Explore the best rated trails in El Monte, CA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Southern Avenue Greenway and North Redondo Beach Bikeway. With more than 70 trails covering 443 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.
Yorba Linda's El Cajon Trail courses through the city on a former irrigation canal that was abandoned and filled in after a flood made it impractical to use. Paved with a parallel equestrian and...
On the southwestern outskirts of Los Angeles, the Laguna Dominguez Trail spans just shy of 3 miles, connecting the cities of Lawndale and Hawthorne (named for famed American author Nathaniel...
A neighborhood trail of the first order, the Pacific Electric Bike Trail links well-kept middle class neighborhoods on either side of tree-lined Maple Street near downtown Santa Ana. The trail runs on...
The Alton Avenue Bike Trail runs adjacent to both Alton Avenue and an active railroad line through Santa Ana. The path primarily serves the recreational and commuting needs of local residents,...
The Harvard Trail is a short sidepath along Harvard Avenue in Irvine. Beautifully landscaped, lit and featuring smooth concrete, the trail is a much more pleasant experience than your average roadside...
The short Upper Bay Trail arcs around the northern edge of the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve near the Newport Beach–Irvine city line. The protected estuary, home to six rare avian species, is...
The Walnut Trail shares a wide corridor with an active railroad line, a BNSF route, through a section of Orange County known for producing oranges and strawberries. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe...
The San Diego Creek Trail is the spine of the City of Irvine's extensive system of trails and bike lanes. It begins in Newport Beach, joining the Upper Bay Trail near where San Diego Creek empties...
The Compton Creek Bike Path crosses Compton along the east bank of its namesake creek, offering access to precious open space for the urban neighborhoods along the way. Compton Creek itself is a...
The San Gabriel River Trail extends from the base of the San Gabriel Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean. A key component of Los Angeles County's transportation infrastructure, the trail...
If you believe the setting makes the trail, you won't quibble with the brevity of the path through Seal Beach's Electric Avenue Median Park. Ensconced in a beautifully maintained linear park, the...
The paved Los Angeles River Trail—also known as the Los Angeles River Bike Path, Los Angeles River Bikeway, Los Angeles River Greenway Trail and Lario Trail—is open in two disconnected segments along...
This urban trail travels along the side of North Colton Avenue and South Inland Center Drive, connecting San Bernadino and Colton. The corridor is an abandoned Southern Pacific rail line and will...
The Aliso Creek Riding and Hiking Trail passes through the heart of Mission Viejo from South Laguna to Rancho Santa Margarita along an 18.5-mile corridor. The trail features many parks in Orange...
The Bouquet Canyon Trail is open in two disconnected segments—both along Newhall Ranch Road—in Santa Clarita. The western segment runs along the south side of the road from Vanderbilt Way to Avenue...
Open space is precious in South Gate, and the Southern Avenue Greenway—which runs under overhead power lines—provides an off-street walking and biking route, as well as play areas for the community....
The Juanita Moe Trail—formerly known as the Quail Hill Trail—is a short path along Interstate 405 south of downtown Irvine. Forming a link between the University Trail and Jeffrey Open Space Trail in...
The San Fernando Road Bike Path parallels its namesake road and a shared active Metrolink commuter rail and Union Pacific freight rail line from Los Angeles' Sylmar neighborhood to its Pacoima...
The Santiago Creek Trail is a scenic urban ride up a portion of Santiago Creek northeast from the Westfield MainPlace Mall to Collins Avenue in Orange. From Collins Avenue, the trail heads south to...
The Chuck Pontius Commuter Trail offers a direct route for cyclists and other trail users through the neighborhoods of Santa Clarita south of the Santa Clara River. While not as scenic as other trails...
The Harvard Trail is a short sidepath along Harvard Avenue in Irvine. Beautifully landscaped, lit and featuring smooth concrete, the trail is a much more pleasant experience than your average roadside...
