It is the only day of the year when this city is unmistakably a place rather than an address, and it is the single best argument for the 34 acres. If you are weighing a move here and can time a visit, this is the one to time it to, because a free town party is the most honest thing a small city ever shows a stranger.
2026 was the year the fireworks changed
On 21 July 2026 the mayor posted a letter and a map. Aerial fireworks were banned within the Naples city limits for the season. No fireworks of any kind were permitted within 200 feet of the high risk zones marked on the wildland urban interface map, which is available at the city office and on the city's Facebook page. Anyone whose fireworks caused damage or a fire was to be held financially liable for it. Mayor Brock Arnold's own words were that residents were strongly encouraged not to use aerial fireworks that year in consideration of the fire danger and drought conditions. The city's own display went ahead at the park with fire department personnel and trucks stationed on site, which made it the only legal aerial show in town.
One detail that does not reconcile
Event coverage of Summerfest 2026 listed free admission to the splash park among the day's attractions. The recreation district's own parks page, checked 7 August 2026, said the splash park was closed for the entire 2026 season because of water shortage. Both were published. This page is not going to quietly pick one, because a reader planning around either deserves to know the other exists. Ring Naples City on 435-789-9090 or the splash park on 435-789-1010 before you promise anybody a splash pad on the 24th.
The details
Getting there
Take US-40 to the Naples grid and follow the traffic east to 1900 South. On the 24th the park is the busiest place in the city by a wide margin, so treat the surrounding streets as the car park and expect to walk the last block.
Before you go
- Confirm the year's programme with Naples City on 435-789-9090. The 2026 posting went up on 6 July for a 24 July event.
- Check the fireworks order before you bring your own. In 2026 aerial fireworks were banned inside the city limits outright.
- No residential fireworks are permitted at the park at any time, which is a recreation district rule separate from the city's.
- Bring cash as well as a card. Food trucks and craft vendors are independent and not all of them take one.
- The fireworks are at the park itself, so the good viewing is the field you are already standing on.
Play a round of blacklight mini golf at Blacklights Ignite
1715 S 1500 E · Ring for rates · Year round, closed Sundays
Naples City's own things to do page lists exactly three things inside the city, and this is the first of them. Blacklights Ignite at 1715 South 1500 East, on 435-219-8125, is a locally owned family entertainment centre running blacklight mini golf under custom murals, laser tag and virtual reality escape rooms, with party rooms attached.
It matters more than a mini golf course usually would, because it is the only indoor commercial recreation inside this city and because the Basin has a long winter. From November to March the park is frozen, the golf course is shut and the splash pad is drained, and this is what is left on the Naples side of the line.
The hours are the thing to check
Published hours are Monday to Thursday 16:00 to 20:00, Friday and Saturday 13:00 to 21:00, and closed on Sunday. That is a genuinely small window, and it is the standard pattern for a family entertainment business in a town of this size, where the trade is after school and at weekends. Ring ahead on 435-219-8125 rather than turning up on a weekday afternoon, and ring further ahead if you want a party room, because there are not many of them.
Why the only indoor option is worth a line on a housing page
The 2021 general plan is candid that residents wanted more commercial business inside the city and specifically a grocery store, and that the majority of nonresidential land in Naples is industrial rather than retail. A single independent entertainment centre on 1500 East is what that policy gap looks like from the pavement. It is not a criticism of the business, which is by all accounts a good one; it is a description of a city whose commercial frontage is mostly yards and whose retail is three miles away.
The details
Getting there
From US-40 turn onto 1500 East and follow it south. It sits in the commercial stretch on the Naples side, and Naples City's things to do page lists the address and number directly.
Before you go
- Closed Sundays, and weekday opening is 16:00. Ring before you drive.
- Book party rooms well ahead. A small city has a small number of them and the birthday trade fills them.
- This is an independent business rather than a chain, so hours can move seasonally. The phone is more current than any listing.
- It is genuinely the winter answer here, so factor it in if you are weighing a Basin move with a first winter ahead of you.
- Naples City lists it on its own things to do page, which is the closest thing to an official endorsement a business gets here.
Cool off at the splash pad, in a year when it opens
1701 E 1900 S · 2 dollars · Closed for the 2026 season
In an ordinary summer the Naples Family Splash Park runs sessions Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 17:00 at two dollars a participant, with spectators and children under one free. Party bookings run 17:30 to 19:30 at 50 dollars an hour for 25 people or fewer and 75 for 26 to 100, and a family reunion coming in during normal sessions pays 1.50 a head with notice and a minimum of 25. It sits at 1701 East 1900 South, on 435-789-1010, immediately beside the park.
