Kingfisher Wetland Loop and Fort Buenaventura Park

The Kingfisher Wetland trail is a beautiful little loop trail that is a wonderful hidden gem right outside the heart of downtown Ogden. It offers some really incredible views and is really easy. With the wonderful extended fall season and warm weather, we had a really tough decision to make between staying low elevation and seeing more fall color, or getting in one last warm day in the mountains. So I chose this trail to get some color in, and a view of the mountains. Win win.

View from OOH-A Viewpoint.

Lower pond.

Quick Details:

Length: About 2 miles
Difficulty: DR3. Super easy, mostly paved.
Elevation Gain: About 30 feet.
Restroom: I did see one in Fort Buenaventura Park.
Dogs? Yes, leashed.

To Get Here:

Take the 24th street exit in Ogden. Turn right on A street, then left on Capital St. follow that down to the small parking lot before the bridge over the river.

The Trail:

You will park before the gate and bridge near the sign for Fort Buenaventura Park. The trail is to the right.

To reach the Kingfisher Wetlands you will take a short walk along the Centennial Trail for about a half mile.

The Centennial Trail will eventually fully connect The Ogden River Trail, The Weber River Trail, and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to make a full circle around the Weber Valley.

They have added a disc golf course.

Nice paved walkway.

The Weber River is quite a bit lower on water right now than it was when we were here in February.

The fall colors aren’t completely over yet.

The Weber River. We explored the upper section of this river in Weber Canyon just last weekend.

About a half mile from the trailhead you will reach the loop trail. You can go either way, but I think I prefer to go right here, counterclockwise. The elevation gain is much more gradual.

Small glimpse of the lower pond.

The loop is not paved, but its wide and obstacle free.

Landis tells me this is the old Pillsbury factory.

The upper pond is dry right now.

Little bridge over the creek. This is the way to go for the shortest loop. Last time we were here we kept going a little ways and made a medium loop (add about 1/8 of a mile), or there is the full outer loop which will add about 4/10th of a mile.

Last push to the top of the hill.

We made it to Ooh-A Viewpoint. It really is a spectacular viewpoint that shows Mount Ogden really well. It;s a shame we missed the full color, but it is still lovely.

Panoramic.

The old Pillsbury Factory again. I guess now it is Nutrina Feed.

Here is where the outer loop connects to the main trail again. So, if you decided to do it, be sure to come this way a little bit to see the Ooh-A Viewpoint.

The mountains again.

The trail down. I guess it’s not so bad, but it seems to be a little more steep.

Nice boardwalk.

Nearing the end of the loop we come to the Crows Nest.

The lower pond and Ben Lomond.

Duckies!

Front and back of The Crows Nest. Last time we were here we climbed it, but today we had the dogs and we didn’t want to do that. It does offer a pretty great view of Ben Lomond though.

Back on the main trail.

We decided to explore a little further south. Last time we were here this tunnel was flooded and impassable so we thought we explore a little more.

Under the overpass.

That is a weird, thin bridge. We weren’t sure if it was a single lane road, or a pedestrian bridge… we later discovered it is a train bridge, Seems awfully high for one, but I guess it needs to cross the Weber River, and some other tracks..

Some pretty color.

Heading back under the bridge.

Little waterfall.

Little bit of color.

The bridge over the river.

Blind Viewer.

Nice view of the lower pond from here.

A couple signs showing the various birds you might see here. So far we’ve only seen ducks.

Some more color along the trail.

There are a couple thin trails down to the river. This one was my favorite.

The dogs seemed to like it too.

This hill is named, but I can’t think of it.

Some more color along the river.

View from the bridge.

There was a little map on the other side of the bridge and we saw there was a trail through Fort Buenaventura Park that would get us back to the car and didn’t seem much longer, so we decided to go for it.

Pretty forest.

Even the restroom is old timey themed within the park.

The canoe pond. Looking quite a bit low on water.

After the pond the trail goes back to paved.

Looks like a recently downed tree.

Where the canoe pond connects to the Weber River.

Old bench.

Camp area.

Some color along the river.

.

Beautiful colors.

However, we are definitely hitting the tail end of it.

Crossing over the river again.

After this we decided to make a quick stop at the 21st Street Pond.

Mount Ogden above the city (DBP).

Here you can see that thin train bridge we hiked under where it goes over the other railroad tracks (DBP).

Downtown Ogden (DBP).

Little bit of fall color here as well.

Quick panoramic.

Very pretty. I am glad we made the extra stop.

This lake is very lovely and there are trails all around it. We’ve only done it in winter so far, but might have to come back sometime with warmer whether now.

We had a wonderful day of adventuring. I am super glad we ended up where we did because we got to enjoy one last day of fall colors while enjoying some mountain views. It would seem not a lot of Ogdenites are aware of this amazing trail right outside their town as it was pretty deserted today, as well as the last time we were here. Both times we were here we did not see much in the way of birds but we did enjoy the scenery. Going with a 8 out of 10 rating today.

As for difficulty, It is mostly paved and flat, and what isn’t is wide and fairly gradual. Going with a DR3.

Dogs are allowed, but as far as I know must be leashed.