The next mile of the Napa River path is being built by a floodwall contractor, and the trail comes along with the wall. Earlier this year the City of Napa described the Napa RiverLine as a community-led vision along 4.3 miles of the river. The path you'll walk in 2028 is being poured now, though, on a construction schedule set by the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The one stretch where the design is still open is Riverside Drive.
That changes how the river looks this November, whether you walk it every morning or only when guests are in town.
The newest trail is a byproduct of the wall
In April, officials gathered behind the River Terrace Inn to break ground on the next phase of the flood project. The Press Democrat reported that Suisun City-based Shimmick Construction Co. would build 7,586 feet of new floodwall and 3,227 feet of new trail under a $32.8 million contract. That works out to roughly one foot of new trail for every two feet of new wall. The trail is part of the job, but the wall is the main event.
The County's April announcement puts the new trail between the River Terrace Inn and Lincoln Avenue, where it joins the existing trail running north toward Trancas Street. The schedule published at groundbreaking ran in sequence:
- South of Lincoln Avenue: 2,377 feet of wall from Lincoln down to the area behind the River Terrace Inn, May 2026 to March 2027.
- Lincoln Avenue bridge: improvements in June 2026.
- North of Lincoln Avenue: 4,080 feet of wall from the bridge to just south of the Elks Lodge, starting August 2026 and expected to finish in March 2028.
The Napa County Times put completion of the River Terrace Inn to Lincoln trail work at "early 2028." By the April schedule, both reaches are active this fall: crews should be working south of Lincoln and north of it at the same time.
What you can walk this November
The Napa River & Bay Trail listing on Napa Outdoors shows three City of Napa access segments: Kennedy Park, Kennedy Park to Third Street, and Lincoln Avenue to Trancas Street. All three are multi-use and suitable for walking and cycling. Downtown, the Press Democrat has described the Oxbow trails as linking through the Oxbow Bypass toward the downtown Riverfront.
The northern segment is the one most affected by construction. The federal environmental review for this phase says the work requires closing the Napa River Trail between Lincoln Avenue and Trancas Street, with detours and signage. It also says the paved trail in the Dry Bypass is subject to closure. The City has posted a temporary trail closures map that marks the work area and the Trancas, Elks Club and Lincoln access points. Closure limits shift as crews move, so check the posted signs at Lincoln before planning a loop north toward Trancas.
Here is how the 4.3 miles break down by stretch, who controls each one, and where it stands:
| Stretch | Who is shaping it | Status heading into November |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Avenue to Trancas Street | Flood District, Shimmick Construction | Existing trail; construction zone north of Lincoln through about March 2028 |
| River Terrace Inn to Lincoln Avenue | Flood District, Shimmick Construction | New trail being built with the wall; first reach scheduled to finish March 2027 |
| Oxbow Commons and the downtown Riverfront | City, RiverLine nonprofit | Walkable; washed-out segment behind Oxbow Public Market and CIA at Copia listed for repair |
| Hatt building to Imola Avenue, along Riverside Drive | Flood District, with public input | Design paused at about 35 percent |
Riverside Drive is the stretch still being decided
At the south end, the Flood District has stopped drawing. The Press Democrat reported on Oct. 2 that design of the final reach, from the Hatt building downtown to Imola Avenue, was paused while the district gathered community feedback. "We want to take time to make sure the design best incorporates the community's current needs and preferences," flood district manager CJ DiMaggio said at an Oct. 1 meeting at the Napa Valley Yacht Club. The same report counted about 70 people in the room, with more watching online. Residents had asked for a more engaged planning process and raised concerns about how a wall would look along the river.
The current design, as the Press Democrat described it, matters most to people who walk this stretch:
- Wall: three to six feet tall depending on the ground, planned in steel sheet pile.
- Trail: runs south from downtown on the water side of the wall, then moves to the land side from the Yacht Club to Imola Avenue.
- Access: five gates in the wall, three of them for pedestrians.
