The river Riverdale
A short paved reach of the Weber River Parkway, with a pump track at the trailhead
The Weber River in Riverdale, a short paved reach with a pump track at the trailhead
Riverdale's stretch of the Weber River Parkway Trail is paved, free and open all year. It runs from the South Weber city line at the south end north to Parker Drive, where it hands off to Ogden's reach, and three trailheads reach it. The southern one, the lot behind city hall, doubles as a pump track. The whole corridor beyond the city, ten miles of it, belongs to the river guide rather than to this page, so what you get here is the river at a Riverdale address: where to reach it, what the low ground means, and what the city's own frontage is like.
By Scott Buehler, Moving Utah
Updated October 2026
The short answer
Riverdale's reach of the Weber River Parkway Trail is paved, free and open all year. It follows the Weber through the west side of the city, from the South Weber line at the south end north to Parker Drive at the north, and three trailheads reach it. Start at the lot behind city hall at 4600 South Weber River Drive, because that one also holds the Riverdale Bike Park, a pump track the city opened in 2015. The reach is short: the city calls it three miles and the regional trails foundation lists it at 1.9, so plan a there and back walk around the shorter figure. The one thing worth knowing before an offer near the water is that this is the lowest ground in Riverdale, and the federal flood map is the answer for any particular parcel.
The reach
A short, flat, paved stretch through the west side of the city, with a clean seam at each end
The Weber River runs down the west side of Riverdale, below the rest of the city, and the trail beside it is the one long, level, paved thing to walk in a city of about four and a half square miles. It is open all year, it is free, and it has a car park with a restroom at each end. That combination is genuinely uncommon on a footprint this small, and it is the strongest everyday amenity this city has that does not sit on a shop shelf.
People arrive with one question about length, and it has two honest answers. Riverdale calls its reach three miles of paved trail; the Trails Foundation of Northern Utah, which keeps a record for each reach of the corridor, lists the Riverdale stretch at 1.9 miles. Both are fair numbers, a city and a trail group counting slightly different things, and the practical takeaway is the same from either: this is a short reach, so plan a there and back walk around the shorter figure and be pleased if it runs longer.
Both ends of the reach are clean handoffs rather than dead ends. At the north end the seam is the Parker Drive lot, which Riverdale calls its north trailhead and Ogden's record calls the south trailhead of the reach above; one car park, two names, and the surface, the paving and the ownership all carry straight on across it. North from there the whole ten mile route to the mouth of Ogden Canyon is the corridor's story, and the river guide carries it end to end. At the south end the seam is the county line, where Riverdale's pavement gives way to the South Weber gravel section, and the South Weber page keeps the story from there.
Getting to the river
Three trailheads and a fishing path, and one of them is also a pump track
The city names three trailheads on the reach, plus a short fisherman path to the bank. Start at the lot behind city hall unless you have a reason not to, because that one lot does the most work: it is the south trailhead, it has a restroom, and it holds the Riverdale Bike Park, a pump track the city opened in 2015. A pump track is a closed loop of rollers and banked turns ridden without pedalling, so a child can use it for an hour while an adult walks the river, and the two start from the same car park.
The other two trailheads are a lot off 600 West, with an outdoor fitness circuit on the trail a short way along, and the Parker Drive lot at the north end beside Riverdale Park. The fishing path is the odd one out: the city names it by cross street, near 1050 West and River Park Drive, rather than by an address, so a map search does better with the cross street than with a house number.
Civic Center lot and the Bike Park
600 West trailhead
Parker Drive trailhead and Riverdale Park
Fisherman access
The pavement ends at the county line, and no map marks the exact spot. Riverdale's paved reach meets the South Weber gravel section of the parkway at the south end, and neither city publishes a cross street for where it happens. On road tyres, ride south expecting the surface to change rather than planning around a set distance. The South Weber page picks up the trail from there.
The low ground
The homes closest to the trail sit on the lowest ground in the city, and the flood map is the answer worth having
The river runs below the rest of Riverdale, and the ground nearest it, the river bottoms on the west side, is the lowest in the city. That is the plain fact a buyer looking at a home near the trail should hold onto, because it changes where the useful information lives. Flood risk is not a citywide label; it is decided parcel by parcel, and a street two blocks back from the bank can sit very differently from one right on the water.
For any specific home near the river, the federal flood map is the authority, and it is worth pulling before you make an offer. It is free to look at, it shows the mapped flood zone for the exact address, and it will tell you far more about a particular lot than any general impression of the neighborhood. If a home sits in a mapped zone, that carries through to insurance and to the lender, so it is a thing to learn early rather than at closing.
