On April 16, 2024, the Great Redwood Trail Agency Executive Director, Elaine Hogan, hosted a webinar introducing the Draft Master Plan for the 307-mile Great Redwood Trail network. This condensed overview, likened to “Cliff Notes” by project manager Jeff Knowles, outlined the trail’s route through Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt Counties, repurposing existing railroad tracks. However, the plan faced challenges, including public input, logistical issues, and environmental considerations. Yet, advocates predict the trail’s ability to transform the region’s landscape and economy.
The Great Redwood Trail covers 231 miles of the trail through Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt Counties. The Smart Train agency is responsible for the southern portion of the trail in Sonoma and Marin counties. In those counties, there will be a rail for the Smart Train, with a pathway alongside the railroad tracks for trail use.
In Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt Counties, the trail will be built on top of the existing railroad tracks. This is called “railbanking.” They leave the tracks intact under the trail in case someone ever wants to operate a train again. There was a public comment during the webinar, asking that the tracks not be buried, and to reinstate the railroad from Willits to Cloverdale. The railroad has been gone for decades, but railroad advocates are opposed to burying the tracks on this trail section.
Prior to the the webinar, we skimmed through the 586-page Draft Master Plan prepared by the GRTA, focusing on sections that pertain to Mendocino County.
82% of the trail is adjacent to private property, but in Mendocino County, almost 90% of the trail runs along private property. Many property owners have expressed concerns about fire danger, illegal camping, and possible damage to vineyards and ranchland alongside the trail. The section from the Laughlin area of Redwood Valley to Willits is heavily overgrown requiring extensive work, and is not one of the first sections that will be built. The planners are focusing on sections that are ready to be built, mainly in towns and on public land.
Having attended prior public workshops held by the trail planners, we noticed items contained in the Plan that were mere suggestions from the public at these workshops, without plans in place to actually implement them. At the workshops, attendees were encouraged to make comments on index cards or post-it notes listing things they would like to see on the trail, or concerns they have about the trail. Scrolling through the 586 pages of the Plan, it looks like some of the Post-it notes were incorporated into the Plan, even though there is no evidence that anyone from the GRTA is in the process of following through.
For example: p. 275 shows the section going through Redwood Valley. The map contains comments about the Redwood Valley School property possibly being used as a trail campground, and the Redwood Riders Arena as a point of trail entry for equestrians.
After the webinar, Louisa Morris, from the Coastal Conservancy, an agency working with the GRTA, confirmed that neither of these items is actively being planned for, and to her knowledge, the GRTA has not contacted the Ukiah Unified School District, nor the Redwood Riders.
The Redwood Valley, Willits, and Hopland sections are marked Tier 1, which refers to the highest priority in line for construction. The Hopland train station and pear sheds are already owned by the GRTA, and will be turned into public open space, with art installations, a play area, and an urban trail running through Hopland.
The Eel River Canyon Preserve is another Tier 1 section. GRTA planners see this section as a crown jewel in California’s public open space. There will be opportunities for kayaking, camping, and swimming along the Eel River.
The webinar opened with an acknowledgment by the GRTA and the Coastal Conservancy of the harm created by colonization and railroads to the Tribal people.
The Planners have contacted the Tribes on the Native American Heritage Commission list and have held meetings, workshops, and events. Tribal representatives have requested that the trail not be built across sacred sites. The trail will be rerouted around those portions. The Planners hope the Tribes will engage with stewardship and partnership in building the trail. The GRTA wants to protect species, restore the ecology, and anticipate creating jobs to accomplish those goals. Survey results presented at the webinar indicate 83.5% of tribal members support the trail.
The railroad tracks are in pretty bad shape in a lot of places. This part of California has sliding soil and there are many landslides, bridges, and blocked tunnels to mitigate. GRTA will identify problem areas that require trash cleanup. Planners argue the process of building the GRT provides a huge opportunity to clean up toxic waste left behind by the railroad and to restore habitat for native species. The tunnels need assessments by structural engineers. Some will be retrofitted, and the trail will be rerouted around others. The Island Mountain tunnel is over half a mile long with bat colonies inside. The trail will be rerouted around that section. Old culverts need to be removed. Planners will use a different type of drainage system, rather than replacing every culvert.
The trail in Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt Counties is planned to be a backcountry trail, with paved urban and multi-use trails going through towns such as Hopland, Ukiah, and Willits.
The signage and imagery for the GRT have been designed. The signs are for “Way Finding,” and they are branded with the GRT logo. Trail users should have consistent trail experience across different portions of the trail, with the same look and feel to the signs. Solar-powered call boxes will be placed along the trail for emergencies.