In 2026 it did not open at all. The recreation district's parks page carried the notice through the whole season and it was still there on 7 August: closed for the 2026 season, due to water shortage. That is the entry ranked fifth, and it is ranked fifth honestly rather than dropped, because a splash pad that closes in a drought year is the most useful single fact about summer in this valley.
What the closure actually tells you
A splash pad is a small water user next to a lawn or a golf course, so closing one is partly symbolic and entirely deliberate. It came in the same season that the Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District adopted a conservation rate structure on 29 April 2026, deliberately pricing heavy outdoor use out of reach, and in the same month the mayor banned aerial fireworks over fire danger and drought. Three different bodies reached for three different levers in one summer. That is what a water short year looks like in a place that has always had enough.
Before you count on it next year
This is a season by season decision made by the recreation district rather than a permanent change, and nothing published says what 2027 will look like. Ring 435-789-1010 in the spring rather than assuming either way. If you are buying here with small children in mind, the practical answer is to treat the splash pad as a good year amenity and the recreation centre pool in Vernal as the reliable one, because an indoor pool is not making the same bet on the snowpack.
The details
Getting there
Same block as the park and the elementary school, on 1900 South east of the US-40 corridor. If you have parked at Naples City Park you are already there, which is the whole idea behind putting the three of them together.
Before you go
- Ring 435-789-1010 before you go. The 2026 closure notice was posted on the district's parks page rather than anywhere obvious.
- In an open year, the family reunion rate needs advance notice and at least 25 people to qualify.
- Party hours are after the public sessions end, so a booked party does not conflict with an ordinary afternoon.
- Spectators do not pay, which makes it a cheap couple of hours if only one member of the party is going in.
- The recreation centre pool in Vernal is the year round alternative and is run by the same district.
Honest about scale
What is inside the line, and what is seven minutes past it.
The five above are what Naples itself carries. The column on the right is why a short list is not a problem for anybody actually living here, and confusing the two columns is how a visitor ends up disappointed by a city that was never pretending to be the destination.
| Inside Naples | In Vernal, about seven minutes | |
|---|---|---|
| Parks | One at 34 acres, plus pocket parks around the city | The county's largest park, plus several more the same district runs |
| Water play | A splash pad, closed for the 2026 season | An indoor pool and the recreation centre, open all year |
| Indoor recreation | One family entertainment centre on 1500 East | A 70,000 square foot recreation centre with gyms, a track and a climbing wall |
| Museums | None | The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum |
| Golf | Dinaland, eighteen holes, on a Naples address | Booked through the same district office in Vernal |
| Groceries and shops | None inside the city, and the general plan says residents want one | The valley's full retail, on and off Main Street |
| Healthcare | None | Ashley Regional Medical Center, with an emergency department |
The right hand column is what makes the left hand column workable, and every drive time in it is ordinary conditions on paved city streets. This companion does not cover the Vernal column; the city guides do, and so will Vernal's own companion when it is built.
Before you go
Four phone calls will settle almost everything on this list.
Naples publishes less online than a city three times its size, and what it does publish sits in three different places: the city site, the recreation district site and the mayor's Facebook posts. The phone is more current than any of them.
Ring these
- Naples City on 435-789-9090 for the East Pavilion, Summerfest and anything the city itself runs
- Uintah Special Service District 1 on 435-781-0982 for the West Pavilion and every other park
- The splash park on 435-789-1010 for whether it is open at all this season
- Dinaland Golf Course on 435-781-1428 for tee times, rates and course conditions
- Blacklights Ignite on 435-219-8125, because the weekday window is short
Check the date on it
- The splash pad closure, posted for the 2026 season and still up on 7 August 2026
- The fireworks order, issued 21 July 2026 and written for that season only
- Pavilion bookings, which shut entirely from 1 October to 1 April
- Restrooms, which the district says are not all functional in winter
- Anything you read about this area on a travel site, because most of it is describing Vernal
Turn up and it is fine
- The park itself, which has no admission and no gate and no season
- The perimeter walking trail, which is the only real public path in the city
- Summerfest on the 24th, which is free to walk into and stays open until eleven
- The music park, which is a set of outdoor instruments and costs nothing to play
- The playgrounds, both of them, which are open whenever the park is
What this list deliberately leaves out
- Dinosaur National Monument, the Utah Field House, Red Fleet, Steinaker, Flaming Gorge, McConkie Ranch and the McCoy Flats trails. All of them are worth the drive and none of them is in Naples.
- Vernal's Main Street, its recreation centre, its pool and its restaurant row, which are seven minutes away and belong on Vernal's own page rather than on this one.
- The Uintah County fair and rodeo tradition, which runs out of Vernal rather than here.
- Ashley Creek's east side, which crosses this city for about two miles but is private ground and irrigation works rather than public access. The water page covers what it does and why it matters to a buyer.
