As Heber City continues to grow, so does the need for parks, trails, and public spaces that bring people together. Recognizing that need, the City’s Envision Heber 2021 Parks, Trails, & Open Space Master Plan identified Coyote Springs Park as one of 12 new parks planned to meet the community’s future recreation and open space needs.
Today, that vision has become a reality. Located in the Coyote Ridge neighborhood on the north side of Heber City, Coyote Springs Park is a 2.8-acre community park that provides a welcoming gathering place for residents while strengthening connections throughout the city’s growing trail network. Sunrise Engineering partnered with Heber City and landscape architecture firm GB Design to help transform the City’s vision into a community asset that will serve residents for years to come.
Building More Than a Neighborhood Park
Heber City’s goal extended beyond creating another neighborhood park. Although the City has an extensive trail system, many of those trails lacked direct connections to eachother. Coyote Springs Park was designed to help close those gaps by creating a critical link between the canal trail to the east and the Highway 40 trail to the west. The result is improved access throughout the community while encouraging outdoor recreation, active transportation, and healthy lifestyles.
The completed park features a pavilion, playground with lighting, a decorative pond, landscaped open spaces, walking trails, covered picnic areas, and benches throughout the site. In addition to improvements within Coyote Springs Park, the project also included enhancements at nearby Cove Park, including a new trail connection and a concrete canal crossing that further expanded access between recreational areas.
From the beginning, Sunrise Engineering worked closely with Heber City and GB Design to understand the City’s goals and develop solutions that balanced recreation, accessibility, long-term functionality, and the site’s unique characteristics. Sunrise provided concept design, final design, opinions of probable cost, bidding services, and construction management, helping guide the project from the initial vision through construction.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Every successful project comes with challenges, and Coyote Springs Park was no exception.
One of the project’s most distinctive features involved an existing spring that flows through the city-owned property before continuing downstream to provide irrigation water for a privately owned pond. Rather than treating the spring as an obstacle, the design team saw an opportunity to make it one of the park’s defining elements.
The spring was incorporated as the water source for the decorative pond while preserving uninterrupted downstream irrigation flows. To accomplish this, Sunrise Engineering designed a diversion structure and PVC piping system that created enough hydraulic head to supply the pond. An overflow system then returned excess water to the existing ditch network, ensuring that downstream water users continued to receive irrigation while allowing the pond to become a focal point within the park.
The site’s topography presented another engineering challenge. The eastern portion of the property becomes increasingly steep, making it difficult to connect the park to the regional trail system while maintaining ADA accessibility requirements. Sunrise addressed this by designing a trail alignment that gently meanders up the hillside through a series of switchbacks, allowing visitors of all abilities to safely access the trail network without sacrificing connectivity.
Collaboration Drives Success
Projects like Coyote Springs Park are the result of strong partnerships. Sunrise Engineering worked alongside Heber City, GB Design, contractors, and other project stakeholders to bring the City’s vision to life.
The Sunrise team included Derek Anderson, PE, Principal Engineer, Taylor Torgersen, PE, Project Engineer, and designer Khevar McLeod. Their combined expertise helped deliver a park that not only meets today’s recreational needs but also supports Heber City’s long-term vision for its parks and trail system.
The project demonstrates Sunrise Engineering’s ability to bring together multiple disciplines to solve complex challenges while delivering thoughtful, community-focused solutions. From trail connectivity and accessibility to water management and construction administration, every aspect of the project required careful planning and coordination.
Today, Coyote Springs Park provides residents with a place to gather, play, explore, and connect with nature. More importantly, it reflects what can be accomplished when a client has a clear vision and a project team is committed to turning that vision into reality.
To see the finished project, check out Heber City’s video tour of Coyote Springs Park on YouTube, which highlights many of the park’s amenities, trail connections, and community spaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lWzFVfFY_E&t=7s
Whether helping communities develop new parks, expand trail systems, or solve unique site challenges, Sunrise Engineering is proud to partner with clients to create lasting spaces that improve quality of life for generations to come.
