Bridge to Everywhere - Rio Park and CAWD Bridge Trail Project

Vision for a New Public Access Trail at the CAWD River Bridge Crossing

The CAWD Bridge location is an ideal connection point to link trail networks South of the Carmel River to trails North of the River in the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

CAWD is working on plans for a new walking trail connection between Carmel-By-The-Sea and the State Park and Regional Park lands south of the Carmel River. The new trail would cross along the edge of the Mission baseball fields and over the Carmel River at the location of an existing bridge owned by CAWD.

CAWD is seeking grant funding for this project and to partner with the following entities:

City of Carmel-By-The-Sea
Diocese of Monterey
California State Parks
Monterey Regional Park District
Big Sur Land Trust

The following graphics show how the CAWD Bridge Location is a key connection point for existing trails North and South of the Carmel River.

May contain: plot, vegetation, plant, map, and diagram — **Overview of a potential New Trail connection between Carmel-By-The-Sea and park lands south of the Carmel River**

May contain: vegetation, plant, and plot — The new trail connection would utilize the Old CAWD Road and would connect the Palo Corona Regional Park Trails to the CAWD Bridge location. An upgraded bridge would allow the public to cross into Rio Park and potentially on to Mission Trail thru Carmel Mission property. There is also access to the coast via public streets.

Benefits of a New Trail Connection Include:

1. More public access to the Palo Corona Regional Park and the State Parks Wildlife Preserve.

2. Public outreach education for Steelhead Migration at the CAWD River Bridge Crossing.

3. Creating new legitimate public use of existing open space.

Upgrades to the existing CAWD Carmel River Bridge would allow it to be used by the public. Property downstream of the bridge is owned by CAWD and the City of Carmel-By-The-Sea and could be converted into a park.

In order for the bridge to be utilized by the general public it would need to be upgraded structurally and modified to provide ADA compliance.

Once the trail crosses over the Carmel River it would extend to an old paved road that was previously the access road to the CAWD Wastewater Treatment Plant.