Find the top rated bike trails in West Athens, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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...
The San Juan Creek Trail starts where the creek meets the Pacific Ocean at Doheny State Beach in scenic Dana Point. From there, it runs on the levee along the western bank of San Juan Creek to its...
The Hicks Canyon Trail is a short but scenic blacktop trail along the landscaped Hicks Canyon Wash. It starts at the Peters Canyon Trail near Hicks Canyon Community Park and climbs up the wash to end...
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 Fillmore Bike Path consists of two distinct but connected trails, each offering its own unique experience for trail users. Both portions are paved and well-maintained, making the entirety of the...
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 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...
The Orange Line Bike Path is an 18-mile rail-trail paralleling the Los Angeles Metro's Orange Line rapid busway in the northern neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Both the busway and the trail stretch from...
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 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 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 Sierra Bike Trail occupies a sliver of land between active Metrolink commuter rail tracks and Sierra Highway, connecting the communities of Palmdale and Lancaster in California's Antelope Valley....
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...
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 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...
The Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail is a great commuter and recreation trail in western San Bernadino valley, with expansive views and connections to community centers and parks. The trail...
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 Shoreline Pedestrian/Bicycle Path is a scenic multipurpose trail that runs from the tip of the breakwater opposite Island Grissom at the Long Beach Shoreline Marina to Long Beach's Belmont Shore...
The Woodbridge Trail, while short, is one of the most scenic in Irvine's extensive trail network. Views of two lakes and surrounding mountains unfold around each bend. It's a great route for families...
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 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 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 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...
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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...
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 Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail is a great commuter and recreation trail in western San Bernadino valley, with expansive views and connections to community centers and parks. The trail...
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 scenic University Trail begins at a connection with the San Diego Creek Trail and runs east along University Drive through southern Irvine. The trail stretches the length of William R. Mason...
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...
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...
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 Bellflower Bike Trail runs for more than 2 miles on the right-of-way of the old Pacific Electric transit system—also known as the Red Cars—across Bellflower. At its zenith in the 1920s, Pacific...
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...
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 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...
The Shoreline Pedestrian/Bicycle Path is a scenic multipurpose trail that runs from the tip of the breakwater opposite Island Grissom at the Long Beach Shoreline Marina to Long Beach's Belmont Shore...
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 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 Turtle Rock Trail meanders its way through the neighborhood of the same name in southern Irvine. The path is a short—but serious—aerobic workout, as it features climbs to the trail's high point at...
The Whittier Greenway Trail occupies part of an abandoned railroad right-of-way in its namesake town, running parallel to Whittier Boulevard and Lambert Road between Mills Avenue and Pioneer Boulevard...
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 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...
The Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail is a great commuter and recreation trail in western San Bernadino valley, with expansive views and connections to community centers and parks. The trail...
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 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 Rio Hondo River Trail runs for more than 17 miles through Los Angeles County along its namesake waterway, a partially channelized tributary of the Los Angeles River. The trail extends northeast...
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 Oceanfront Boardwalk begins in West Newport Beach at the end of 36th Street and runs nearly 3 miles down the Balboa Peninsula. Along the way, trail-goers will find restaurants, dory fishermen,...
The Shoreline Pedestrian/Bicycle Path is a scenic multipurpose trail that runs from the tip of the breakwater opposite Island Grissom at the Long Beach Shoreline Marina to Long Beach's Belmont Shore...
The Turtle Rock Trail meanders its way through the neighborhood of the same name in southern Irvine. The path is a short—but serious—aerobic workout, as it features climbs to the trail's high point at...
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...
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...
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...
If you are looking for a quick escape from the smog and traffic of Southern California, take a trip along the Tustin Branch Trail. Currently open in two disconnected segments, the trail runs on the...
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 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...
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 Bellflower Bike Trail runs for more than 2 miles on the right-of-way of the old Pacific Electric transit system—also known as the Red Cars—across Bellflower. At its zenith in the 1920s, Pacific...
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...
Love this ride. Some walking traffic and slow riders around Santa Monica and Venice but the people watching in those areas make up for the slow pace in those areas. I ride it almost every weekend.
Tried heading for the beach today. The trail was open. All the homeless are gone and they put up fences in all the areas the homeless were camping out. I went to Moon Park and it was clear all the way. There were my smiling cyclist on the trail. Spring is here and the trail is clear. See all you kids out there.
Frank
I rode this trail of amazing beach and ocean scenery mixed with totally LA culture, on the sunny, warm Saturday afternoon of a winter holiday weekend. The trail runs along the beach of the Pacific coastline of Los Angeles almost fully uninterrupted, for about 20 miles that span major LA beach communities including Redondo Beach, Venice Beach, and Santa Monica. The natural scenery of the beach and ocean is amazing, and traveling by bicycle is the best (if not only) way to experience all of LA's beach communities in a single day.
The one downside to my ride was that on this busy Saturday afternoon, bicycle traffic on the trail was as heavy as cars I-405 in the rush hour! Trail riders ran the gamut from swimsuit-clad beach cruisers, to tourists on rental tandem bikes, to families with children, to more 'serious' riders on fitness and road bikes. Navigating the bicycle traffic took some caution and skill, and was worth the benefit in scenery and convenient travel through the beach communities. One stretch of the trail (about 8 miles), that fronts LA's industrial waterfront, was wide open and free of pedestrians and slower cyclists. It was easy enough to simply shift my gaze to the beach and blue ocean waters and away from the industrial scenery.
Overall this was one the best bike rides I've ever taken. I strongly recommend this trail for all bikers!
I have ridden the northern part of the trail (San Fernando Bl to the LA Zoo) for a couple years. This is a great ride. There is one homeless encampment towards Los Feliz. I have never felt threatened by anybody. Nor have I ever seen drugs exchanged. These are just poor souls trying to get by.
I did not care for the stretch of trail from Upland-Claremont. As mentioned in a prior review-too many street crossings. I haven’t tried the Upland-Rialto route yet.
This trail is heavily used by so many people and visitors from outside the City. I give it a rating of 10/10 because of how it was built with so much engining thought. The trail runs next to Calleguas Creek from Upland all the way to the Pleasant Valley Field complex on the west side of the 101 freeway. The enterances to the path are so well posted and easy to enter with a trike. There are a lot of other cyclist with all types and class, and along side there path is filled with the usual dog walkers and runner. I love the way the path crossess the roads by building a path underneath the road, and this allows it to be very safe for everyone! The bathrooms are at the Pleasant Valley Fields and at Pitts Ranch Park and are very clean. I ride a trike and sometimes I find myself zoning out as I peddle down the path because it is so relaxing. I am sure you will too!!!!
If I could split this review, I would rate most of the trail, from Upland to points east, 5 stars. But the westernmost 4 miles from Upland to Claremont are terrible. The street crossings require you to leave the trail, go down to the nearest traffic light to cross, then go back up to the trail to continue. This wouldn't be so bad if the crossings weren't every quarter mile, and if the crosswalk buttons weren't placed in such bizarre, hard to reach places. I guess it's OK if you live here, but if you are visiting from outside the area, just pretend the trail starts in Upland. It's fantastic.
Had a fun fast spin on the PE IE trail yesterday. Started at N. Cactus in Rialto and rode to Victoria Park Ln. and back. There is a short section in Fontana closed for construction between Emerald Ave. and Juniper Ave. but just go slightly over to the parallel road to the left (Seville Ave.) to get around it.
https://youtu.be/hIzijWhosKk
Not scenic, but flat and functional cycling travel commute route from nearby Metro Green Line Station Crenshaw to El Camino College or Alondra Park. But no lights and likely not a safe night travel.
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