Napa-Solano Audubon calls fall and winter the best season on the Napa River marshes at the west end of town, and the boardwalks the City has been planning there are still drawings. American Canyon is paying a consultant to design overlooks, new trails and a kayak launch at Wetlands Edge. Meanwhile that season plays out on the existing paved paths and levees. This winter's birding, a free guided walk this Sunday and the December Reindeer Run all happen on the marsh in its current form.
The grant is paying for drawings
The plan is older than most people realize. In May 2024 the City Council adopted the American Canyon Wetlands Restoration Plan. It lays out habitat restoration and enhancement, new trails and a picnic area, Bay Trail improvements and a new kayak launch along the North Slough and lower Napa River shoreline.
On June 6, 2025, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority awarded the City a $1.2 million Measure AA grant for the next phase. That grant covers technical studies, 30 percent and 60 percent design documents, environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, draft permit applications and public outreach. On its April 7, 2026 agenda, the Council took up a contract with Environmental Science Associates worth up to $1,237,057 for design, environmental review and permitting. The City's funding also includes $337,000 from its Parks Impact Fee Fund. Construction is a later phase, and no start date has been published.
The groundwork has started. The City Manager's update of July 31, 2026, reported that geotechnical testing was finished along Wetlands Edge and beyond Greenwing. That testing will inform possible boardwalks, overlooks and habitat work. Soil tests come before a structure can be designed, and the design has to be finished before anything is built. So the marsh you walk this December is the one the 2024 plan set out to change.
What winter brings to the marsh you already have
For a marsh with no boardwalks yet, the winter species list is long. The Napa-Solano Audubon Society's hotspot guide calls the American Canyon Wetlands a fall and winter hotspot for waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife's description of its American Canyon unit adds birds on the surrounding mudflats and along the river itself.
Between the two sources, the season sorts itself by habitat:
| Where to look | What the sources list |
|---|---|
| Open water and ponds | Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Canvasback, scaup |
| Mudflats | Least and Western Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs |
| Napa River | Great Egret, Bufflehead, American Coot, Common Goldeneye |
| Main Entrance and San Francisco Bay Trails | Virginia Rail and Sora, more often heard than seen |
| Eucalyptus groves and open marsh | Northern Harrier, White-tailed Kite, American Kestrel, Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, Great Horned Owl |
Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall and Cinnamon Teal live here year-round, according to Audubon. So the teal, pintail and Canvasback are the new arrivals that set a winter walk apart from a July one. Audubon also reports occasional winter Merlins, Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles. Those are lucky sightings, not something to plan a morning around.
The tide decides more than the weather does
Audubon's most useful single line is about timing. The best birding is two to three hours before or after high tide. That follows from the habitat table above. The shorebirds feed on mudflats the river covers and uncovers twice a day, so the same stretch of levee can look busy at one hour and empty three hours later.
That makes a tide chart worth checking before you choose between a Saturday and a Sunday morning, even on a clear day. The trails and trailhead lot are open dawn to dusk, according to the City's Napa River Bay Trail brochure. In late fall and winter, those short days leave fewer good tide windows inside opening hours.
This Sunday, with loaner binoculars
The easiest way to learn the marsh is with people who already know it. Napa-Solano Audubon leads a free Beginners Bird Walk on Sunday, November 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. It meets in the Wetlands Edge parking lot. The walk is open to all ages and experience levels, and no reservation is needed. The route is about two miles on a level, mostly paved trail, and experienced birders guide the group. Loaner binoculars are on hand, and heavy rain cancels.
Sunday's walk continues a fall series. Audubon's September announcement lists Carol Boykin and Tom Slyker as leaders for the September 20 and October 4 walks on the same route. Audubon's 2026 calendar also lists the 79th Benicia Christmas Bird Count for December 14. That count covers areas across the Carquinez side of Solano County, so it is a nearby regional count, not one centered on American Canyon.
If you go on your own, the details are simple. The City lists the trailhead at 2 Eucalyptus Drive. The Napa Outdoors park page notes no entry fee, a lot sized for all vehicles, an ADA portable restroom and accessible trails. It also notes a second entrance off Green Island Road with short, unimproved levee-top trails. Dogs must be on a leash, and owners must pick up after them. The City describes about ten miles of trail across the jointly managed Napa River Bay Trail system, and it lists the link north toward Napa as a future connection. The Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District's status page of October 22 listed no closure at Wetlands Edge. The City notes that trail sections can close for maintenance, so its updates page is worth checking before an early start.
If you use the Green Island Road entrance, the City's October 16 project update showed reconstruction still underway on Green Island Road between Commerce Boulevard and Paoli Loop Road.
The same trailhead in December
In December the trailhead turns into a start line. The 16th Annual Reindeer Run/Walk begins at the Wetlands Edge Trailhead, 2 Eucalyptus Drive, on Saturday, December 5, from 8 to 11:30 a.m., with 10K and 5K starts. Runners will be on the same paths the November walkers use, at the height of the season.
The rest of the town's holiday calendar fits around that weekend:
- Friday, December 4, 5 to 8 p.m. Magic of the Season, the Holiday Marketplace and Tree Lighting at Shenandoah Park, 100 Sonoma Creek Way, presented with the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce. The tree lighting is at 6:30 p.m. Central Avenue, Shenandoah Drive and Sonoma Creek Way close temporarily for the event.
- Saturday, December 5, 8 to 11:30 a.m. Reindeer Run/Walk at Wetlands Edge.
- Saturday, December 12, 10 a.m. to noon. Donuts with Santa at the Mikolajcik Center, 300 Napa Junction Road, $7 for residents and $8 for non-residents.
- Wednesday, December 16, and Friday, December 18, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The I Spy a Candle Scavenger Hunt, starting at the Adult Activity Center, 2185 Elliott Drive.
The City's event page for the tree lighting gives two dates. Its listing says Friday, December 4, and its description says December 5. Friday the 4th matches the calendar this year, but confirm with the City before you plan around it.
A stop on the way back up the hill
Coming back from Eucalyptus Drive, there is now a neighborhood market on the town's main road. The Napa Valley Register reported that The Corner Market opened in September at 110 W. American Canyon Road, suites L3 and L4, in Canyon Corners Plaza, in the space a Goodwill store left in 2024. Its grand opening was set for Thursday, October 22. Operator Jimmy Mangat told the Register that the shelves carry baked goods from Model Bakery and coffee from Naysayer Coffee Roasters, along with Napa wines and everyday essentials. His family also runs Food City Market, Pueblo Market and Solano Market in Napa.
"We're open to taking suggestions to stock our shelves," Mangat said in the same Napa Valley Register article. After a cold morning on the levee, the first suggestion might be hot coffee and pastry by 9 a.m.
The Wetlands Restoration and Public Access Project will move ahead on the City's schedule. You can follow it through the Council's design and permitting milestones and through the public outreach the Measure AA grant pays for.
If you love this stretch of the river, or are wondering how a place like Wetlands Edge shapes daily life on the south end of the valley, Avi Strugo is glad to talk it through, from the trailhead to the waterfront communities upriver. Get in Touch With Avi.