At Stonewall Street in Brooklyn, a wide band of green-marked pavement heads over the Park Street bridge. A mural celebrating Brooklyn and LaVilla is painted above you as you cross. That bridge is the southern end of the Emerald Trail you can actually use today. From there the trail heads north through LaVilla and onto the old rail corridor of the S-Line, which Rails to Trails describes as reaching Norwood Plaza.
The Emerald Trail is planned as a 30-mile network linking 14 neighborhoods to Downtown, the St. Johns River, McCoys Creek and Hogans Creek. As of Rails to Trails Conservancy's June 2026 trail profile, 4.6 of those miles are complete: the 1.3-mile LaVilla Link and 3.3 miles of the S-Line Rail Trail. Both finished pieces sit inland. The segments that would reach the river and the two creeks are the ones still being designed, bid out, or built. For anyone who lives here, most of the river-and-creek trail in the renderings is still years away. What you can ride this fall is a flat, paved line through some of the city's oldest neighborhoods north of downtown.
Brooklyn to Norwood, in the order you'll pass it
Going south to north, these are the named stops along the 4.6 miles, according to Groundwork Jacksonville, the city's nonprofit partner on the trail:
- Stonewall Street trailhead and the Park Street Overlook in Brooklyn, plus the bridge mural.
- Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing Park in LaVilla.
- The LaVilla Pond boardwalk and swings.
- The Church Street butterfly garden and StoryWalk.
- Florida C. Dwight Memorial Playground, which has a basketball court and a skate ramp.
- State Street's historic warehouses, where the LaVilla Link meets the S-Line near Wilcox Street.
- The Sugar Hill Mosaic, a 96-foot artwork under I-95 near N. Davis Street.
- The biodiversity corridor between Moncrief Road and Boulevard, then Evergreen Cemetery and the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District farther along the S-Line.
The whole route is asphalt and concrete, wide and level, and wheelchair accessible. It works for walking, biking and inline skating. For the S-Line, park at the Emmett Reed Park and Community Center, 1093 W. Sixth St., or along State Street near the southern end. For the LaVilla Link, park at the Florida C. Dwight Memorial Playground, 1199 Church St. W., or the large lot at N. Lee Street and W. Forsyth Street. If you don't have a bike, Rails to Trails lists Open Road Bicycles on Hendricks Avenue for road and mountain bike rentals and Art Bikes on St. Johns Avenue for e-bike rentals and guided tours. Both are a few miles from the trail.
The mileage depends on who's counting. Groundwork describes the S-Line as a 4.8-mile corridor through Durkeeville and Springfield, with about 1.3 miles between 12th Street/Boulevard and E. 21st Street still unfinished. That works out to roughly 3.5 open miles, a little more than Rails to Trails' 3.3. Because of that unfinished stretch, the S-Line doesn't run as one unbroken path to Norwood Plaza, so plan an out-and-back on the finished sections instead of a single end-to-end ride.
Why the open miles point inland
The S-Line was easy to build first because it follows a former CSX railroad route. The river and creek segments run through downtown streets, along waterways that need restoration, and across land the city doesn't own yet. That's slower work, and the current status of each segment shows it.
| Segment | Where it reaches | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| LaVilla Link, 1.3 mi | Brooklyn to State Street | Open since May 6, 2024 |
| S-Line, about 3.3 mi | Norwood Plaza to Myrtle Avenue and Union Street | Open, except for an unfinished stretch between 12th Street/Boulevard and E. 21st Street |
| Hogan Street Link, 0.9 mi | St. Johns River toward Union Street | Under construction |
| McCoys Creek Greenway, about 1 mi | McCoys Creek | Construction bid forecast for Q4 2026 |
| Hogans Creek | Hogans Creek | In design; land acquisition approved |
| Riverside Link, 2.3 mi | Hollybrook Park to Riverside Park and Memorial Park | Construction expected in 2028 |
Every row that touches water is still unfinished. Today the most direct link between the trail and the river side of town is the Park Street road diet. The city finished that $11 million project on July 21, 2025. It added bike and pedestrian connections between Brooklyn, LaVilla, Five Points and Riverside that tie into the Emerald Trail. If you're coming from Riverside, Park Street is how you reach the Stonewall Street trailhead today. Technically it's a street project, not a trail segment.
