Explore the best rated trails in Edwards, CA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Chuck Pontius Commuter Trail and San Francisquito Creek Trail . With more than 7 trails covering 42 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
This is a nice rail-with-trail for getting around locally in the Lancaster/Palmdale area. A word of caution though - when going north and crossing Sierra Highway from west to east at Technology Drive (1/2 mile south of Rancho Vista Blvd/Avenue P) be sure to wait for the WALK signal, and don’t just rely on the green traffic signal for the cars. This is because traffic from the right (northbound traffic) doesn’t stop when the light is green for the traffic on Technology Drive.
From the southern end of the trail you can also connect to the Avenue S Bike Trail. This is a nice trail (which is not a rail-trail) that extends for several miles in an east-west direction (with a few gaps). There is also a gap of about 1.5 miles between the two trails.
Nice ride, stared from riding up hill from Lancaster to Palmdale. The way back was Speeds up to 25 mph. Get to see a Joshua Trees and enjoyed the desert scenery.
This trail has two parallel sides. We parked at West Creek Park – a lovely park about a mile south of the northern most trailhead on the western section. This beautiful park had nice restrooms, water and plenty of parking. The trail is often lined with a white fence passing through some residential and some commercial areas. The western section is less scenic than the eastern section and passes through more commercial sections. One of the good things about the western section is that it passes a shopping center that has the best breakfast restaurant in Santa Clarita: Eggs N Things. The western section connects to the South Fork Trail and that connects to the eastern section of the San Francisquito Creek Trail so you can easily do a loop ride. The eastern section ends at the same road (Copper Hill Drive) as the western section. It is a short distance over a bridge to connect back to the western section. In between the two segments is dry river bed. The eastern section is much prettier passing through a residential area with greenery planted on the side. Going north on either section is slightly uphill, which means downhill going south! There is a separate pedestrian path and two-lane bike path. The path is smooth, well maintained and very good for running, walking, biking and rolling on anything.
This trail is one of the many beautifully maintained connected trails in Santa Clarita. It runs through basically residential areas with the dry river bed on one side. (At least it is dry in now, in February). I think this would be a more scenic trail in the summer when the trees have leaves. However, there is a certain beauty to the dry riverbed. It follows along the power lines and provides a flat, smooth surface perfect for easy biking, running and generally any kind of "rolling" be it skateboards or roller blades. There is usually a separate lane for pedestrians making it very safe for runners and walkers.
Beautiful scenery,easy to ride, easy access to shops and restaurants, my family and I enjoyed this trail
It's a tough hike but not crazy. At the summit you're rewarded with ruins to explore. Continue on to Inspiration Point for more great views and exploring opportunities.
I have a full Echo Mountain hike turn-by-turn guide on my blog here:
https://hikingguy.com/hiking-trails/echo-mountain-hike/
I ride this trail frequently. It is good in that it is out of traffic lanes. The path runs parallel between the railroad tracks and Sierra Highway. There is a Western-style wooden fence between the path and the RR tracks and sparse desert shrubbery and a curb between the path and Sierra Highway.
The entire length of the path is not uninterrupted. There are several major east-west intersections at which you will have to stop and wait for the signal to change. Make sure you press the "walk" button, or else the signal will not know you are there.
As mentioned, this is a desert and you will need to bring your own water. Even though there are several shelters/benches along the path, there is no water nor are there any stores in which to purchase refreshments. Also, being a desert, there is precious little shade or trees/bushes. Things are sparse out here. Traffic on Sierra Highway can be heavy at times, and is always noisy. It moves pretty fast.
Lastly, be aware that in the afternoons, there is a pretty persistent west wind in the Antelope Valley, which means you will get a cross wind the entire length of the trail.
I would classify this as a commuter path; something to get safely back and forth between Lancaster and Palmdale. Not something that you would choose to ride, unless you were ticking off boxes on some type of bike path list, or needed to get from "A" to "B", or in this case, "L" to "P". Instead, head down to Santa Clarita, which has an awesome bike lane/trail system.
This trail links in with the Santa Clara River trail. A lot of it you have to ride you have to listen to cars and truck driving by. I just put on my earbuds in that section. Its nice once you get away from cars. You can spend many fun bike rides in Santa Clarita with this path and also the Santa Clara River path.
This a great trail. Its clean and goes pretty far. I live in Santa Clarita and use the trails to travel all around town. The only down side is that during nice weather a lot of 'speedo torpedos' on road bikes think that it is a race track and ride dangerously fast. Pretty hazardous considering there are people walking with kids and dogs.
We explored this trail 22 April, 2009. There is a big, dirt parking lot at N34.41443 W118.54480 as Noel J. Keller pointed out. Approach the entrance slowly as it is easy to pass. If you go south from the parking lot you will come to a loop in about a mile. More of the trail is to the north.
If you take the trail north from the parking lot you come to an important juncture just after passing under Valencia Blvd. at N34 25 07.5 W118 32 55.8.
The trail seems to continue north but this is only a branch that ends in about a mile and a half. The main trail turns east here and goes around behind a car dealership. We learned this from a passing rider. We followed the trail just past the dealership to confirm that that was the way the trail went. We turned back shortly because it was getting very hot and we were running out of time. Like Noel, we'll be back to explore the rest of the trail when we can.
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