The Great Redwood Trail Plan

Do you dream of exploring & fishing miles and miles of the wild & scenic Eel River canyon? Read up on the Great Redwood Trail plan. Senator McGuire's SB 1029 — the Great Redwood Trail Act — calls for a trail beside miles of the North Coast rail - eventually connecting SF and Humboldt Bays.

The canyon that the North Coast rail travels through is a wild, remote place with few public access points, rich in wildlife, with an officially designated wild and scenic river flowing by a slide-damaged railroad and collapsed tunnels. The trail will wind through wine country, the Russian and Eel Rivers, through old growth Redwood forests, and up to Humboldt Bay. This project aims to turn an environmental and fiscal liability into a public asset, and aims to bring much needed tourism revenue to the North Coast region and provide access to an incredible stretch of the Eel River.

The Great Redwood Trail is one step closer to reality with unanimous approval from the California State Senate. The North Coast Railroad Authority, which has managed the entire 316-mile rail line from Napa to Arcata for the past 29 years, is not standing in the way of McGuire’s plan.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Great Redwood Trail plan clears more hurdles
https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2019/04/11/great-redwood-trail-plan-clears-more-hurdles/

Gov. Brown signs bill paving way for 300-mile North Coast trail
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8794656-181/gov-brown-signs-bill-paving

Great Redwood Trail plan unanimously approved by California Senate
https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2018/05/31/great-redwood-trail-bill-unanimously-approved-by-california-senate/

North Coast’s Great Redwood Trail would convert decaying railway into 320-mile pathway
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9258152-181/north-coasts-great-redwood-trail

Gaye LeBaron: Great Redwood Trail proposal a worthy idea
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8470393-181/gaye-lebaron-great-redwood-trail

California Senate approves bill to create trail from San Francisco to Humboldt Bay
http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20180531/california-senate-approves-bill-to-create-trail-between-san-francisco-and-humboldt-bay

Proposed rail plan envisions ‘world class’ North Coast hiking trail
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8114152-181/proposed-rail-plan-envisions-world

Text of Senator McGuire's Senate Bill 1029 (SB-1029)
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1029

Image Credit: Heading south through a light mist, California Western "Skunk" 300 meets Eureka Southern 31 arriving with last trip of the season for "North Coast Daylight". October 28, 1989. - Ruth Rockefeller photo