Looking for the best trails around Apple Valley?

Explore the best rated trails in Apple Valley, CA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the San Gabriel River Trail and Santa Ana River Trail . With more than 6 trails covering 131 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.

Recent Trail Reviews

San Gabriel River Trail

Ride this trail from the beach to about the 10 mile marker. Nice well maintained. A bit nervous if you don't like steep drop off both sides.

April, 2024 by zakath14606

Ride this trail from the beach to about the 10 mile marker. Nice well maintained. A bit nervous if you don't like steep drop off both sides.

Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail

Unexpectedly nice!

April, 2024 by barbscondo

We parked on the western end in the Metro train parking lot at 1st and College in Claremont. Lots of free parking. Rode a few blocks down First and picked up the trail. This trail is in beautiful shape. No trash, no graffiti, no homeless camps. Part of it has a beautiful separate parallel dirt trail for horses and runners. Not too much shade so would be hot in summer. There’s a nice park about 10 miles in on the trail. The downside is the number of street crossings. Only a few of the streets were busy. But the fun part is that in addition to street crossing buttons for bikes they have high up buttons for those on horses.

Deer Creek Bike Path

Deer Creek Bike Path

January, 2024 by thejake91739

I've lived my entire sixty-eight years in the Inland Empire, the last forty-three in Rancho Cucamonga, and I must say I was absolutely stunned to recently discover that the black top running alongside the flood control channel is now on TraiLink and is called Deer Creek Bike Path (even though there are absolutely no signs anywhere designating that name to the path).

Since no one had yet to submit a review or photo, I felt compelled to do so in the hope some naive bicyclist does not set their sights on this path.

First of all, this is/was essentially a service road for the flood control channel, but the city slapped some yellow paint down the center of it and decided to call it a bike path. OK, Rancho, kudos for the thought and semi-effort, but this trail leaves quite a bit to be desired as a "bike path". Deer Creek Concrete Flood Control Channel Pedestrian Path might be a better name. I was the only person on a bike (for good reason), and in terms of pedestrians/dog walkers I only encountered four on the entire 9.6 mile round trip.

Most of it is not practical as a bike path because of the many interruptions caused by busy major thoroughfares. As a result, you then have to get on a sidewalk or that busy road to get to a traffic signal in order to safely cross and then double back to the trail. (Check out the map and you'll see what I mean.)

I would say this path is most practical for and appreciated by the residents north of Church Street as it provides a couple miles of recreational opportunity thanks to paths connecting their neighborhoods to the trail. From my experience, that's primarily dog walkers and residents getting their steps in.

North of Base Line Road it provides access to The Bark at Central Park and the city's crown jewel bike path, the Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail (which I ride a couple of times a week between Fontana and Upland). The portion of trail north of Church Street all the way to the endpoint at Highland Avenue (which is closed to cars!) is safe, but the trail has about a million filled cracks which makes for a bumpy ride.

South of Church Street, FUGHEDDABOUDIT! It's a joke and not worth your time as it passes behind businesses, warehouses, apartments, and the unhoused and their scattered garbage. Same bumpy, cracked trail plus debris such as sand and tree twigs, plus I didn't feel especially safe as I pedaled through the less affluent south part of town.

So bikers, don't bother! This is definitely not a destination bike ride, but perfect for the nearby residents to stretch their legs or to access the dog park or the Pacific Electric Trail (a true bike path!).

Accordion

San Gabriel River Trail

Interesting bike trail.

October, 2023 by mark0053

We started at the north end of the trail and followed it down by the dam to the south. There is a lot of gravel pits in this area and gravel/rock processing plants so not much to look at. It's like so many paved bike trails in Los Angeles that follow a dried up river of concrete. We were staying in the Pomona area so we didn't want to travel too far for our ride. We can now say we did this trail and won't need to return.

Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail

PT

October, 2023 by mz6bvjp27d

Amazing trail

Santa Ana River Trail

Santa Ana River trail June 2023

June, 2023 by sawdustman

It’s been a couple years since I did this trail last. It was dirty etc back then. Today I did the round trip from Waterman to the mountain parking lot and back. Just over 10 miles each direction. It was very clean and wonderful the entire way. A small encampment down by the river below the trail but the trail was awesome. Time to return more often.

Santa Ana River Trail

Nice long urban bike path.

August, 2022 by mark0053

I've done this trail several times. Last year in 2021 it was totally void of homeless issues. This year in 2022 I encountered several encampments and graffiti issues. I usually start in the middle and do the westbound route the first day and the eastbound route the second. I normally start at the Honda Center in Anaheim and go from there.

Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail

Decent trail but be warned

August, 2022 by vea31599

The trail itself was nice. We started from the parking lot on Foothill, in RC and went east. Nice paved two lane trail. After a while though, you cross city streets over and over again. It kinda sucks have to stop for signals so many times.

BE CAREFUL if you park in the foothill parking lot. While we were out riding, someone drilled a hole in my gas tank to steal gas. I didn't even notice it until we got home. It was $1700 worth of damage. Because of that, I will never again go to that parking lot. Heck, I will probably never use this trail again because of that. You have been warned.

