Great Redwood Trail gets $12.4 million for Humboldt build-out

The Great Redwood Trail has moved out of the planning drawer and into a funded build-out phase, with $12.4 million in first-round Climate Bond money aimed at priority segments in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties. For Humboldt County, that means the long-promised rail-to-trail corridor is no longer just a concept tied to maps and meetings, but a public investment that now has to deliver visible work on the ground.

The funding comes after the Great Redwood Trail Agency approved its master plan in March 2026, following more than three years of community engagement. Agency leaders say the plan is meant to guide design, construction and management of the northern segment, which follows the former Northwestern Pacific Railroad right-of-way through Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt counties. State materials describe the full trail as a roughly 320-mile multi-use corridor linking San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay.

That geographic reach is part of the accountability test. The agency says the bond money can support trail development, Tribal cultural resource preservation, and cleanup or restoration tied to the old railroad alignment. The master plan also says work may be phased by segment, with the pace shaped by permitting, funding, staff capacity and additional engineering analysis. In other words, the money can start the process, but it will not build the whole corridor at once.

The public dollars behind the project are substantial. State bond-accountability records identify a $50 million Great Redwood Trail priority under Proposition 4 and Public Resources Code section 94030, and the California State Coastal Conservancy is the agency responsible for the appropriation. A June 18 Coastal Conservancy staff report authorized up to $10 million for the Great Redwood Trail Agency to plan, design and construct trail segments in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties. The master-plan executive summary says the northern segment alone is expected to generate $102,568,000 in annual benefits.

Sen. Mike McGuire said the project is already well underway, noting that more than 40 percent of the trail is either under construction or fully built. For North Coast communities, the next measure of success will be whether this new round of climate bond money translates into safer access, stronger tourism, wildfire and climate resilience, and a corridor that finally starts to connect Humboldt Bay to the rest of the route.