You've probably already noticed the new pavement. Wedge Parkway feels different underfoot this year, smoother where it used to catch a wheel, wider where the shoulder used to disappear into gravel. If you've walked or biked the stretch between Mount Rose Highway and Whites Creek Lane recently, you were on a road that didn't exist in this form twelve months ago.
What you may not have connected yet is what's happening a few hundred yards further down that same corridor. The two changes are related, and understanding how explains more about the next few years in this part of South Reno than either one does alone.
The road finally caught up to the neighborhood
Wedge Parkway and Arrowcreek Parkway were showing their age. Both roads went in around the same era Saddlehorn itself was built, and by 2025 the Regional Transportation Commission had scheduled a full-depth reconstruction rather than another round of patching. The project replaced curb, gutter, and sidewalks, upgraded pedestrian ramps, and added something the corridor never had: a 10-foot paved multiuse path running along the east side of Wedge Parkway, plus clearer bike lane markings and an extended left-turn pocket onto Mount Rose Highway.
"Both roads are major arteries for people who live, work, and play in the area."
That's how the RTC's engineering manager framed the stakes when the project was announced. Work began in mid-October 2025 and wrapped in early January 2026, which means the path you're walking on right now has been open for roughly seven months. If your mental map of Wedge Parkway still has you dodging traffic on a crumbling shoulder, it's out of date.
The math that makes this more than a road story
Here's the part that changes how you should think about that new sidewalk. At the same time the RTC was resurfacing the corridor, permits were moving forward a few parcels south for a very different kind of project. The Gateway at Galena development, planned on just under 33 acres off Wedge Parkway next to the Redfield campus shared by the University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College, is slated to add 361 apartment units. The latest permit, filed in March 2026, covers mass grading to prepare the site for construction, with general contractor Pacific West describing plans for three distinct neighborhoods within it.
Set that number against what already exists a short walk away. Saddlehorn itself, across roughly 800 acres, holds about 430 homes total. One apartment project on the same corridor is on track to add nearly as many housing units as sit inside the entire established neighborhood it borders. That's not a reason for alarm, but it is a reason the RTC prioritized this reconstruction now instead of waiting another decade. The quiet new path you're using this summer was built ahead of the traffic its neighbors are about to generate, not after.
| Wedge Parkway | Before reconstruction | After (completed Jan. 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Pavement condition | Original surface, roughly 30 years old | Full-depth reconstruction |
| Curb, gutter, sidewalks | Original, deteriorating | Fully replaced |
| Pedestrian path | None | 10-foot paved multiuse path, east side |
| Bike lanes | Faded, inconsistent | Re-striped and clarified |
| Left turn onto Mt. Rose Hwy | Single short lane | Extended turn pocket |
Where the new path actually takes you
The obvious use for that path is the drive up Mount Rose Highway to Galena Creek Regional Park, seven miles up from the highway's junction with I-580, and if you haven't been up since the road work finished, the timing this month is good. The park's Snow Plant, the unmistakable blood-red spike that pushes up through the pine duff along most of the trail system, is typically past its bloom by early July, so what you'll find in August is the quieter, greener version of the same trails without the early-summer wildflower crowds.
A few worth knowing by name if you haven't hiked them recently:
- Jones Creek Loop – 1.5 miles, easy, the shortest complete loop in the park and a reasonable after-dinner walk
- Jones and Whites Creek Trail to Church's Pond – 6.6 miles, rated hard, climbs to a genuine alpine pond with views toward Slide Mountain and Washoe Lake
- Bitterbrush Trail – 0.4 miles, the flat connector between the park's north and south sides, doubles as a cross-country ski route in winter
- Nature Trail – roughly 1 mile with 18 numbered posts tied to a printed guide on the park's ecology and history
Marilyn's Pond, tucked into the park, remains the easiest fishing spot in the area for anyone bringing kids along. It's also bear country, so the park's standard reminder about securing food and trash applies whether you're on a two-hour hike or a ten-minute picnic.
Closer to home, Saddlehorn Park and Whites Creek Park still cover the everyday version of outdoor time. Tennis courts, horseshoe pits, a playground, and picnic and barbecue spots mean you don't need the drive up the highway for a Tuesday evening outside.
The tee box got the same treatment
Wolf Run Golf Club, the public 18-hole course that also serves as home turf for the University of Nevada's Wolf Pack golf teams, went through its own round of upgrades recently. The driving range was remodeled, and the facility added a 100-yard short game area for chipping and sand shots, a new practice putting green, and a chipping green with patio seating. None of it requires a membership. If your image of Wolf Run is still the older, more basic range setup, it's worth a return visit before you write it off as just a place to hit range balls before a tee time.
The rest of the loop
If the walk or the round ends with a stop for food, the shopping center a short drive from Saddlehorn covers most of what a weeknight needs without a trip into central Reno: a Sprouts Farmers Market for groceries, plus Chipotle, Panda Express, Blaze Pizza, and Jersey Mike's for the nights nobody wants to cook. None of it is destination dining, but all of it is close enough to fold into an errand run without adding twenty minutes to your evening.
What to expect next
Beyond Gateway at Galena, construction is also underway on a Valage Senior Living assisted-living facility on a parcel just north of Galena High School, between the Reno Orthopedic Center building and South Reno United Methodist Church. Combined with the apartment project down the road, the corridor outside Saddlehorn is adding density in two different directions at once: multifamily housing aimed at university-adjacent renters, and a care facility aimed at an older population. Neither changes anything inside the gates of Saddlehorn itself, but both will show up as more cars turning on and off Wedge Parkway over the next few years, which is exactly why the RTC didn't wait to fix the road first.
For now, the corridor is in the good part of that timeline. The path is finished, the range is remodeled, and the trails are past peak bloom but still green. The construction that will eventually add real traffic is still in the grading and framing stage, months if not years from generating daily trip counts. If you've been putting off a walk up to Church's Pond or a bucket of balls at Wolf Run because you remembered the old version of the corridor, this is the window before it gets busier.
If you're weighing a move within Saddlehorn or into one of the other South Reno foothill communities and want a read on how these changes might affect timing or value, Smith Real Estate Group knows this corridor block by block. Let's talk about your next move in Reno/Sparks.
