Popsicles, a pond full of rubber ducks and a magnificent tunnel slide: Heber’s youngest residents had lots to explore at Coyote Springs Park, where dozens of people celebrated the ribbon-cutting June 21.
The park is in the Coyote Ridge neighborhood, about two miles north of downtown Heber. It took a little more than three months to build and cost about $2.2 million.
It’s the newest park in the Heber Valley, and city manager Matt Brower described it at a recent city council meeting as “the most grand park in the city’s inventory.”
Families agreed. Chris Samila said he was excited when he heard about the new playground just a mile from his house.
“We’re just thrilled,” he said. “We have a two-year-old and a four-year-old, and they’re extremely happy right now.”
He said he loves that the park includes a wide range of features for little ones to explore, with lots of structures to climb on and a spring-fed pond to splash in.
“Sierra loves the wooden tunnel – she’s run in and out of that about 25 times – and my son is smitten with the lake,” he said.
Apart from his kids’ delight, Samila said he was happy with the urban design: a new paved trail links Coyote Springs Park to another green space nearby, Cove Park.
Parks, Open Space, Trails and Trees committee chair Mia Yue said it’s part of a larger city initiative to encourage walking and biking around town.
“There’s a lot of trails in Heber City, but there’s not a lot of connection,” she said. “So we’re working hard on making sure that we can connect all of the major hubs of the Heber Valley – and into Midway as well, and the other surrounding towns.”
Yue said the city is also considering upgrades to other parks around town to improve their amenities and make them accessible.
In addition to the children’s playground and pond, Coyote Springs has a pavilion and plenty of benches.
Hannah Lacombe said her two-year-old daughter, Emerson, was having fun at the new playground.
“She just learned the slide, so she loves that now,” she said.
Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco said the land was annexed into Heber six years ago, and at first, the park wasn’t part of the development agreement.
“And I said whoa, no no no – with this much density coming in, there needs to be a park,” she said. “And I took our city manager up here on a beautiful spring morning and said, ‘This needs to be a park,’ and he said, ‘Yes, it does. It does.’”
She said she’s happy to see the vision for the park turn into a reality.
Heber City is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
