The Napa River Trail Is Being Finished by Floodwall Crews, One Stretch at a Time

North of the Napa River Bypass, the most important trail work in the city has started, but most residents won't think of it as trail work. On April 1, 2026, the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on the next phase of the Napa River/Napa Creek Flood Protection Project. Congressman Mike Thompson and Napa Mayor Scott Sedgley were among the speakers. The trail comes with the floodwalls. This phase extends the Napa River Trail from the River Terrace Inn north to Lincoln Avenue and adds a lighted pedestrian crossing at Lincoln. The County says that will create a continuous walkable path from Trancas Street to Kennedy Park, with construction expected to finish in early 2028.

That is how Napa's river walk gets built. The long, connected path that keeps showing up in renderings and plans arrives in floodwall-sized pieces, on a calendar set by federal flood-control funding. The newer RiverLine name, and the nonprofit behind it, is a layer of identity and programming placed over that schedule.

Why the Trail Follows the Wall

Earlier this year, the District and the Corps signed an agreement securing about $48.3 million in federal funding. That money covers the remaining floodwalls in two reaches. One runs north of the Napa River Bypass. The other runs south from the Hatt Building to Imola Avenue. Each reach adds roughly a mile of floodwall along the river's western bank, and the April groundbreaking started the northern one. The District manages construction and seeks federal reimbursement as the authorized work is completed.

The trail pieces track that sequence. The City's RiverLine Strategic Plan says the northern zone "will be the first segment to be completed" and will come with flood control walls, bank stabilization and standard trail conditions. For the southern reach from Division Street to Imola Avenue, the plan puts the trail beside Riverside Drive north of the Napa Valley Yacht Club, with a low wall on the river side. South of the Yacht Club, the trail moves to the river side of the new floodwall. The plan's implementation schedule estimates 2029/30 for that southern wall and trail.

So each time a floodwall phase is finished, the walk gains another stretch.

The River Walk You Can Use This Winter, North to South

Read north to south, the existing pieces show exactly where the current construction fits:

1. Trancas Crossing Park. The northern anchor, with 33 acres of open space by the river, according to Visit Napa Valley's July 2026 river guide.
2. Lincoln Avenue to Trancas Street. An existing segment, listed by Napa Outdoors without parking or restrooms.
3. River Terrace Inn to Lincoln Avenue. The gap now under construction, which will be closed by the extension and the lighted Lincoln crossing.
4. The downtown Riverfront Promenade. Runs from the historic Hatt Building to the First Street Bridge and was completed in 2007. Napa County describes it as lined with businesses, restaurants and public art.
5. Third Street to Kennedy Park. A segment Napa Outdoors lists without parking or restrooms.
6. Kennedy Park toward the Imola bridge. Kennedy Park is the trailhead with parking and restrooms, and Visit Napa Valley lists the walk from the park to the Imola Street bridge as one of the river's better trails.

Across the water, Oxbow Preserve is another river-adjacent walk. Kennedy Park also has a boat launch, and the city boat dock at Fourth Street has been rebuilt. If you'd rather see the river from a kayak or paddleboard, Napa Native Tours and Napa Valley Paddle both rent equipment and run tours from downtown.

The list shows how far along the northern reach is. Once the River Terrace Inn link is done, a walker could start at Trancas and finish at Kennedy Park without leaving the path. The one remaining break in the middle of town is at First Street.

The Break at First Street

The RiverLine plan is direct about the Downtown-to-Oxbow crossing. People walking between the two districts currently use existing sidewalks, trails and street-level circulation at First Street. The plan describes those routes as roundabout or exposed to traffic. The proposed fix would run under First Street, cross Napa Creek on a short bridge, and join the existing riverwalk promenade at Second Street. A separate feasibility review is proposed for the link between the Riverfront Promenade at Veterans Memorial Park and Oxbow Commons.

The new sign is the one visible change at this crossing. This summer, an illuminated "THE OXBOW" sign went up over First Street. The City says the location was chosen because First Street is a main route from Downtown into the Oxbow and the sign can be seen from Soscol Avenue. The City's account says the Downtown Napa Property and Business Improvement District approved $150,000 for design and fabrication in August 2024. No General Fund dollars went into it, and the Downtown Napa Association owns and maintains the sign.

The sign and the river trail have the same origin. In 2022, the City convened an Oxbow Task Force that split into four working groups: Gateway Signage, Programming, Parking, and River Trail. The River Trail group grew into the Napa RiverLine. The signage group's work went up this summer. The river trail group's work still depends on floodwall construction schedules.

There's also a piece of riverbank behind the Oxbow Public Market and CIA at Copia to know about. The RiverLine plan calls for repairing a washed-out trail and riverbank along that stretch. In the meantime, the Napa Valley Vine Trail already runs through the Oxbow District, and the market calls itself an accessible stop for people riding, walking or running that route. Its current vendors include Model Bakery, Ritual Coffee Roasters, Gott's Roadside, Hog Island Oyster Bar, Fieldwork Brewing Company and Napa Bookmine. That makes the market a convenient start or end point for a walk along the promenade.

The Name Arrived Before the Path

The RiverLine describes a 4.3-mile route from Trancas Crossing Park to Imola Avenue. The City's plan presents it as a vision, not a finished continuous trail, with implementation tied to phased flood-control construction. The planning was funded with a $250,000 U.S. Economic Development Administration grant. The plan went to City Council on August 19, 2025, and the City reported it complete that October. It received a California Association for Local Economic Development Award of Excellence in 2025.

In January 2026, the project got its own nonprofit to handle implementation, fundraising and community programming in partnership with the City. Its board is led by chair Steve Carlin, with Chuck Shinnamon as vice chair, Bob Muh as treasurer and Kate Miller as secretary. Partners include Friends of the Napa River, the CIA, the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition, the Napa County RCD and the Napa County Bicycle Coalition. The City's plan still names the Flood Control District as the lead on both floodwall phases, which it says form the base trail for the RiverLine.

The RiverLine website lists 2027 for the north floodwall trail. The County's April 2026 groundbreaking notice says early 2028. The County manages the construction, so its date is the one to plan around.

Two Evenings That Bring Downtown Outside This Season

The finished promenade will see more evening crowds over the next few months. Napa Día de los Muertos takes over Veterans Park on Brown Street, next to the riverfront, on Saturday, November 7, from 3 to 8 p.m., according to DoNapa's listing.

After the holidays, the 2027 Napa Lighted Art Festival runs January 16 through February 14. It's a free, walkable festival with 11 lighted sculptures around downtown Napa. Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Projection art appears on three downtown buildings during the first nine nights, January 16 through 24. The festival takes place on the downtown streets near the river, along the part of the walk that was finished nearly two decades ago.

If you're thinking about how the River Terrace Inn link or the future Oxbow crossing might affect a property near the water, The Joel Toller Team follows these projects closely and is happy to talk them through with you. Schedule a Confidential Consultation.