"Slightly Spooky" walk through beloved fairy tales. That's the whole pitch on the Youth City Council's flyer in the September 2026 city newsletter. Below it are the dates, October 23 and 24, from 6 to 8 pm, at Gailey Trail.
Two days ago, Fruit Heights posted the agenda for its October 6 City Council meeting. That agenda also lists Fable Forest, along with a community survey running October 5 through 30. The September newsletter says the survey will ask about parks, trails and amenities, the city cemetery, the election process, city services and communication methods. So the city is asking about its trails during the same weeks it invites everyone onto one after dark. Each one helps with the other. A walk on Gailey Trail in late October is a good way to see what the trail system looks like right now, and the survey is where you can say what you think of it.
What Fable Forest Actually Is
The 2026 flyer keeps it simple. Entry costs one non-perishable food item, and new this year, hot cocoa is free for everyone who comes.
The city's listing for the 2024 event gives more detail. The walk took about 20 minutes and passed eight fairy-tale stories along Gailey Trail. It was a service project run jointly by the Youth City Councils of Fruit Heights and Kaysville, and the food they collected went to the Bountiful Food Pantry. That year, people entered at the pavilions on Nicholls Road near Castle Park, at 1105 Nicholls Road. The 2026 materials name Gailey Trail but don't give a street address. Treat the Nicholls Road pavilions as a likely starting point, and check with City Hall at 801-546-0861 before you go.
This year it runs on a Friday and a Saturday. If you only have one night, Friday the 23rd gives you a backup if the weather turns.
The Trail Questions Already on the City's Desk
A survey question about parks and trails covers a lot of ground. It helps to know what the city is already working on. City records from 2026 show four open items, each at a different stage:
- Fruit Loop Trail restroom. On June 2, the council told staff to negotiate for a restroom at the south end of Southeast Oaks Drive to serve the Fruit Loop Trail. The fallback is a cash contribution if building one turns out not to be feasible. City records reviewed for this post show no outcome since June.
- Bonneville Shoreline Trail, Bear Canyon segment. At the February 17 meeting, the city reported that design for the Bear Canyon segment was complete and approved. Davis County is expected to fund and build that connection. No construction start has been confirmed, so for now it's still a plan.
- Harvey Park pickleball courts. The city sought bids for new courts at Harvey Park, 910 South Mountain Road. The engineer's estimate was $468,532.50, and bids were due September 2. The October 6 agenda lists the bids as tabled on September 15, and no contract award shows up in the records reviewed. Earlier in the year, a March council discussion leaned toward putting the courts at Nicholls Park. The later bid names Harvey Park.
- Street resurfacing. On July 21, the council awarded Geneva Rock Products a $688,494.85 contract for 2026–27 mill-and-overlay work. The streets include Oakmont Lane, Old Farm Road, Meeting House, Broken Fence, 50 South, Raymond Road and its cul-de-sacs, Mountain Road Circle, Old Lake Lane, Deer View Circle, Laurelwood and Greenfield Circle. The minutes give no construction schedule.
Each item is at a different point in the process. That's useful to know before you answer the survey, because a comment about a project still in negotiation can reach the council while it's still deciding.
Three Trails, Three Different Outings
Fable Forest takes about 20 minutes. The rest of October is open for longer walks, and the three closest trails differ a lot in difficulty.
Gailey Trail is the easy one. It runs flat along the creek for about two miles. You can get on from Nicholls Park or from the parking lot at Main Street and Nicholls Road. Walk it in daylight the week before Fable Forest and you'll know the route before the story stations go up.
Fruit Loops is a 2.3-mile loop with 209 feet of elevation gain. Mountain bikers use it too, and dogs aren't allowed. A trail runner's report from September 26, 2026 on AllTrails called the conditions great. A biking report from June 30 described fair conditions and some overgrowth. These are user snapshots, not official notices. This is also the trail the planned Southeast Oaks Drive restroom would serve, so a walk here gives you firsthand experience for that part of the survey.
Bair Canyon is the long one. It follows Bair Creek for about three miles, then climbs toward a ridgeline and Francis Peak. The trailhead lot is small and sits at the end of 1800 East, on the west side of the large city water tank. In the city's February records, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail segment is spelled "Bear Canyon." That's the gap the county-funded connection would close.
The Same Weekend, a Few Miles Off
Fable Forest shares its dates with Syracuse's Scarycuse Pumpkin Walk. That runs October 22 through 24, 6:30 to 9:30 pm, at Founders Park, 1700 S 1904 W. It's free and includes pumpkin displays, food trucks and a jazz band each night. Fable Forest starts at 6 and takes about 20 minutes, so you could do both on the same night. Thursday the 22nd also works for Syracuse alone.
The next week, Kaysville hosts Trunk or Treat in the Arboretum on October 30 from 3 to 5 pm. Kaysville's listing gives the location as USU Extension–Davis County, 875 S 50 W. It's free, and the city asks people to register ahead. A USU Botanical Center flyer for the same week lists 80 E. 725 S., so check the arrival address with the organizer.
Fruit Heights Dates Between Now and November
Here's the city's calendar from today through mid-November, with nearby events included:
- October 5: The community survey opens.
- October 6: City Council meets at City Hall, 910 South Mountain Road.
- October 7: Deadline to get a name added to the Veterans Memorial before Veterans Day. The application and $50 fee must arrive by this date.
- October 20: City Council meets.
- October 22–24: Scarycuse Pumpkin Walk at Founders Park in Syracuse.
- October 23–24: Fable Forest at Gailey Trail, 6 to 8 pm.
- October 27: Planning Commission meets.
- October 30: The community survey closes. Trunk or Treat in the Arboretum in Kaysville.
- November 1: Winter parking rules start. No overnight street parking from midnight to 8 am, and none during snowfall.
- November 10: City Council meets.
- November 17: Planning Commission meets.
The Veterans Memorial date is the most urgent. It's three days out. The memorial is a row of Utah sandstone markers between the flagpoles at City Hall, and when it was unveiled in 2024 it held 240 names of Fruit Heights residents who served in the military, with room to add more. The city calendar doesn't list a 2026 Veterans Day ceremony yet.
A few routine services are also wrapping up. Secondary irrigation water was scheduled to end September 15 or sooner. Green-waste pickup runs through November, and after that the green cart can be used as an extra garbage can. The survey closes October 30, which is the last weekday before winter parking starts. If you walk Gailey Trail on the 23rd or 24th, you'll still have six days to fill it out.
At Doxey Real Estate Group, we track what the city is deciding about its trails, courts and streets, because those decisions shape daily life on the bench above Kaysville. If you'd like to know how projects like the Bear Canyon connection or the Harvey Park courts might affect your street, we're glad to talk it through, and you can get a free home valuation whenever the timing is right for you.