Hugging one of the most picturesque shorelines in Southern California, the San Clemente Beach Trail is one of the premier rail-trails in the area. The trail itself is technically a rail-with-trail, as...
The Culver Boulevard Bike Path is a short rail-trail located in a nicely landscaped median park in Culver City and Los Angeles. The trail was built on a former Pacific Electric interurban...
The Arroyo Seco Bike Path runs about 2 miles between South Pasadena and northeast Los Angeles, offering views of the LA skyline and the distant mountains. It begins south of Pasadena Avenue and...
The Santa Ana River Trail is a 12-foot wide path following the Santa Ana River, a waterway that is cement-lined through much of Orange County but free flowing in Riverside and San Bernardino counties....
The Duarte Recreational Trail is made up of paved and parallel dirt trails. Located in Southern California's San Gabriel Valley, Duarte is named for Andres Duarte, a Mexican soldier who was granted...
The Exposition Line, running from Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, carefully integrates light rail, bikeway and pedestrian facilities. The second phase of the light rail line opened in 2017,...
The Chandler Bikeway is a jewel tucked nicely into a Burbank neighborhood. The bikeway begins as a well-maintained corridor that runs in the median between lanes of traffic on Chandler Boulevard. Like...
Irvine's Jeffrey Open Space Trail, currently open in three disconnected segments, has won awards for its landscaping and innovative design incorporating a series of intaglio panels in the concrete bed...
The short Upper Bay Trail arcs around the northern edge of the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve near the Newport Beach–Irvine city line. The protected estuary, home to six rare avian species, is...
Quintessential Southern California, the Marvin Braude Bike Trail—commonly referred to as simply The Strand by locals—is featured in hundreds of TV shows and movies. Whether you are here on vacation,...
The Oso Creek Trail offers just over four miles of paved pathway connecting Jeronimo Open Space Park and Oso Viejo Community Park in the suburban southern California city of Mission Viejo. Much of...
On the southwestern outskirts of Los Angeles, the Laguna Dominguez Trail spans just shy of 3 miles, connecting the cities of Lawndale and Hawthorne (named for famed American author Nathaniel...
The San Francisquito Creek Trail features two parallel paved segments along its namesake waterway in Santa Clarita. The paths provide a useful north–south route, connecting neighborhoods with parks...
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The Salt Creek Trail, with more arms than an octopus, offers a variety of experiences for trail users of all types in Dana Point and Laguna Niguel. Featuring two sections, several branches and a mix...
Want an enjoyable loop hike through a new preserve and three parks with stunning ocean views throughout? Check out the trail system in the Dana Point Headlands, a scenic coastal area in Orange...
The Ballona Creek Bike Path follows the channelized Ballona Creek for 7 miles, from Syd Kronenthal Park in east Culver City (National Boulevard) to the Pacific Ocean, where it connects with the Marvin...
To the trail user, the West Irvine Trail and Peters Canyon Bikeway are one continuous trail with two names in three cities. The northern component of the Peters Canyon Regional Trail, both paths...
The Freeway Trail, as its name implies, parallels the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405) on its brief route through Irvine. With power lines overhead and neighborhoods blocked by sound walls to the...
The Peters Canyon Trail, currently open in two disconnected segments, runs northeast from Bill Barber Community Park to Portola Parkway, with a small gap from Warner Avenue to an active rail line that...
Open space is precious in South Gate, and the Southern Avenue Greenway—which runs under overhead power lines—provides an off-street walking and biking route, as well as play areas for the community....
The Robert McCollum Memorial Bicycle Trail, also known as the Trabuco Creek Trail (East Bank), is a short paved path along Trabuco Creek in San Juan Capistrano. The trail begins at a junction with the...
Want an enjoyable loop hike through a new preserve and three parks with stunning ocean views throughout? Check out the trail system in the Dana Point Headlands, a scenic coastal area in Orange...