- Anything invented to reach a rounder number. Five is what Naples has inside its own line, and a sixth entry would have had to be borrowed.
Keep reading
More of Naples on The Local.
The park
Naples Park and the splash pad
Thirty four acres, a music park, and a splash pad that did not open in 2026.
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 postcode, 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 list, answered.
Naples City Park at 1700 East 1900 South, which runs to roughly 34 acres and costs nothing. It holds two reservable pavilions, two playgrounds, three softball diamonds, a soccer field, horseshoe pits, fire pits, a music park where the instruments are outdoor fixtures, restrooms, a drinking fountain, a dog water station and a walking trail around the perimeter. The counter will lend you horse shoes, a volleyball, a football, a softball or a frisbee.
Because Naples is a residential city of 2,280 people covering 6.60 square miles, three miles from the county seat, and it has never tried to be the destination. Everything this area is known for sits outside the city limits: Dinosaur National Monument, Flaming Gorge, Red Fleet and Steinaker reservoirs, the Utah Field House museum and the McCoy Flats trails are all in or beyond Vernal. Five is what is genuinely inside the Naples line, and padding the number would have meant borrowing Vernal's list.
It depends which pavilion. The East Pavilion is booked through Naples City on 435-789-9090 at 30 dollars for a full day or 20 dollars for a half day, with the halves running 09:00 to 14:00 or 15:00 until dark. The West Pavilion is booked through Uintah Special Service District 1 on 435-781-0982, whose published rate is 30 dollars for an all day rental for a group of 75 or fewer, with larger groups depending on size. The district needs seven days notice and closes reservations from 1 October to 1 April.
Both answers get used. The clubhouse address is 675 South 2000 East, and geocoding that address against the 2020 Census place boundary puts it inside the Naples city limits, but every directory and the recreation district itself give it a Vernal address, because the whole valley shares the 84078 postcode. Course grounds are large and city lines here follow section lines rather than anything visible, so if it matters for a neighbouring purchase, the Uintah County Recorder is the office that can say which parcels sit in which city.
The 24th of July, Utah's Pioneer Day, at Naples City Park. In 2026 the city posted the event on 6 July for a 24 July date, and coverage put the day at 11:00 to 23:00 with fireworks at 22:00, live music, food trucks and vendors, free bounce houses and free admission. It is the one fixed date in the Naples calendar and the only day of the year the whole city is in one place. Confirm the current year's programme with Naples City on 435-789-9090.
Not in 2026. The Uintah recreation district's parks page carried a notice, still up on 7 August 2026, that the splash park was closed for the whole 2026 season because of water shortage. In an ordinary season it runs Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 17:00 at two dollars a participant, with spectators and children under one free, and party bookings from 17:30 to 19:30. Ring 435-789-1010 in the spring rather than assuming either way, because this is a season by season decision.
Honestly, one thing inside the city: Blacklights Ignite at 1715 South 1500 East, a locally owned centre with blacklight mini golf, laser tag and virtual reality escape rooms, open Monday to Thursday 16:00 to 20:00 and Friday and Saturday 13:00 to 21:00, closed Sunday. The park stays open but the pavilion bookings close from 1 October to 1 April and not all the restrooms are functional. The year round alternative is the recreation centre and indoor pool in Vernal, run by the same district.
No residential fireworks are permitted at any Uintah County or city park, at any time of year, which is a recreation district rule that stands separately from whatever the state calendar allows. Naples City went further in 2026: a mayor's letter posted on 21 July banned aerial fireworks inside the city limits for the season, prohibited any fireworks within 200 feet of the high risk zones on the wildland urban interface map, and stated that anyone whose fireworks caused damage or fire would be held financially liable.
Very. The National Recreation and Park Association's guidance is 15 to 17 acres of park per thousand people, which for a city of 2,280 would come to somewhere around 35 acres in total. Naples City Park alone is roughly 34, and the same recreation district also runs an eighteen hole golf course on a Naples address plus a recreation centre and pool nearby. The reason is federal mineral lease money, the local share of royalties from energy production, which is what funds the district.
Weighing a move to Naples? The short list is a feature, not a warning.
Five things inside the limits and the county seat seven minutes away is a specific kind of bargain, and no ranked list can tell you whether it is your kind. That comes down to the parcel, the ordinance on it and the ground under it. Send me what you are looking at and I will hand the local legwork to a Uintah County partner agent, then stay on for the homework and the financing side.
Referral disclosure. Outside Southern Utah, I connect home sellers and buyers with partner agents I trust in their area. If you choose to work with an agent I refer, that agent's brokerage pays my brokerage (Real Broker, LLC) a referral fee. The fee comes out of the agent's compensation; it is not an added cost to you. You are always free to choose any agent you wish, and using a referred agent is never required.