San Gabriel River Trail

Nice Trail, but fairly busy

March, 2022 by stvatandem

My wife and I started out at the Seal Beach Trailhead and rode north to Alondra Blvd. The trail is pretty well maintained and dips below most crossroads where they cross the river. We rode on a Wednesday morning and were surprised by the number of other bike and trike riders on the trail. Appears to be very popular with the locals. Came across a couple of homeless folks, but no problems.

Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail

From Upland to Rialto

March, 2022 by relaxful59

The trip starts at my house getting on PET from Campus Ave. in Upland. The distance is 17.5 miles one way from where I start. The trail goes east and at about two miles into the trip there are two brief climbs and from there on it's pretty much level. At the Foothill Blvd. trailhead there is restroom access. It's important to mention that unlike the Santa Ana River Trail,, there are many intersections you have to cross. With some short and some long stretches. After about nine miles, starting from the under the 15 fwy you will be on a mile stretch that is very bumpy with the concrete slabs. Not very pleasant at all for road bikes. This section ends with a rest area in Rancho Cucamonga. I look at this portion as the first half of PET. It's now mile 10.

The second half of PET begins across Baseline Rd. where you enter Fontana. You are now going southeast. The trail takes on a different character where you are in a community setting and many portions of the trail have a neat accent to them. There's a park at Oleander Ave. with a nice restroom right off PET to your left. Other parks and exercise equipment are alongside the trail, along with a number of historical buildings. Once you enter the city of Rialto, you see neat signs telling you you're at Rialto with numerous cement benches and water fountains. The trail ends at Cactus Ave. at mile 17.5.

I gave this trail a four because in Fontana and Rialto I noticed that the trail isn't being kept up regarding weeds growing inbetween the concrete slabs you're riding on. Those weeds often have thorns that can puncture tires. I recommend you check the weather forecast for wind. Cucamonga, Fontana, and Rialto are know as "wind tunnels" so better to be safe than sorry. On my second trip, I did notice signs of the homeless with trash and other items associated with them. It wasn't much but I suspect it's going to get worse because on my first trip I didn't see anything. That's not good. Hope it doesn't get too bad!

Santa Ana River Trail

From the Green River trailhead to the Honda Center

March, 2022 by relaxful59

My experience with this route is excellent. Going up and back is approx. 30 miles. The trailhead is at 4995 Green River Rd., Corona. It has ample parking. I hit the path going south with the river to my right and the 91 fwy to my left. Once I get to the first park, Featherly Regional Park, you end up looping so that the river is now on your left and riding alongside E. La Palma Ave. for a couple of miles.

Shortly after you cross Yorba Linda Blvd. going south, you're now led to the dedicated bike path for the remainder of the ride and much closer to the river. The riding surface is in very good condition. Yorba Linda Regional Park is on your right. It's a long beautiful park. You may want to stop and explore it. Right after the park ends you cross a bridge with a wooden surface and now have the river on your right. You're now at approx. mile 5.

As you proceed south, you go under several overpasses and there are some nice wide curvy sections with beautiful vegetation on both sides. At approx. 12 miles there's a mini park rest area with benches and water fountain on your right. It's a nice place to stop and have a snack for a few minutes.

It starts to gets more barren as you go further south. Looking ahead you can now see the Honda Center, Anaheim transportation center, and Anaheim Stadium a few miles away. When I get there its mile 15 and I turn back.

As I end, I do want to say that it's best to check out the weather forecast mainly for wind. There have been a couple of times when I had to turn back because of strong winds! I recommend you start in the morning around 7-9 am. From the trailhead at Green River to the Honda Center it's mainly going downhill. So, just keep in mind that you'll be returning going uphill. But it is a moderate climb. During my rides I did not see any homeless encampments. If you prefer it on the quiet side, it best to ride the bike path on weekdays. I did go on it one Sunday and it wasn't too bad but there was noticeably more traffic with bikers and walkers. Well, I hope you enjoyed my review of the Santa Ana River Trail from Green River to the Honda Center.

Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail

Loving to Ride

January, 2022 by w9v2vc6srs

I start at Citrus and ride to Claremont. Nice ride, only one detour where a portion is being rebuilt; have to detour up to Arrow but it takes you thru the Colleges campus to the village.

Find Nearby City trails

Accordion

Register for free!

Register for free with TrailLink today!

We're a non-profit all about helping you enjoy the outdoors
  • View over 40,000 miles of trail maps
  • Share your trail photos
  • Save your own favorite trails
  • Learn about new trails near you
  • Leave reviews for trails
  • Add new and edit existing trails

Get the Free TrailLink App

The trail is always better with TrailLink

Scan the QR code to get TrailLink on your phone

Explore by City

Explore by City

Explore by Activity

Explore by Activity

Log in to your account to:

  • View trail paths on the map
  • Save trails to your account
  • Add trails, edit descriptions
  • Share photos
  • Add reviews

Log in with Google

Log in with Apple

OR

Register for free!

Join TrailLink (a non-profit) to view more than 40,000 miles of trail maps and more!

Register with Google

Register with Apple

OR

Your account has been deleted.