The Harvard Trail is a short sidepath along Harvard Avenue in Irvine. Beautifully landscaped, lit and featuring smooth concrete, the trail is a much more pleasant experience than your average roadside...
Irvine's Jeffrey Open Space Trail, currently open in three disconnected segments, has won awards for its landscaping and innovative design incorporating a series of intaglio panels in the concrete bed...
The Venta Spur Trail travels along the narrow corridor of a former rail spur that began serving the Frances Packing House—a major citrus processing facility—in 1916. Today, the popular trail serves...
The Ballona Creek Bike Path follows the channelized Ballona Creek for 7 miles, from Syd Kronenthal Park in east Culver City (National Boulevard) to the Pacific Ocean, where it connects with the Marvin...
The Watts Towers Crescent Greenway is a short but pleasant rail-trail in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The trail's central attraction is the Watts Towers Art Center, home of the striking and...
Yorba Linda's El Cajon Trail courses through the city on a former irrigation canal that was abandoned and filled in after a flood made it impractical to use. Paved with a parallel equestrian and...
Running through large Los Angeles suburbs in both Los Angeles County and Orange County, the Coyote Creek Bikeway follows the channelized bank of the creek through residential and industrial...
The Shady Canyon Trail is an incredibly scenic route along Shady Canyon Drive in southern Irvine. Extending through the southern reaches of the historic Irvine Ranch and protected Irvine Ranch Natural...
The Compton Creek Bike Path crosses Compton along the east bank of its namesake creek, offering access to precious open space for the urban neighborhoods along the way. Compton Creek itself is a...
The Hoover Bike and Walking Trail is a utilitarian path adjacent to an active rail line in the western Orange County city of Westminster. Also paralleling Hoover Street for its entire distance, the...
The Bonita Canyon Trail is a sidepath along Culver Drive and Bonita Canyon Drive linking the Orange County cities of Irvine and Newport Beach. Near the trail's midpoint, pick up the Shady Canyon Trail...
In the hustle and bustle of the greater Los Angeles area, the Hermosa Valley Greenbelt provides a cool, peaceful escape that is just minutes from the beach. This 3.5-mile trail nestled in a greenway...
The Tracks at Brea Trail provides a 4-mile route across the city of Brea, which lies about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The trail consists of a two-lane paved bikeway for wheeled users and a...
The South Fork River Trail follows the dry waterway through Santa Clarita, providing many of its residential communities with access to the area's great trail network. Easily accessed from Placerita...
The short Castaways Trail has expansive views of the mountains, ocean, Upper Newport Bay and Newport Harbor. Much of the 1-mile path runs along the bluffs in Castaways Park and the trail offers...
This urban trail travels along the side of North Colton Avenue and South Inland Center Drive, connecting San Bernadino and Colton. The corridor is an abandoned Southern Pacific rail line and will...
Hugging one of the most picturesque shorelines in Southern California, the San Clemente Beach Trail is one of the premier rail-trails in the area. The trail itself is technically a rail-with-trail, as...
Rode from Centennial Park to downtown Huntington Beach. Nice trail with lots to see. Trail dumps you right into huntington beach.
Great beautiful trail to ride It can get difficult if the beach is very busy. You may have to ride around and through crowds but it is part of the fun a bit. Bathrooms and food is available all along the trail. Great scenery and mostly flat.
You can park for free in the lot next to the bus roundabout. If you come in at the north end of the trail (off of Warner) and turn right after the jack in the box you'll see a parking lot on the left. There's no fee to park there! 😉
Nice route to log in miles, pretty flat with some mild inclines. Great clean ride
A friend and I both have new e-Bikes. Both are city urban commuter type bikes and both of us over sixty-five. We used to ride years ago but for various reasons we stopped. Now we’re back on the road enjoying a lovely trail with wonderful sights. There are little parks and kiddy play areas along the way. We only managed nearly half this time around with a plan to finish the second half in the near future.
