McKay Community Forest

About four miles of designated trail are open here. The county's trail plan calls for 31. That gap is most of what you need to know about McKay: it's a real forest with a partial trail system, and the network you walk today is a fraction of what's coming.

Humboldt County bought the first phase from Green Diamond Resource Company on August 21, 2014, with money from the California Natural Resources Agency, the State Coastal Conservancy and the California Wildlife Conservation Board, and The Trust for Public Land brokering it. A 197-acre Phase II expansion followed in June 2020, bringing the total to 1,194 acres. Public opening didn't come until September 2022, eight years after the purchase, because the parking area and trails had to be built first.

One trailhead is formal: the Northridge Parking Area on Northridge Road in Cutten. The stretch along Harris Street near Redwood Acres has no formal trailhead at all, so don't plan an entry there. Note that the county's older /1808 page still says the forest isn't open to the public. It's out of date.

Mountain biking is expressly permitted, which is unusual among public lands in this county. The county lists walking, hiking, mountain biking, wheeling on approved mobility devices and horseback riding as permitted uses. Hunting and motorized vehicles are prohibited. E-bikes are unresolved; the trail plan says more review is needed before deciding which trails suit them.

This is a working forest, not a preserve. Timber harvest funds trail building, and Green Diamond's main haul road through the McKay Tract, the R-Line, runs through it. About half a mile of trail has been surfaced so far, including the Huckleberry Trail loop at Northridge.

The county publishes no hours, no fees and no dog rule for the forest. Bring a leash anyway.