Halloween week in Heber City happens at two addresses. One is Heber City Main Street Park at 250 S. Main St., which hosts the free Heber Halloween Fest on Friday, Oct. 30. The other is the Heber Valley Railroad depot at 450 S. 600 W. On Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30, the Halloween Express leaves that depot at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the festival ends at 7 p.m., the same minute the train leaves. The park itself is also being replanned. City leaders hope to settle its main design elements by the end of this year. This year's festival will still be on the park as it stands, and the next version is still undecided.
Friday at Main Street Park, 5 to 7 p.m.
The Heber Valley Chamber lists Heber Halloween Fest for Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Main Street Park. Trick-or-treating is free. The carnival is a fundraiser, at $10 a ticket or $40 per family.
The chamber's listing includes:
- Free trick-or-treating
- A carnival fundraiser and a spook alley
- Face painting
- Food trucks and entertainment
- A Mad Scientist demonstration
- A pumpkin photo spot
The chamber is still inviting local businesses and organizations to register for booths. Anyone hoping to take part can reach it at 435-654-3666.
Two hours on a Friday evening is a short window. For a family with young kids, the free festival and the 7 p.m. Halloween Express compete for the same evening.
The Park Under the Pumpkins Is Being Redrawn
The lawn hosting Halloween Fest is in the middle of a design process. According to KPCW's Sept. 14 report, design firm Terracon is planning to turn Heber City Park into a "community living room" with a skate trail, fire pits, an accessible playground and a welcome center.
City Manager Matt Brower told KPCW that leaders hope to decide the park's main elements by the end of the year. Before a Sept. 15 council work session, he told KPCW's "Local News Hour" what the city wanted from the council:
"Some of the key things we're looking to hear from council is architecture — you know, what architectural flair you want, scale of the buildings and amenities that we located at the park, maybe some height issues in terms of maybe how tall they might be willing to go."
The council made no formal decisions at that session. The redesign wasn't on the agenda for the council's Oct. 20 meeting either.
KPCW reported that community members want the renovated space to feel more like a park than a plaza. They want green space and room for unplanned gatherings over a calendar of formal programming. An evening like Halloween Fest fits that kind of space: open grass, food trucks along the edges, and families moving between stops at their own pace.
The money side is moving slowly. Once this design phase is done, Terracon will give the city a cost estimate, and the city can then apply for grants. In June, the Park Record reported that an earlier preliminary proposal was estimated at $15 million to $18 million. In February, the Park Record reported that about $8 million in impact-fee revenue was already set aside for the park. Set against each other, those figures leave a gap that the next estimate and any grants will have to close. No construction start or park closure date has been announced.
Three Ways to Ride From the Depot
The Heber Valley Railroad sells three different trips over Halloween week. Each one is about 90 minutes.
| Trip | Departures | Who it suits | Fares |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Halloween Express | Oct. 29 and 30, 7 p.m. | Families; the railroad calls it not scary | $35 ages 2+; $5 lap toddlers 1 and under; First Class $75 each, $150 for two, $300 for four |
| Witches' Night Out, a party ride on the Halloween Express | Oct. 29 and 30, 7 p.m. | Adults dressed as witches; tea service, scones, desserts and one drink | $85 per person; $170 lounge seating for two; $340 table for four |
| Deer Creek Express | 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. | Daytime riders; scenic run along Deer Creek Reservoir | $30 ages 12+; $20 ages 2–11 |
The Halloween Express has hosts and costumed characters on board. First Class seats come with Halloween desserts and spiced cider, and the railroad advertises them in what it calls "new streamlined cars." The ticket page sends the train to a "haunted Decker Bay village," and the railroad's homepage calls the stop "Grim Hollow station."
Witches' Night Out is the railroad's party-train ticket for the same Halloween Express ride to Decker Bay. The railroad doesn't list it as 21+ only, but it serves alcohol only to guests over 21 who show ID. Seats were already scarce on both nights in mid-October, so check the railroad's site before planning around it.
Every Halloween-week trip goes to Decker Bay. The Deer Creek Express covers about seven track miles round trip, following Deer Creek Reservoir from the depot to Decker Bay. The railroad says the Provo Canyon Limited to Vivian Park is temporarily suspended while a parkway is built and the tracks are replaced. For now, the reservoir route is the railroad's whole Halloween line.
Picking Your Night
Since the Friday festival ends right when the Halloween Express leaves, the week works best on separate days:
- Thursday, Oct. 29. This is the cleanest night for the train. The Halloween Express, with its Witches' Night Out seating, leaves the depot at 7 p.m., and nothing at the park competes with it. Over in Midway, Wasatch Camerata plays its free "SOUNDTRACKS" concert at 7:30 p.m. at Rising Heights Academy, 232 S. Mitchie Lane, and repeats it Friday.
- Friday, Oct. 30. Halloween Fest runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at Main Street Park. The 7 p.m. train runs again too, so pick one. A family that wants the festival and the Halloween Express should book the train for Thursday.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. The railroad's calendar shows the Deer Creek Express on Halloween itself. If you'd rather see Deer Creek Reservoir from the train in daylight than ride in the dark, the 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. departure gets you back in Heber before trick-or-treat hour.
After Halloween, the Depot Turns to the North Pole
The railroad's next season starts three weeks later. The North Pole Express holds dress rehearsals Nov. 16 through 18, and public trips begin Thursday, Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Departures continue through Thanksgiving week and into December. Every ride is a 90-minute round trip with hot cocoa, a chocolate chip cookie and bottled water. Santa boards for the return trip and gives each child a gift.
On Oct. 12, the railroad put extra individual seats on sale for select dates in its 1291 Luxury Lounge and 4729 Luxury Dome cars. Prices vary by coach and date, but every passenger gets the same on-board service. The depot address doesn't change, so it's the same 450 S. 600 W. trip you made for Halloween.
Main Street Park's next step comes on a slower schedule. Leaders hope to settle the design by the end of the year, and the cost estimate and grant applications come after that. Meeting materials and links to attend council sessions online are on Heber City's CivicClerk portal.
The Heber Valley's main streets and gathering places shape what a home here is worth, and that includes plans like the Main Street Park redesign. If you own in Heber, Midway, Daniel or Kamas and want to know what your property would bring in today's market, Pack | Fey can put that local knowledge to work. Request a private home valuation.
