The Axel Lindgren Memorial Trail (ALMT) was closed February 10, 2023 due to storm damage and unsafe conditions at the bottom of the trail. It remains closed.
Meanwhile, the Tsurai Ancestral Society (TAS) commissioned GHD to study a reroute of the lower trail to the traditional path to the beach, improve safety, and better protect irreplaceable cultural resources. GHD reported back to TAS June 30, 2023. I believe TAS carefully reviewed the report before sharing it with the City. The Mayor had the report posted on the City website in a meeting packet.
The proposed trail reroute is pictured below overlaid onto Google Maps:
The existing route (depicted in a beige color) crosses eroding, blue-clay melange at the base of the slope. Cable steps are draped over to reach the beach. The cable steps have tended to wash out in violent winter storms, making the trail unsafe.
The restored traditional route (depicted in a fuchsia color) would cross a small stream and terminate atop a boulder on the beach (Coastal Commission exhibit Photo 2). GHD wrote that bridges may be needed to safely span the small stream and to connect from the hillside to the rock on the beach.
Opinions vary. City staff have favored reopening the trail in the current configuration until rerouting is fully planned out, with feasability and funding established. TAS opposes reopening the unstable alignment.
Some Trinidad residents protested the long closure. When on August 13, 2024 the City Council approved a third extension, two residents appealed to the California Coastal Commission. But at the hearing for the case, February 6, 2025, the Commission ruled that the temporary closure was not a substantial issue.
On May 14, 2025 the City posted a permit application at the trailhead for
"Repair and maintenance activities, including vegetation trimming and replacement of the cable steps at the base of the trail, in order to keep the trail publicly accessible."
At a Special Trails Meeting, May 20, 2025, the City Planner explained that this application simply amended the original 1996 CDP/Design Review/Use Permit within the alignment established in 1996. She noted TAS' opposition to reopening along the current route to the beach, but City Council nevertheless unanimously approved the permit application.
On June 29, 2025, TAS appealed the City's application to the California Coastal Commission. At a hearing on September 10, 2025, the Commission ruled there was significant issue. In part, the Coastal Commission staff commented that the City
- Had no recent meaningful consultation with Native American tribes or representatives,
- Did not take into account the considerable erosion that has occurred since 1996 when the trail was originally constructed, especially at its lower end, and
- Did not analyze whether the development was the least damaging alternative.
No further action was taken at the hearing. The Coastal Commission will consider the permit application or some modification thereof at a future meeting.
On December 15, 2025, the ALMT Working Group met to brainstorm next steps. At the meeting were representatives of the City, Coastal Commission, Coastal Conservancy, Yurok Tribe and TAS. Coastal Commission staff explained their desire for a two-phase reopening, starting with developing a vista point a third of the way down the trail, and moving towards a second phase, connecting the lower trail along the traditional route to the beach. TAS asked that sturdy handrails enclose the trail on both sides from the top down for safe passage down the hill, along with welded wire fencing to keep loose dogs out of the culturally sensitive site. For the next meeting, it was suggested City staff prepare and share a generic cost estimate, and a factual and legal history of the trail back to 1994.
The latest word from the City in this matter appears in the January 13, 2026 Trinidad City Counsel meeting packet. The packet includes the factual and legal trail history mentioned above.