- Street: most of the Riverside Drive area would become one-way heading north toward downtown, with a vehicle barrier.
District engineer Andrew Butler also outlined an option to turn Riverside Drive between Pine Street and Oak Street into a car-free greenway. He described lower-profile wall types too. A pop-up wall would cost five to 10 times as much per linear foot as sheet pile. A wall with removable aluminum panels needs warning time and trained crews to set it up. DiMaggio said the more "extravagant" options were unlikely to be financially feasible along the whole wall.
Two things set this reach apart from the north. Community contact Joseph Panchesson said the project was at about the 35 percent design stage after roughly a year and a half, and that decisions such as where the wall openings go would be made by 65 percent. Where you'd step through the wall onto the river path hasn't been decided yet. The district also said it would put stakes along Riverside Drive to show how high the wall would be. If the stakes are up, you can see the proposed height on an ordinary walk.
The County's feedback form on the Napa River floodwall project page closed on 10/16/26. The Flood Control District's Oct. 27 meeting agenda did not list an item to lift the pause. The County says future project meetings will be announced through its Flood Project Email List. Panchesson said staff would go back to the flood control board once they felt they could respond to the comments.
The RiverLine is working with what the wall leaves behind
The RiverLine is the effort to tie these pieces into one riverfront. Its role makes more sense once you know who is pouring the concrete. The City says the Napa RiverLine Strategic Plan was finished in October 2025 with support from a $250,000 U.S. Economic Development Administration grant. A nonprofit formed in 2026 to carry the vision forward. In the City's March 30 update, board chair Steve Carlin said the nonprofit "provides the structure needed to support fundraising, coordinate design and bring together the many elements that will shape the riverfront into a destination for the entire community."
The same update says the north floodwall is laying the trail foundation the RiverLine will build on and connect to the City's wider active transportation network. It also notes that the wall construction is separate from the RiverLine initiative. In practice, the Flood District sets where the trail goes and when, and the RiverLine adds what makes it feel like one route.
The plan's implementation blueprint shows what that means in the near term. Its "early wins" are organizational and visible: forming the nonprofit, setting up maintenance and funding agreements, coordinating with existing community events, creating RiverLine branding and wayfinding, and celebrating flood-control construction. Its near-term trail actions are close to the market:
- Short-term wayfinding and tactical urbanism.
- A better First Street connection between downtown and Oxbow Commons.
- Repair of the washed-out riverfront trail behind Oxbow Public Market and CIA at Copia.
The plan also lists a near-term crossing from First Street to the Soscol Gateway Transit Center and the Third Street parking lot. Feasibility work exists for it, but construction funding is still being pursued. Two other crossings are still at the study stage: one between the River Terrace Inn and Oxbow Preserve, and one between the Veterans Memorial Park promenade and Oxbow Commons. When the plan was released, the Press Democrat reported ideas for a RiverLine Station at the Flood Control District building and a River House near the Yacht Club or the Imola bridge.
The route's southern end is described two ways. The City ends it at Imola Avenue. The Press Democrat's coverage of the plan ends it at Tannery Bend. Either way, it finishes along the Riverside Drive reach, the one the Flood District is still designing. The RiverLine's southern gathering places will depend on where that wall and trail end up.
A November afternoon by the river
The downtown riverfront has a good reason for a visit this month. Napa's Día de los Muertos takes over Veterans Park on Brown Street on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 3 to 8 p.m., with art, tradition, music, dance and food. From there, you can walk north along the Riverfront toward the Oxbow, which is the stretch the RiverLine plan names first for wayfinding and repair.
Later in the month, a walk south along Riverside Drive is a chance to look for the height stakes the district said it would place there. A walk north past Lincoln Avenue shows the other half of the story, where the new path is going in alongside the wall.
If you're weighing a property near the river path and want a clear read on what's planned nearby, Hillary Ryan Group can walk you through it. Request a private consultation.
