Walk or bike the Weber River parkway
Weber River parkway Free Year round
Riverdale's best outdoor asset is the paved Weber River parkway that runs the western edge of the city along the river it is named for. The natural start is the trailhead lot behind the Civic Center at 4600 South Weber River Drive, a city government seated on a street named for its own river, with the trail leaving right off the back of the lot. Three trailhead lots serve the reach, the Civic Center, one off 600 West, and one at Parker Drive on the north end, and each has a restroom, which is more than most trail towns manage.
There is an honest wrinkle in the mileage worth knowing before you plan a there and back. Riverdale City calls its reach three miles of paved trail; the Trails Foundation of Northern Utah, the corridor's trail organisation, records the same stretch at 1.90 miles. Both numbers are published and neither reconciles the other, so treat the shorter figure as your planning distance and count anything past it as a bonus. An outdoor fitness park with exercise stations sits just south of the 600 West lot if you want to turn a walk into a workout.
The full story of the reach, the two records, and where the trail stops being Riverdale's and becomes Ogden's is on the sibling page for the Weber River in Riverdale. The wider ten mile corridor, its underpasses and its surface changes, lives on the region page for the Ogden and Weber river parkways. This entry just gets you to the water.
The details
Getting there
The Civic Center trailhead is just south of 4600 South Weber River Drive on the west side of the city; the 600 West and Parker Drive lots pick up the same trail further north. All three have parking and a restroom, and the reach is flat and paved near every trailhead, so it rides as easily as it walks.
Before you go
- Treat the distance as 1.90 miles for planning; the city's three mile figure and the foundation's shorter one are both published and neither is wrong.
- The seam at the north end is Parker Drive, one lot with two names, where the Riverdale reach hands off to Ogden's.
- No body on the corridor publishes a snow clearing commitment, so winter use is allowed everywhere and maintained nowhere in writing.
- Riverdale is the one city on the corridor that publishes trail conduct rules, and its animal control officer enforces the leash rule with citations.
Cool off at the Riverdale Park splash pad
Riverdale Park, 4300 S Parker Drive Free Memorial Day to Labor Day
Riverdale Park at 4300 South Parker Drive is the city's largest park and the one that does the most work. Its splash pad is the summer draw, free to use, and it runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There is one thing to know before you load the car: in 2026 the city closes the splash pad every Thursday to conserve water during drought. The rest of the week it opens ten in the morning to seven at night, with Wednesday shifted to noon until eight.
The park around it earns the stop on its own. The city lists two large pavilions and three small ones, two playgrounds, sand volleyball, a ball diamond, tennis courts, restrooms and a half mile walking path, and the north end of the park meets the Parker Drive trailhead where the Weber River parkway begins. The medium and large pavilions can be reserved from the first of May to the end of September; the small ones are first come, first served.
The full picture of the park, the splash pad schedule, the drought behind it, and the city's two other parks is on the sibling page for the parks and the Community Center. The city also notes the splash pad can shut down without warning for water quality or mechanical issues, so a quick check before a special trip is worth the minute.
The details
Getting there
Riverdale Park is at the north end of Parker Drive, the same street as the Community Center and the parkway's north trailhead, so the park, the splash pad and the start of the river trail are effectively one destination. Parking is on site.
Before you go
- The splash pad is closed every Thursday in 2026 for drought, so plan around it.
- Splash pad hours are ten to seven most days and noon to eight on Wednesday.
- Small pavilions cannot be reserved; the medium and large ones can, from the first of May to the end of September.
- The Parker Drive trailhead for the Weber River parkway is at the north end of the same park, so you can pair the two.
Time a trip for Old Glory Days
Riverdale Park and the Roy Aquatic Center Mostly free Around the Fourth of July
Old Glory Days is Riverdale's own summer celebration, and it is a real one. The city runs it itself, with no separate festival committee or chamber in the middle, and in 2026 it spread across three days, the first, the second and the fourth of July. The Fourth is the main event: a cannon blast at six in the morning, a sunrise service at seven, a five kilometre run, a parade at half past nine, booths, entertainment and a car show from ten, and fireworks at ten at night.
