History of the Navy Railroad ROW

 

The “Monarch Nature Trail” is located on the abandoned Navy railroad right-of-way in North Huntington Beach. The Huntington Beach spur runs about 1.2 miles from Rancho Rd. to Edwards St. The corridor (which also passes through Westminster) was built during World War II, probably around 1944, and was used to supply the Seal Beach Naval Weapons station.

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The last time the rail line was used for transporting munitions to the base occurred during the run-up to Operation Desert Storm in 1990. The rail line was mostly idle after that, and in 2010, when the weapons station stopped using its internal rail system to move munitions, the line was abandoned and the tracks were removed in 2012.

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In April 2016, the federal government turned over the property to Huntington Beach and Westminster. Although Huntington Beach had budgeted funds for water-improvement projects and a bike/pedestrian path on the corridor, in April 2017 the city proposed a plan to store new cars on part of the site. That plan was dropped in the face of overwhelming opposition by residents who wanted the right-of-way preserved as open space.

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Since then, Huntington Beach has recommitted to improving the site as a public path, and along with Westminster, has improved the trail with fencing to keep out nuisance users while preserving pedestrian and bike access. Volunteers have joined together to remove trash and begin habitat restoration. Our hope is to attract more native birds, butterflies and bees to the area, including the many monarch butterflies that used to overwinter in former eucalyptus groves near the trail.

 

*Thanks to Gregg Smith, Public Affairs Officer, Naval Weapons Station, for help with the historical information.