I've been riding this path for years and it's become unsafer each and every year. There are several homeless and at times have confronted me while riding the path. It's extremely dirty and need of many repairs.

If you do choose to use this path I would highly advise NOT to ride it alone. This is a dangerous area and certainly do not ride this at night. The city/state needs to maintain this historical bike path and make it safe for all users. It's a sad state of affairs....unfortunately.

I ride it quite often, by often I mean almost every sunday morning year round...
But I ride the north portion only and not all the way for a combination of reasons.
First reason is, because of the river and the freeway, the path is pretty much a wind tunnel, so you waste a lot of energy when you have crosswind or front wind just fighting the wind.
Second reason is the fact the only shades you have on most of the path are from the bridges you cross, otherwise prepare to be frying specially between June and August.
Third reason are the homeless, I never had problems with them, but probably because Sunday mornings are relatively busy so they stay put, some are not even there by the time, but I wonder if that's the same on different hours with less traffic.
So what do I do them? First I stay on Riverside and ride the Zoo Drive all the way to the Crystal Spring Dr. until I reach the Los Feliz Blvd. and that's where I join the path, yes you have to share the road with some cars trying to reach the I-5, but if you use the crossing paths on traffic light and pay attention it's all good.
From there I ride to the end of the Greentrail (Near the Dodger Stadium) and return... On my way back I always stop by the Spokes Cafe around Atwater Village area. It's a nice cafe/bike shop focused on cyclists, not the cheapest place to stop by, but the food is high quality and the environment and staff are really nice and is a great place to meet other cyclists (before the pandemic was even better to share experiences and talk about cycling and making friends).
People that drive to the path, can park by the Griffith Park or another suggestion I would give if you wanna add some miles to your ride (specially if you have a EV this tip is golden cause that's what I sometimes do when I have to charge my car), park at Burbank Town Center (so you can leave your car on one of the chargers or superchargers for tesla owners) and ride from there through the bike lanes on San Fernando Blvd. to Riverside Dr. bike lane and them join the Bike Path or do as I do going thru the Griffith Park on Zoo Dr.

I use this bike path quite often to "save legs" on my bicycle rides when heading to Santa Monica Mountains or the Valley Circle loop. Since it's mostly flat.
It's good but not perfect, for families with kids riding recreational it's great, for road cyclists not much, the asphalt have some big cracks on some areas specially near the beginning at Chandler all the way to Sepulveda Blvd area.
Some areas like the Burbank Blvd where there is the Valley Community College crossing can be annoying due to the really slow traffic lights (and traffic lights are a constant and take really long times to change).
Between Van Nuys Blvd and Lake Balboa you have some areas that I personally would avoid in less busy hours with many homeless on the surrounds and some really desert spots (it was worst in the middle of the pandemic, today is a bit better but still I would not ride too late or after sun is down around that area).
Not Water stations thru the path but many Gas Stations and Liquor Stores you can buy water on the way...
Tip: After Canoga the Bike Path goes up the Valley so if you plan to go West towards Calabasas, I recommend not going the Victory Blvd (specially on the Westfield area the asphalt is terrible, drivers don't respect and the sidewalk is completely destroyed, go South on Canoga to Ventura Blvd and use it's bike lane... Not ideal but much better and relatively safer.

We started at the Simi Valley Metrolink. Parking on a Saturday was easy and plentiful. If it's a hot day, park in the shade. The path itself is nice. A bit rougher at the beginning, but when you hop over to the improved side, much, much nicer (that's at Vista Del Arroyo Park. Which has bathrooms and water BTW.)

The work they're doing to the river is looks great. If you're travelling from the Metrolink, you've got a few miles of river that's being worked on. It gets nicer as you go. We ended up at Stargaze Park, which is an open green space, great for a snack, but a little sparse on the shade. On the ride back, we decided to go past the Metrolink, but will skip it next time. At that point the river looks terrible (just concrete and trash) and the path is dirty. It really only adds an extra mile or so.

The trail is nice, but you have to stop at every street, and in most cases get off your bike as there are a lot of nuisance barricades and signs. It really detracts from the enjoyment of the trail, especially on the east end, where it's so frustrating that it's almost better to take the streets. I think this is a much nicer trail for walking than for cycling. The west end is a lot better, and I will probably ride it sometimes, west of santa fe springs.

these trails are awesome and full if wild life and scenery..but also be aware that you share the trails with bike riders and equestrians..please be cautious in blind spots you might be surprised who you come face to face with ...most equestrians are open to having thier horses approached but please ask first ..and be cautious around them ..

I rode this trail and portions of some of its connectors and it was a lovely ride. I am strictly a recreational rider and these trails meet my needs. They run parallel to what passes for a river in Southern California. The trail is VERY well maintained and marked. It is essentially flat. There was zero trash and graffiti. On one side of the trail is the riverbed and on the other side there are some residential areas, parks, and access to commercial areas if you want to stop. You can go for miles and miles if you hook up with one of the connectors and are so inclined. There are
lovely views of the distant mountains and even a glimpse of Six Flags Magic Mountain. There are different places where it can be accessed. I picked one that was an established trailhead in a retail area with plenty of vehicle traffic so you do not feel that your car is out in the wilderness. But as soon as I hit the trail, I felt like I was away from the city and in a peaceful place. It can be very hot in the Santa Clarita Valley in the summer. There is of course a breeze along the river that varies in intensity. I was there early in the day and it was not an issue. I had to drive some distance to get there and it certainly was worth.

I went to this trail the other day to rollerblade. After looking at pictures here I was really excited to finally have a place in TO to rollerblade I was sad to find that after maybe going half a mile there was a locked gate with what looked like construction on the other side.

'm not sure if the trail was just closed when I got there or if it's permanently closed, but it was a bummer to drive 20 minutes just to go back and forth on the part of trail available to me and zoom around the parking lots. If this is a fluke pls let me know because I want a place to rollerblade.

Just moved to Lincoln Heights and love this path. I use it to bike to work in South Pas. The path is quite clean! I bike in the morning and in evening after work. I usually see at least 1 or 2 other people biking, and a handful more at the northern end of the trail--esp. runners. There are some homeless camps. I probably wouldn't ride this path after dusk.