Most of it costs nothing. The cannon blast, the sunrise service, the parade and the fireworks are all free on the city's schedule; the priced entries are the run, a children's race, pickleball and a service club breakfast, and every one of those is a small single fee. One genuinely Riverdale detail sits inside the programme: the Thursday swim night is held at the Roy Aquatic Center in the next city, because Riverdale has no municipal pool of its own and buys the swim from its neighbour.
The full day by day programme, the fees as the city printed them, and the swim night arrangement are on the sibling page for Old Glory Days. The city does not publish a parade route and had not posted 2027 dates when this was written, so check its special events page from about April rather than trusting a date in circulation.
The details
Getting there
The daytime and evening events centre on Riverdale Park at the north end of Parker Drive. The swim night is at the Roy Aquatic Center, a short drive west into the next city. The city takes parade applications itself and posts the programme each spring.
Before you go
- The 2026 programme ran on the first, second and fourth of July; the day the Fourth lands on moves the whole shape, so confirm each year.
- No parade route is published, so ask the city rather than trust a map somebody drew.
- The swim night is in Roy, not Riverdale, which is easy to miss.
- Every fee is a single year figure and the schedule is re issued annually.
Ride the pump track at the Riverdale Bike Park
South trailhead lot by the Civic Center Free Weather permitting
Tucked into the same trailhead lot behind the Civic Center is the Riverdale Bike Park, a pump track the city opened in 2015. It is a loop of rolling humps and banked turns you ride without pedalling, pumping your body to keep the momentum, and it works for a balance bike, a first two wheeler or an adult on a mountain bike. There is no fee, and because it shares the lot with the parkway trailhead, it pairs naturally with a walk or ride along the river.
It is a small thing done well, and it is the sort of amenity that never makes a trail map. No trail record carries it, the city's parks page is the only place it is written down, and no hours or season are published, which for an outdoor concrete track means weather permitting rather than a posted calendar. Bring a helmet, watch the flow of traffic on a busy afternoon, and let smaller riders take the inside line.
The pump track and the trailhead lot it shares are covered alongside the reach on the sibling page for the Weber River in Riverdale. It is the single most efficient stop in the city, two things to do in one car park.
The details
Getting there
The Bike Park shares the trailhead lot just south of the Civic Center, so the same parking that serves the Weber River parkway serves the pump track. Ride the track and the river trail on one stop.
Before you go
- No fee and no posted hours; it is an outdoor concrete track, so the weather sets the schedule.
- It shares the Civic Center trailhead lot with the Weber River parkway, so pair the two.
- Helmets and awareness of other riders; a pump track has its own flow.
- It appears on the city's parks page and on no trail map, so navigate to the Civic Center lot.
Spend an hour at the Riverdale Community Center
4360 S Parker Drive Small drop in fee Year round, closed Sunday
When the weather says no, the Riverdale Community Center at 4360 South Parker Drive is the indoor answer, and it doubles as the city's recreation department. Inside are a full size gymnasium, an exercise room with ten machines including treadmills, bikes and a Stairmaster, two meeting rooms, a kitchen and a game room. It runs youth sports, open basketball and pickleball and group fitness classes, and it is where you book a park pavilion in person.
It is one of the very few paid gates on this whole list, and the price is small: a drop in is $2.50 for a resident and $3.75 for a non resident, and $1.25 for a resident aged 55 and over and $2.50 for a non resident of that age, with monthly and yearly passes at a discount. It opens six in the morning to nine at night Monday through Saturday and closes Sunday and most holidays, on 801-621-6084.
The Community Center, the parks it books, and the recreation programmes the city runs out of it are covered in full on the sibling page for the parks and the Community Center. Seniors can use the separate Senior Center exercise room without charge, which the city notes on the same page.
The details
Getting there
The Community Center is on Parker Drive near Riverdale Park, a short drive north of the Civic Center. Parking is on site, and it is where pavilion reservations are made in person.
Before you go
- A drop in is $2.50 for a resident and $3.75 for a non resident; seniors pay less.
- Open six to nine Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday and most holidays.
- It is where you book a park pavilion; telephone reservations are no longer accepted.
- Seniors can use the Senior Center exercise room without charge.