The corridor itself has a documented history of bank work and repair, but it sits one county upstream on the Davis side of the line rather than on Riverdale's frontage, and it is set out on the South Weber page and in the river guide. For the Riverdale side, the map is the tool, and a good local agent will pull it with you.
Living with it
A path you use four times a week, with rules the city means and a pool it borrows
At a Riverdale address the river is not a day out, it is a habit. A flat paved loop with parking and a restroom at each end and no road crossing of any consequence in between is the kind of thing people use for the after dinner walk, the ride to the park, the run that does not need a pavement, several times a week rather than a few times a year. On a footprint this size, that is a real thing to have close to home.
Riverdale is also the one city on this stretch of river that writes down how to behave on its trail. The rules are aimed squarely at loose dogs and fast bikes, and the city names who enforces them: an animal control officer, reached at 801-394-6616, who can issue citations. A small city that publishes an enforcement contact usually means it, and dogs belong on a leash here. Worth knowing alongside that, there is no dog park anywhere in Riverdale, so for most dogs in the city the river trail is the walk.
The river also stands in for a couple of things Riverdale does not run itself. There is no municipal pool, so the city's own summer swim events use the Roy Aquatic Center in the next city over, and there is no library branch inside the city either. None of that takes away from the trail; it just means the river is doing a larger share of the outdoor work here than in a city with a bigger parks budget. The moving to Riverdale page lays out the rest of what the city has and what it leans on its neighbors for, and the parks page takes apart Riverdale Park and the recreation building.
Riverdale is a small city with one long, flat, paved thing to walk, and it runs right through the west side of it. The city that will ticket you for an off leash dog is the same one that sends its swimmers to the pool in the next town.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
Quick answers
The river, answered
Riverdale calls its reach three miles of paved trail, and the Trails Foundation of Northern Utah lists the Riverdale reach at 1.9 miles. Either way it is a short, flat, paved stretch, so plan a there and back walk around the shorter figure and count anything extra as a bonus.
There are three trailheads. The one to start from is the lot behind city hall at 4600 South Weber River Drive, because it also holds the Riverdale Bike Park. The other two are a lot off 600 West, with an outdoor fitness circuit on the trail nearby, and the Parker Drive lot at the north end beside Riverdale Park. A short fisherman path reaches the bank near 1050 West and River Park Drive.
A pump track at the trailhead lot behind city hall, opened in 2015. A pump track is a closed loop of rollers and banked turns ridden without pedalling, which lets a rider keep moving without a hill. It is free, and it sits on the same lot as the south trailhead, so a river walk and a ride on the track are one stop.
Yes, on a leash. Riverdale posts trail conduct rules aimed at loose dogs and fast bikes, and the city's animal control officer, reached at 801-394-6616, enforces them. There is no dog park anywhere in Riverdale, so the river trail is where most dogs in the city get walked.
At the county line, where Riverdale's paved reach meets the South Weber gravel section of the parkway. No map marks the exact point, so on road tyres, ride south expecting the surface to change rather than planning around a set distance.
No. It is Ogden City's Kayak Park at 473 Exchange Road in Ogden, redesigned and reopened in February 2022. It does sit on the Weber River rather than the Ogden River, which is why people place it in Riverdale, but the park and the ground under it are Ogden's.
The ground nearest the river is the lowest in the city, in the river bottoms. Flood risk is parcel by parcel, so for any specific home near the water, the federal flood map is the authority. Pull it before you make an offer, because a street a couple of blocks back can sit very differently from one right on the bank.
Yes. At the north end the Riverdale reach ties into the Ogden River Parkway at the Parker Drive lot, which forms a roughly ten mile route to the mouth of Ogden Canyon. The full corridor, its surfaces and its trailheads are covered on the river guide rather than here.
No. Riverdale has no municipal pool, and its own summer swim events use the Roy Aquatic Center in the next city. The river trail, the Bike Park and Riverdale Park are the city's main outdoor recreation, and the pool is one of a few things Riverdale leans on a neighbor for.
The river is the easy part of a Riverdale decision. The rest is worth a local eye
A short paved reach with a pump track at one end and a park at the other is a genuinely good amenity to have near home, and it is easy to test: walk it at the hour you would actually use it, and walk it both ways, because the surface changes south of the county line. On any low parcel near the water, pull the federal flood map yourself before you make an offer. Tell me which streets are in play and I will connect you with a Weber and Morgan partner agent who knows the river side of this city, and I will stay on the financing side of it.
Or call Scott: (435) 357-4345or send Scott a message
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