Back on the Water: The Floathouse's Return, the Trestle's Next Chapter, and Petaluma's Riverfront This October
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
On Friday, Feb. 6, Water Street Bistro at 100 Petaluma Blvd. N. served its last meal after 27 years. Owner and chef Stephanie Rastetter told the Argus-Courier, "I believe the time is right." Later in the year the city closed the walkway along the old railroad trestle because the structure had deteriorated so badly. People walking along the Turning Basin now have to go around the Great Petaluma Mill building.
Two familiar ways of spending time on the downtown river, a riverside table and a walk along the trestle bank, were gone by summer. The river itself got busier anyway. This fall the downtown Petaluma River is mostly something you get onto by paddle, kayak or a walk out on the peninsula. Its oldest structure is about to be redesigned through public meetings. Those meetings will decide whether the bank catches up with what is already happening on the water.
In August the City of Petaluma announced that The Floathouse Petaluma had returned to its original spot in the central Turning Basin. You reach it from the public docks by the River Plaza and Weller Street ramps. Rentals reopened at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22. According to the city, Petaluma Small Craft Center oversees The Floathouse, which offers rentals, tours, classes and events. The September homecoming has already happened.
The October schedule shows what the dock is for now. On Saturday, Oct. 10, an upstream high-tide paddle runs from 1 to 3 p.m. It leaves from 222 Weller St., and the listed $60 price includes gear and a guide. A week later, on Saturday, Oct. 17, Turn to The River is a guided paddle about the river's history. It runs from 10 a.m. to noon, and the $75 price covers equipment, a guide and perks from local businesses. On Saturday, Oct. 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Witches & Wizards on the Water is a free costume and trick-or-treat paddle launching from The Floathouse. The listing gives the address as 50 Water St.
The listings use two addresses, so check the launch point for your event before you go.
The next planned waterside restaurant is well downstream of downtown. The Petaluma Voice reports that John Gilardi is finishing a 5,600-square-foot building at Lakeville Landing, the former Papas Taverna property on Lakeville Highway. He is in final negotiations with a restaurant partner and hopes to open in spring 2027, possibly as a beer garden. The site already has docks and boat slip rentals. That opening date is a target, and no deal has been announced.
Walk past the D Street drawbridge and the activity moves to Steamer Landing Park. The city acquired that 9.6-acre piece of the McNear Peninsula in 1996, and the Rivertown Revival and the Transhumance Festival are held there each year. Transhumance, when sheep walk down D Street, is a spring event and took place April 11 this year. In fall, the boats and the cider take over.
Friends of the Petaluma River runs most of the October schedule at the park:
The full listings are on the Friends of the Petaluma River events page.
On Oct. 24 you could paddle in costume from The Floathouse in the late morning and still reach the cider festival when it opens at noon. Both events are listed for that afternoon, a short walk apart across the D Street bridge.
The quietest change on the river is how much land is now open to walk. The McNear Peninsula is a narrow, 35-acre piece of land built mostly from dredging spoils in the late 19th century. It was used for industry, shipping and storage, and the McNear family owned most of it until the Petaluma River Park Foundation bought it in 2020. You enter through a gate at the end of Copeland Street, a short walk from the D Street drawbridge. Deborah Smith, a foundation board member, told the Argus-Courier that many local residents still don't know the peninsula exists or that it is open to the public.
The foundation runs a Tuesday group walk that started in summer 2023, around the time the park opened to the public. It was one of the park's first official programs. Vasanti "Vasi" Jayaswal first proposed it to the foundation's board, and she explained why:
"A lot of women I knew were afraid to come out and walk by themselves. So I suggested a program where anyone who wants to can come out and walk the park as one organized group."
The walk is a 1.4-mile round trip from 9 to 10 a.m. A family-friendly Saturday walk meets at the Steamer Landing parking lot, 100 E. D St., also 9 to 10 a.m., through Oct. 31 if the weather allows. The Tuesday group starts at 8:30 in the hottest summer months, and Jayaswal says the loop now takes 30 to 45 minutes. At first it took about an hour because walkers stopped so often to look around.
Plans for more improvements are still going through design, permitting and fundraising. The Petaluma River Park calendar lists a free virtual "Blueprints to Build" update on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 7 p.m.
Across the Turning Basin from the peninsula, the trestle is the opposite case. It has been central to downtown for generations and is now off-limits. The Petaluma Voice describes it as rotting and collapsing, bad enough that the city closed the walkway this year.
Proposals for the trestle have come and gone for years. This round has one thing earlier ones did not: money set aside specifically to ask residents what they want. A group of residents and downtown businesses called Petaluma Trestle Promenade Now held its kickoff at the River Front Cafe on May 28. In August, the nonprofit Healthy Petaluma agreed to serve as its fiscal agent, and the group began raising $50,000 to hire a consulting team. Steering committee member Elece Hempel told the Argus-Courier why that step comes first:
"They have not been able to write grants because they don't have a vision of what the community wants to happen in that space."
The fundraising went faster than the plan assumed. As of Tuesday, Sept. 15, the Petaluma Voice counted 117 donors and $55,660 in pledges, more than the $50,000 goal. That triggered a matching amount the city had set aside, bringing the total to more than $100,000. The money is meant to hire MIG Inc., a planning and design firm based in Berkeley, to run the community meetings. Committee member Greg Sabourin said the extra pledges would cover unexpected costs for the meetings and the design work. At the Sept. 28 City Council meeting, a presentation named MIG as the consultant and said staff were preparing its contract. The council accepted the presentation without making any design decision, according to a summary of the meeting.
Mayor Kevin McDonnell, who sits on the committee, explained why the sessions matter: "The problem is, you don't understand how many visions are out there. That's what has to get sorted. We need to have a common vision."
Here is where the trestle effort stood in early October:
| Item | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Funding for the visioning process | Over $50,000 in pledges, with a city match reported |
| Consultant | MIG Inc., contract being prepared |
| First community session | Expected before the holidays, no date announced |
| Number of sessions | Four in news reports, three in the Sept. 28 council presentation |
| Construction | Not scheduled; the plan is meant to support state and federal grant applications |
Hempel has said the visioning will continue into spring 2027. The campaign's Eventbrite page had no events listed when checked. The appeal for $50,000 on TrestlePromenadeNow.org appears to have been written before the September pledge total was reported. The site also has a mailing list, which is likely where session dates will be announced first.
What happens on the water this fall gives residents something concrete to bring to those sessions. Paddlers launching at the Weller Street ramp, families walking at Steamer Landing and the Tuesday group out on the peninsula are already using the river the way the trestle sessions are meant to plan for. Healthy Petaluma CEO Ramona Faith and Hempel both connect the project to "access to fresh air and the ability to walk the river."
Schedules can change, so check with each organizer before you go.
When the first trestle session is announced, it will be one of the few times residents get to shape the downtown riverbank before anything is built. If you'd like to talk about how changes along the river and downtown might affect your own plans in Petaluma, Stephanie Sabo is glad to sit down with you and go through it. More about the area is on the Petaluma neighborhood page. Let's Connect.
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With over 30 years of real estate experience and a background in business finance, Stephanie brings strategic insight and a practical approach to every transaction. A lifelong Marin resident with deep local roots, she has represented buyers and sellers throughout Marin and Sonoma counties since 2000, helping clients make confident decisions.