The Hammond Trail is a northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

along the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

in Humboldt County. The hiking and biking trail follows the historic

Hammond Lumber Company Hammond Lumber Company was a logging and resource extraction company operating in Humboldt County, CA. History In 1892, Vance Lumber Company purchased the Humboldt Bay frontage from Samoa Land and Improvement Company for construction of a large s ...

's Humboldt Northern Railway grade from the Mad River to

Little River State Beach Little River State Beach is a protected beach of California, United States, in Humboldt County. It is located at the mouth of the Little River, north of Eureka right off U.S. Route 101. The park was established in 1931. The site is a broa ...

Route

The southern end of Hammond trail is on the north bank of the Mad River. The trail follows Fischer Avenue climbing into the western edge of McKinleyville where a separate trail begins along the east side of Fischer Avenue from School Street to Hiller Park. Leaving Hiller park the trail enters woodlands along the eastern edge of the McKinleyville

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

ponds and emerges atop a steep bluff above the north bank of the Mad River. At Murray Road trail users may either follow the west branch of the trail above the Mad River to reach the Widow White Creek interpretive trail or travel east on Murray Road to turn north again where the east branch of the trail follows the west side of

highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...

. Following convergence with the eastern end of the Widow White Creek interpretive trail, Hammond Trail continues north along Letz Avenue and then past a highway 101 vista point where the trail leaves the former railroad grade to drop into the Clam Beach County Park

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s between the Pacific coast and highway 101.

History

The southern portion of Hammond Trail was built on an abandoned

logging railroad A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled logs to sawmills or railway stations. In most cases th ...

which once carried

redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...

logs to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s from forests between

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and Big Lagoon until a 1945

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

destroyed many of the wooden

trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles trian ...

s. The last logging train ran on 23 August 1948. Trail construction began in 1979 and was completed in 2001. Hammond Trail is a segment of the

California Coastal Trail The California Coastal Trail, or CCT, is an environmental project by the California Coastal Conservancy, an organization developed to enhance coastal resources and promote access to the shore in 2001. The trail is designed to connect the enti ...

Facilities

Some of the trail has

asphalt concrete Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parkin ...

pavement while other segments have a gravel surface. Public

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

s are available at Hiller Park and at Clam Beach County Park, where camping facilities are also available.

Leash A leash (also called a lead, lead line or tether) is a rope or similar material used to control an animal by attaching it to a collar, harness, or halter. In British English, a leash is generally for a larger (possibly dangerous or aggressive) ...

ed dogs are allowed on the trail.

References

{{coord missing, Humboldt County, California Parks in Humboldt County, California Rail trails in California Transportation in Humboldt County, California National Recreation Trails in California