Ukiah’s Great Redwood Trail Now Reaches Plant Road: What the Finished Link Adds
By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.
A short missing link can determine whether a trail works as a useful route or a place to turn around. In Ukiah, completion of the Great Redwood Trail’s fourth phase extended the paved corridor south to Plant Road and connected it with the existing route through the city.
The City’s January 2026 project update gives homebuyers a current starting point. This is a finished local segment, with identifiable endpoints and street crossings, rather than a promise that the entire regional Great Redwood Trail is complete.
From a south-city extension to a continuous route
According to the City’s Phase 4 completion page, construction finished in December 2025 and the segment is open to the public. The 1.5-mile addition runs from Commerce Drive to Plant Road, creating a continuous 3.3-mile walking and biking route from Brush Street to Plant Road.
The City describes a ten-foot-wide asphalt surface, new signalized crossings at Commerce Drive, Airport Road and Norgard Lane, and two pedestrian access points within Redwood Business Park. Those details make the improvement easier to place in an everyday routine: the route passes through a working part of the city and connects with streets and destinations.
A linear park has a different geography
Ukiah’s planning history records that the City Council designated the former Rail Trail as a park in June 2020 and adopted its linear-park master plan that August. The corridor is roughly 40 to 100 feet wide.
A linear park offers a sequence of entries and destinations rather than a single main gate. For a nearby home, the most relevant measurement may be the distance to a usable access point, not the shortest line to the trail’s edge. The entry can make an outing feel simple, while an inconvenient connection can keep an apparently close route outside the daily routine.
Look at the crossings as well as the smooth surface
A paved corridor separated from traffic can make part of a trip straightforward. Street crossings remain important transitions. When comparing homes, trace the complete journey from driveway or front door to trail, through any crossings and on to the actual destination.
For an exercise loop, the route may simply need an appealing turnaround point. For a work or shopping trip, the final connection matters just as much as the trail itself. A nearby destination that requires an awkward approach may function differently from one with a convenient entry along the route.
Young planting will change the experience over time
The completion page reports approximately 200 trees planted, primarily oaks. That is a landscape investment with a growth timeline. Newly planted trees and mature shade create different experiences on a warm day, even though they occupy the same corridor.
Buyers who expect to use the trail regularly can consider both the present condition and its intended development. Choose an outing time that reflects real use, notice the current shade and identify where a rest would fit. The value of the route is easier to judge through that ordinary experience than through a future-looking illustration alone.
Put the new connection into a neighborhood comparison
Some buyers want an established street with a convenient connection for short outings. Others may prioritize more private outdoor space or a location closer to a different daily destination. The completed trail adds an option; it does not make those preferences identical.
Its most useful contribution to a home search is concrete: a longer continuous route now exists, and its entries, crossings and endpoints can be assessed. Explore real estate and home for sale in Ukiah for the wider city, valley and utility context. Contact Diamond to compare the home locations that connect best with your own daily destinations.
Sources checked October 28, 2026. Completion and route dimensions are reported by the City of Ukiah. This article concerns the completed Ukiah segment; regional trail sections have separate status and access information.
