MONTEREY BAY COASTAL TRAIL
 

A regional shoreline trail along Monterey Bay has been a long-term goal of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District and others for many years. The concept began in the early 1970's when the Regional Park District capitalized on the recently completed Class 1 pedestrian/bicycle trail installed by Caltrans along the Highway 1 corridor from Marina into Seaside.

With a regional perspective, the District realized the future potential and benefits of a regional coastal trail. Taking the initiative, the District embarked on an ambitious course to acquire and dedicate the abandoned Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way that ceased serving the peninsula in the 1950's. With cooperation from the cities of Pacific Grove, Monterey, and Seaside, and with financial help from the Coastal Conservancy, almost five additional miles were added to the "Trail" by 1986.

With the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and California State Seashore in the early 1990's, the District began lobbying for designating the trail the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail.

The District's ultimate vision for the trail is a Class 1 or 2 dedicated pedestrian/bicycle path from Elkhorn Slough Estuarian Research Reserve through Castroville, past the Salinas River Wildlife Refuge and through Fort Ord State Beach to Point Lobos State Reserve. As an anchor trail, it is easy to envision a network of links between coastal communities and inland destinations.

The Monterey Bay Coastal Trail may one day extend along the entire bay as an integral link in a state-wide coastal trail.

Seven days a week the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail is alive with activity. A linear urban park, it snakes its way along the Monterey Peninsula shoreline for 29 miles.