Breath taking - separate pedestrian and bike paths - Queen Mary, Marina, and an island with a bunch of man made waterfalls that turn into a light show at night
It's been a few years since my wife and I biked this path, but I always think about it this time of year whenever I smell the orange blossoms in my southern California neighborhood.
This is most certainly a slow, easy, ideal ride for a spring day. It's not too hot yet, the narrow path passes by some stately historic homes, and the aroma of the orange blossoms are absolutely intoxicating!
Consider leaving the path on the way back and riding up one of the side streets through the groves.
I suspect this trail is especially popular with the surrounding community. I know if I lived there I'd be cruising down to the beach every day on it! For a couple of out of towners, it was well worth the time we put into exploring it.
After spending the night in Dana Point's bluff hugging Blue Lantern Inn, we parked the car and unloaded the bikes in Dana Point Marina's Baby Beach parking lot so we could enjoy pedaling around the quiet marina streets as well as the San Juan Creek Trail.
After cruising over to Doheny State Beach to the trailhead, we began our trek along the bank of the creek. For the most part it's a nice, fairly quiet ride. On the way up, we took a detour and explored the Trabuco Creek Trail as well as Old Historic San Juan Capistrano.
The San Juan Creek Trail eventually concluded in a somewhat rural area of ranches and equestrian centers. After cruising back down to the trailhead, I must say it's pretty cool to relax on the beach in the cool, salty air and to bask in the sun.
I first rode this trail over forty years ago when it was one of the first Class I trails in southern California, and I must say it was so cool to go from the Inland Empire all the way to the OC beaches! In recent years I've also ridden the upper portion which is a completely different experience but still worthwhile. The lower portion is nice and flat with cool ocean breezes, while the upper portion is hilly in places and much warmer in the summer. Lower: 5 stars. Upper: 3 stars.
As a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire and a Rancho Cucamonga homeowner, I've ridden this trail dozens of times over the years. It's extremely popular with locals and families for bicycling, walking, and jogging. For an urban area it has a great deal of good things going for it. There are also some not so great things.
THE GOOD: Off street, Class I trail following along the historic route of the extinct Pacific Electric Rail Line; some pretty views of the San Gabriel Mountains; historic, one hundred year old homes near downtown Upland; riding between Base Line Road in Fontana to Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga.
THE BAD: The trail is frequently intersected by major thoroughfares and other streets so there are lots of stops and starts; you're essentially riding your bike between the block walled backyards of neighborhoods for much of the time or behind businesses; going uphill between Route 66 and Base Line Road in Rancho Cucamonga (according to my wife); downtown Fontana homeless.
THE UGLY: When heading west, don't bother going beyond Euclid Avenue in Upland since for the most part there's nothing but some sketchy apartments, warehouses, and industrial complexes the rest of the way.
CONCLUSION: I've traveled thousands of miles in the United States to ride my bike on beautiful, historic, once in a lifetime, bucket list worthy trails. This ain't one of 'em. As a Rancho Cucamonga resident I was excited when they constructed this since it's great, local urban bike riding, and an opportunity for walkers to get in their ten thousand steps or joggers their miles. However, don't plan a big vacation around this one (unless you're coming to visit friends or family and you need to get a bit of exercise).
Looking through the preceding 47 reviews, a title from May of 2013 sums this trail up best: "Better Than Riding a Stationary Bike".
CONSIDER: Just west of Vineyard Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga is a connecting trail called Cucamonga Creek Trail which goes north about six miles into the foothills of Rancho Cucamonga. It's a Class I asphalt trail, and the first few miles are moderately difficult and not especially well maintained, but the last few miles travel diagonally across the foothills and are easy and well maintained as you travel through neighborhoods of million dollar homes and ranches full of horses. Eventually you get to the crown jewel park in our city, Heritage Park, where you can enjoy valley and mountain views and have a picnic lunch. (I've taken my kids when they were little and my 10 year old granddaughter in recent years up this trail). Best of all, you can coast almost all the way back to the Pacific Electric Trail!
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