Dennis Wendt was a famed Fortuna resident and owner of Wendt Construction. His construction business was responsible for building nearly half of the buildings in Fortuna. In honor of his memory, the community refurbed an abandoned railroad corridor into what is now the Dennis M. Wendt Memorial Trail.
It was the brainchild on Sean Swanson, a Fortuna resident who had been working with the homeless population who previously lived along the idle corridor, helping them reconnect with family or situated with jobs. Swanson also led an effort to clean the litter on the corridor.
The Dennis Wendt Memorial Trail was opened in April 2019 after two years of work. Now, 0.7-mile of rail-trail are open, starting from the US-101 underpass at 3rd and Main St. up to Palmer Blvd. It is hoped that the trail will someday extend to Fernbridge but for now it is a 1.4-mile roundtrip. The tracks are still visible under the gravel of the trail.
There is parking available at the southern end of the trail, along 3rd St. See TrailLink Map for more information.
Great for dog walks and bike rides . I heard there is river access but I haven’t done too much exploring yet .
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