Trailhead at Keystone Canyon
Creating a hillside residential community that balances neighborhood living, trail connectivity, and the surrounding mountain landscape.
Set within Reno’s mountain landscape, Trailhead at Keystone Canyon is a 115-unit single-family attached residential community designed to make the most of a challenging hillside setting. Located within the larger Keystone Canyon Planned Unit Development, the 10.9-acre neighborhood balances residential density with more than six acres of open space and common areas while providing direct connections to the regional trail network.
RVi led the entitlement and planning process, using careful site design to respond to steep terrain, preserve the natural character of the site, and create a cohesive, walkable neighborhood. Hillside-adaptive architecture, shared amenities, pedestrian connections, and extensive landscape and revegetation strategies work together to integrate the community into its mountain setting while supporting recreation and everyday neighborhood life.
GOALS
Developing a compact residential neighborhood on steep terrain required balancing density, access, open space, and the visual character of the surrounding landscape. As part of the larger Keystone Canyon PUD, Trailhead also needed to carry forward the broader community vision while responding to the opportunities and constraints of its individual site.
RVi’s planning and entitlement approach focused on organizing 115 attached residences in a way that worked with the hillside rather than against it. Site planning coordinated hillside-adaptive buildings and integrated garages with pedestrian circulation, shared amenities, guest parking, and open space while minimizing visual impacts on the surrounding mountain landscape.
Maintaining connections to the outdoors was equally important. More than six acres of open space and common areas, together with connections to the Keystone Canyon trail network and nearby U.S. Forest Service trailheads, were incorporated into the neighborhood framework to preserve public access and make recreation an integral part of the community.
OUTCOMES
The completed community brings together housing, recreation, and open space within a compact hillside neighborhood shaped by its setting. A clubhouse and pool serve as shared community destinations, while formal and informal gathering spaces provide opportunities for residents to connect. Pedestrian routes link homes with these amenities and the larger trail system, creating a more cohesive and walkable neighborhood experience.
Landscape and revegetation strategies play an important role in integrating development into the hillside. Planting and site design support slope stabilization, environmental stewardship, and visual quality while helping the community maintain a relationship with the natural character of Keystone Canyon.
Direct trail connections extend that relationship beyond the neighborhood, linking residents to the Keystone Canyon trail network and nearby U.S. Forest Service trailheads while maintaining public access. Through land planning, site design, entitlement, and open space design, RVi transformed the constraints of a steep site into a framework for a connected residential community that embraces both the recreational opportunities and mountain landscape surrounding it.
*Photography courtesy of Stonehaven Construction & Development