Louisa Morris spoke about governance, operations, and maintenance plans. The GRTA is seeking right-of-way agreements with neighbors and will be connecting to communities along the trail. The Planners are working on policies for fire prevention, emergency trail closures, illegal camping, rules, regulations, and fencing. A permit system may be used for backcountry sections. This will limit how many people can use the backcountry section at one time and will give first responders an idea of who is on the trail in case emergency evacuation is needed.
Safety procedures will be in place before the backcountry portions are open. In the next fiscal year, the GRTA will connect with Calfire and local fire departments along the trail route to discuss safety procedures, and to begin a comprehensive vegetation management program. The vegetative maintenance is important for fire safety and keeping the trail signs visible.
The Planners will contact Chambers of Commerce and other businesses in the towns along the trail, to discuss business opportunities generated by trail users, such as restaurants, shopping, hotels, campgrounds, etc. The Planners anticipate different entities acting as rangers and operations managers. In some areas the trail may be managed by Tribes, and in others by State Parks or Bureau of Land Management.
Jeff Knowles said, “307 miles is not going to happen overnight.” The Draft Master Plan does not include design details. The Plan contains an implementation flow chart. Funding needs to be secured before segments are built. Funding is also needed for ongoing maintenance and management.
The public was welcome to comment. A caller demanded better access for disabled people. He suggested the use of a terrain hopper, an electric four-wheel-drive mobility vehicle, as most of the trail is not accessible to the disabled.
The next caller requested that most of the toxics be cleaned up before the trail is open. Knowles replied that the issue of toxic cleanup will be addressed during May’s meeting to discuss the PEIR.
The Plan states that funding is expected to use federal and state money, nonprofit partnerships, grants, and “nontraditional sources,” as yet undefined.
The Plan predicts the economic benefit of approximately one hundred million dollars annually generated by trail users in communities along the trail, with close to fifty million dollars benefitting Mendocino County.
You can view the Draft Master Plan and leave online comments at this link.
The next step is going to be the Program Environmental Impact Report, which will be publicly discussed at the May 14 Scoping meeting. Register here.
The Eel is gonna be taken over by yuppies in kayaks….they’re gonna want convenient stores and shitters. We can’t even keep 1 open toilet inside Ukiah except at city park. A few weeks ago my neighbors in rural RV called the cops at night cause a barefoot tweeker crashed a stolen truck in their front yard and pounded on their windows No one came till morning when the truck was reported stolen.
I sure hope the money that the trail is supposedly gonna rake in goes towards providing basic community services to the rural people who will be giving up their backyards for these tourists.
it began as a con—Senator McGuire hysterically citing a phony coal company taking over of the old line—and it will continue as a con for GRT appointees via the Democrat party.
The Great Redwood Encampment(s)
Coming to a trail near you!
Tourism, financial opportunities, job growth, land protection, and getting more people to explore Mendo and Humboldt. This is going to be great!
Having just finished reading the previous article about what happened in Hopland
and being somewhat cynical and an extraordinary clairvoyant I have visions of a resurgence the of the lowly Highwayman from the days of old.
Like the old saying goes history has a way of repeating itself.The question is will he- they
or she- they be atop of a horse or mule or on a quad or e.bike? Go ahead and deride if you
will naive wokesters but prepare yourselves to hear the age old saying Stand And Deliver!
$50 million a year for Mendo? That would be about a thousand hikers a week each dropping $1000 along the way. It was only a few years ago that legal cannabis was going to transform the local economy.
I hope nobody is equating economic benefits as revenue.
As the largest slice of the pie is listed as the following on page 472.
Mortality Reduction Benefits from Walking – $33,991,000
Might as well monetize unicorn farts at this point.
Hey man, unicorns poop rainbow sherbert, so I’m sure there has to be a stable biz model there.
Outlaw camp highway
Black Bart missed his chance. Now he could have camped and robbed his way up four counties.
Suburban/Out of State/International tourist onslaught. Will definitely transform this area forever. Quiet Mendocino County? Enjoy it will you still can.
I just love the DEI photo they chose to use from the “master plan”. It really represents Mendo. Hah not. 62.2% of mendo is white. 1.1% is black. Hispanic is 28% and Native is 6.6%. Why are all the Anglos far off in the background and the black woman is front and center. Who’s ass are you kissing?
It’s called diversity and fairness Bradley and addressing inequality and fostering inclusion for all marginalized people.That said who among us really gives two shits about what race or color people are? I don’t and I do not feel that you do either.
There are the good ones and there’s the bad ones that make a big mess and prey upon the rest.Unfortunately for those of us who feel that the whole thing is a bad idea we will just have to woke up and get use to it because sadly it’s a done deal.Thanks to the progressive leaning and dishonest politicians and their cronies as well as the people that support them and the one party system.