American Canyon residents could one day walk or bike to Napa, traversing alongside wetlands and stretches of the Napa River.

An 8.5-mile long trail, beginning on Eucalyptus Drive in American Canyon and ending in Napa, could become part of the San Francisco Bay Trail, a growing network of biking and walking paths ringing the Bay Area.

In late April, Napa County filed an application for a $75,000 grant to the San Francisco Bay Trail to pay for a feasibility study for the trail project. The $75,000 study would include preliminary cost estimates to build the trail, according to the application.

This week, Rick Pozo was among the American Canyon residents who said they would use the trail if it is constructed.

"I think it'd be terrific," said Pozo, 45. "I'm a big walking enthusiast."

The trail would meander on levees near former salt evaporation ponds that once belonged to Cargill Salt Co. The California Department of Fish and Game wants to restore the 1,400-acre former Cargill property into wetlands and tidal marshes west of the Napa County Airport.

About half of the San Francisco Bay Trail system -- 240 miles -- has been completed, according to the San Francisco Bay Trail, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland. About 10 miles of the completed San Francisco Bay Trail have been built in Napa County, including 2.7 miles in American Canyon.

The new section of the Bay Trail between Napa and American Canyon would represent a "huge" addition to the trail system, said John Woodbury, Napa County's principal planner for parks and open space.

"If we can do it, it would be a very beautiful trail," Woodbury said.

The San Francisco Bay Trail's steering committee is expected to review the county's application in June, according to Maureen Gaffney, a San Francisco Bay Trail planner.

The construction of the trail would dovetail with the Fish and Game's efforts to restore the wetlands, Woodbury said.

The first phase of the salt evaporation project could begin in 2007, Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Wilcox said this week. In his application, Woodbury said construction of the 8.5-mile long trail could begin in early 2009.

On May 3, the American Canyon Open Space Advisory Committee recommended that the American Canyon City Council approve a resolution in support of the new trail.

Randy Davis, community services director for the city of American Canyon, said the resolution could come before the council Thursday.

Barry Christian, a member of the Open Space Advisory Committee, last week predicted the trail would be "just spectacular."

Christian also signed a letter in support of the project as a Friends of American Canyon Open Spaces, an organization that wants to conserve recreation areas and gain public access to the Napa River in American Canyon. Friends is also making efforts to open up to the public the Newell Preserve, in the hills east of American Canyon.

Others who have sent letters of support of the project to the San Francisco Bay Trail include the Napa County Board of Supervisors; Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa; Friends of the Napa River; and the Sierra Club.