By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahBook a night on the trail at Prevedel Park
1300 S 2300 W Booked by telephone Park open 6 AM to 10 PM Directions
This is the entry that made me want to write about West Haven at all. The city rents a number of overnight camping spots on the trail just north of the city cemetery, and it does it the way a small town does everything, by telephone. A city of about 25,600 quietly renting you a place to sleep beside a river trail is not something you find anywhere else on this corridor, and it goes first for that reason.
The move: call Parks and Recreation on 801-731-8882 well before you want to go, and ask the four things worth pinning down. What it costs, how many nights you can stay, how many spots there are, and where you are meant to leave the vehicle, because the same park carries a citywide rule against overnight parking. The river page lays out the hours, the rules and the cemetery record next door, which together add up to more than you would expect.
How the booking works
Prevedel Park sits among the city's ten parks at 1300 South 2300 West, with the same hours as every other park, six in the morning to ten at night, and the same rules. Booking runs through the Parks and Recreation office at 2825 West 3300 South, which is inside R. Kenneth Baldwin Country Park on the other side of the city, on 801-731-8882, Monday to Thursday from nine to five. There is no Friday. That four day office week is the thing that catches people out, every time.
What to expect on the ground
Plan on the assumption that you are getting a spot on a path in a city park, take what you would take to a primitive site, and let the phone call correct you upward. Directory and trail apps add hookups, potable water and a loop trail for this ground, but a campsite is exactly the kind of booking where turning up on the strength of somebody else's listing goes badly, so treat the phone call as the source that matters.
The details
Getting there
The Ogden street grid does the navigating out here, and West Haven is the easiest city in the county to read from a street sign. The campground sits at 1300 South and 2300 West, in the city's northeast corner, and the city cemetery at 1550 South 2350 West is the landmark: the camping is just north of it. Coming off the freeway, the 21st Street interchange is the nearest door into this corner of the city. From City Hall at 4150 South 3900 West it is about five miles of flat section road, north and east, in ten or twelve minutes.
Before you go
- Ring 801-731-8882 Monday to Thursday between nine and five. The office is shut on Friday and there is no online booking.
- Ask what it costs, how many nights are allowed, how many spots there are and where to park before you commit to a date.
- The park rules are strict: no alcohol or glass containers, smoke free, no fireworks, pets on leashes, and no motorised vehicles on the lawns.
- Bring your own water and light. Nothing at the site promises either.
- Winter use is allowed on this reach of trail, which is not the same as cleared, so check conditions before a cold-weather night.
Walk or ride the west end of the river trail
West end at 1500 S 2350 W Free Year round, unlit Directions
The Weber River leaves Ogden, passes under the freeway and runs west across the top of this city toward the lake, and a trail runs with it. The Trails Foundation of Northern Utah records this stretch as the West Haven Trail, about five and a half miles, graded easy, the northwestern reach of the Weber River Parkway, and its published west end is 1500 South 2350 West, the cemetery corner. It is the flattest, quietest, least discovered piece of walking in Weber County, and on a summer evening it is almost entirely yours.
One thing worth knowing before you plan a distance around it: the trail foundation marks the Ogden River Parkway upstream as adaptive friendly and marks this reach as not, so if step-free access matters to your group, the parkway is the better choice. The river page carries the surface, the access points and the trail foundation's own use rules, and the river parkways page follows the whole corridor east into Ogden.
What is allowed on it
The trail foundation's record marks hiking, biking, dogs, electric bikes and winter use as permitted, and horses as not. There is no marked trailhead lot at the West Haven end, so treat the cemetery corner as your reference and park considerately on the street rather than in a lot. The corridor runs east from there toward the confluence of the Weber and the Ogden rivers, which is Ogden city ground and a subject of its own.
The details
Getting there
Aim for the cemetery at 1550 South 2350 West, the easiest landmark to find on the grid at this end of the trail. From the middle of West Haven it is a five mile drive north and east on flat section roads. The trail runs east from there toward the freeway; there is no formal parking lot, so leave the car on a nearby street and start on foot.
Before you go
- There is no marked trailhead lot at the West Haven end. Park considerately on the street and start at the cemetery corner.
- The trail foundation marks this reach not adaptive accessible, the opposite flag from the Ogden River Parkway upstream.
- Horses are not permitted. Dogs, bikes and electric bikes are.
- Take water. There is nothing to fill a bottle at this end of the corridor.
- Check the weather and the river level yourself in spring, when snowmelt runs high.
Come for West Haven Days, the fourth weekend in June
R. Kenneth Baldwin Country Park Free to attend the grounds Late June, every year Directions
One weekend a year this city is not a bedroom community. West Haven Days runs on the fourth weekend in June, a rule the city sets rather than a date it reissues, and the volunteer roster behind it is longer than the city's own website: a rodeo strand that runs from mutton bustin' and a youth rodeo up to an open rodeo and cowboy mounted shooting, plus a parade, a car show, a flapjack breakfast, a pickleball tournament, a kids fair, a movie in the park, a concert and a firework show.
The move: treat the rule as the plan and the details as the perishable part. Put the fourth weekend in June in the diary now, then check the organizer in the spring for what is happening when, because the event names go up months before the times and venues do. The calendar page carries the full roster and the four other city events that run on their own rules through the rest of the year.