October is the easiest month to try it
Several organized events this month bring people to the open miles and the neighborhoods around them. Groundwork's 7th annual VyStar Emerald Trail 5K/10K and 1-Mile Fun Run, presented by JTC Running, used both the LaVilla Link and the S-Line on September 26. These are the dates still ahead:
- Saturday, October 10, 10:30 a.m. Free Yoga in the Park with Bold City Yoga instructors in Springfield's Sesquicentennial Park, hosted by Springfield Preservation and Revitalization. The class is family-friendly for ages 8 and up.
- Saturday, October 17, 9 to 11 a.m. Groundwork's LaVilla Remembered Walking Tour starts at Florida C. Dwight Park. It's a guided walk along the Emerald Trail covering LaVilla's history as a center of arts and entertainment and its role in civil rights history. Reservations are through Eventbrite.
- Saturday, October 17, 9 to 11 a.m. At the same time, Groundwork's S-Line Cleanup covers the half-mile from W. 6th Street to Moncrief. Volunteers meet and park at Emmett Reed Community Center. Groundwork supplies grabbers and bags and asks volunteers to wear closed-toe shoes, long pants and a hat.
- Saturday, October 17, 9 a.m. Free Tai Chi in Sesquicentennial Park, one of SPAR's first- and third-Saturday sessions.
- Friday, October 23. SPAR's Bike-A-Boo! bike social in Sesquicentennial Park.
The three October 17 events overlap, so you'll have to pick one: the LaVilla tour on the southern piece, the S-Line cleanup a little north, or Tai Chi in Springfield. SPAR's events calendar carries on past October with Jacksonville PorchFest on November 7 and a Holiday Ride bike social on December 8.
What the river segments are waiting on
The Hogan Street Link is the nearest of the water-facing pieces. It broke ground on September 25, 2025, as a protected walking and cycling corridor from the river toward Union Street. Downtown Jacksonville's investment site gave summer 2026 for the section closest to the river and early 2027 for the full link. It still lists the project as under construction. We haven't found a report confirming that the riverfront section opened, so treat it as active construction until the city says otherwise.
The creek segments are further back. Groundwork reported Hogans Creek at 60% design in November 2025. City Council approved buying 16 parcels along the creek on June 9, 2026. On McCoys Creek, the city's construction bid forecast, updated September 30, 2026, puts the roughly one-mile shared-use path, bridges, boardwalks and park amenities up for a fourth-quarter 2026 bid. That's a bid date, not an opening date. The city's January 2026 construction update listed the Riverwalk section at the McCoys Creek outfall as closed.
The Riverside Link, which would run under the Fuller Warren Bridge to Memorial Park, has moved back the most. In June 2025, Groundwork expected construction to start in 2026. In March 2026, materials presented to the JTA board put the start in 2028, at an estimated $24.6 million paid for by the city's Local Option Gas Tax and a federal grant JTA applied for in February. Funding has affected the schedule before. Jacksonville lost a $147 million federal grant in July 2025. At the same March meeting, JTA described an alternative 13-mile loop around the urban core that would deliver a connected trail sooner. Groundwork CEO Kay Ehas replied in a statement, as reported by Jax Daily Record:
"Groundwork Jacksonville and the City of Jacksonville have had no substantive discussions with JTA about an alternative 13-mile trail loop. This would significantly change the Emerald Trail Master Plan that Groundwork developed for the city, and that was adopted by the Jacksonville City Council."
Until the Hogan Street Link opens, the Emerald Trail you can use is the LaVilla Link from Stonewall Street plus the finished sections of the S-Line. On October 17, you can walk the LaVilla end with a guide or help clean the S-Line.
Following a trail as it grows, from the Park Street bridge to the creek segments still in design, is part of knowing a city well. If you'd like to talk about how Jacksonville's changing urban core fits your plans, Donna S Osteen would be glad to help. Schedule Your Consultation.