What the week includes
Plan on the shape rather than a printed schedule: a rodeo strand across the week, a parade morning, a food and market strand, and a night that ends with fireworks. Confirm the exact times, venues and any ticket for the individual events with the organizer as the weekend approaches, and take the schedule from the organizer rather than a redrawn map or an aggregator.
The one thing to know about the swim day
A free swim day is on the roster, and West Haven has no pool of its own. It is held at the Roy Aquatic Center (2977 W 5200 S, Roy), for West Haven residents with proof of residency.
The details
Getting there
The week centers on R. Kenneth Baldwin Country Park at 2825 West 3300 South, which is also where the recreation office and the arena pavilion sit. That is about two and a half miles from City Hall on 3300 South, six to eight minutes on ordinary days and considerably longer on a parade morning. Arrive early that morning and plan to walk in.
Before you go
- The rule is the fourth weekend in June and it does not move. Everything else about the week can, so confirm the dates and schedule with the organizer in the spring.
- The parade route and start time go up close to the event. Take them from the organizer rather than a map image somebody else redrew.
- The free swim day is at the Roy Aquatic Center (2977 W 5200 S, Roy), for West Haven residents with proof of residency.
- The citywide park rules are in force at the venue: no alcohol, no glass containers, no attendee fireworks, and pets on leashes.
- Arrive early on the parade morning and expect to walk in from the surrounding streets.
Take a morning at R. Kenneth Baldwin Country Park
2825 W 3300 S Free Open 6 AM to 10 PM, all year Directions
If West Haven has a middle, this is it. R. Kenneth Baldwin Country Park at 2825 West 3300 South holds the city's two largest pavilions, a playground, the arena the recreation department books, and the Parks and Recreation office itself. It is the venue for the big June week, the address you ring for a campsite, and the place a household with an hour to spare actually goes.
The two pavilions are the reason to plan rather than turn up. The Large Pavilion takes twenty six tables and the Arena Pavilion takes eight, and both come with electricity, a kitchenette and restrooms, which is a better standard of shelter than most city parks in this county offer. They book from 15 April to 15 October through Parks and Recreation, on a refundable cleaning deposit paid by check. The parks page compares all four bookable pavilions in the city, because Sports Park and Stonefield Park have their own.
The two pavilions and the office
Table counts, electricity, a kitchenette, restrooms and playground access come with the pavilions here, and there is a marked entrance on 3300 South with hours of six in the morning to ten at night. The Parks and Recreation office shares the ground, which is handy: if you are booking anything at all in this city, this is the counter, on 801-731-8882, Monday to Thursday only.
The arena
The city names an Arena Pavilion here and books a park and arena reservation through the Parks Department, and the June rodeo events happen on this ground. If an arena booking is what you are after, ask at 801-731-8882 for the current availability and terms rather than assuming them.
The details
Getting there
Head to 3300 South and 2825 West, which on this grid is a straightforward run north and east from City Hall at 4150 South 3900 West, about two and a half miles and six to eight minutes. The Parks and Recreation office shares the ground, so this is also the counter for a pavilion, an arena slot or a campsite.
Before you go
- Book a pavilion between 15 April and 15 October through Parks and Recreation, on a refundable cleaning deposit paid by check.
- Reservations end promptly at ten at night and the parks close at the same hour.
- Bring your own charcoal and your own shade if you are not under the pavilion.
- The office is at the park, on 801-731-8882, Monday to Thursday from nine to five only.
- Sports Park at 4215 South 3900 West is effectively the City Hall park and has a pavilion of its own, with five large tables and no kitchenette.
Stay at the year round RV park on the northeast corner
1483 W 2100 S Rates by phone Open all year Directions
Century Mobile Home and RV Park sits on the city's northeast corner at 1483 West 2100 South, and it is the practical answer to where you sleep here if the city's trail spots are not what you had in mind. It runs 192 sites across private and park owned mobile homes, long stay recreational vehicles and daily and weekly sites; full hookups at thirty and fifty amps; room for rigs up to seventy three feet; a swimming pool, a hot tub, laundry, wireless, a dog park, a pavilion and a sports park. It is open year round.
Its own address says West Haven, and the federal boundary layer agrees, but many travel directories file it under Ogden, so search both city names or you may miss it. That is the entry: a real, year round, full service place to stay that the usual city filter hides. It sets its own rates and does not post them online, so call 801-731-3800 to confirm price and availability.
Where this sits in the city
This corner of West Haven is the industrial and commercial end, along 21st Street and 1900 West. The freeway is close, which is why the park is easy to reach and why it is quieter to walk west from here than east. The river trail's published end is a couple of miles further west along the same corner of the city, so a stay here and a morning on the trail work together.
The details
Getting there
The 21st Street freeway interchange is the door into this end of West Haven, and 2100 South and 1483 West is a short run west of it on the grid. From City Hall in the middle of the city it is about five miles north and east on flat section roads, ten or twelve minutes.
Before you go
- Call 801-731-3800 for rates and availability. The park sets its own prices and an aggregator's number is not the operator's.
- The office keeps longer hours in summer than in winter, with after hours check in available; ask when you book.
- Sites take rigs up to seventy three feet with thirty and fifty amp full hookups, which is longer than many parks in the county allow.
- Search directories under Ogden as well as West Haven, because most of them file this park under Ogden despite the operator's own address.
- It does not advertise a river view, so ask at booking if a water outlook matters to you.