Find the top rated running trails in Los Angeles, whether you're looking for an easy short running trail or a long running trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a running trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
It was nice and shady, took the bike and dogs ¿
The JCT is a 2.5 mile dirt (mtb) trail that is perfect for newbies and family. The address is 360 W Valley View Dr. Park in the south section behind the Fullerton Courthouse where the trail starts. You will see the trail in front of you. Once you're set get on the trail. There will be several street crossings and you'll be sharing the trail with walkers, joggers, and horseback riders. Always give the horseback riders plenty of leeway, always! You start with a moderate uphill. The trail is rather smooth with a few bumps. Whenever passing others remember to call yourself out to let them know where you'll be passing. There will be a few spots with gravel so take care. Halfway through you'll come to a staircase. You can try to ride down it lightly tapping your brakes. Don't be embarrassed to walk it. Nothing wrong with being safe, than sorry.
The second half starts when you cross Bastanchury Rd. and continuing on Morelia Ave. in front of you. After about a quarter mile it tees at the end and JCT continues on your right in front of you. It gets a little more bumpy with mild runts here and there. JCT ends when you see Laguna Lake to your left and a rest area in front of you with a couple of benches. Feel free to explore the lake and return by backtracking. Do this several times to get familiar riding on dirt and gravel with bumps and runts. After that you may want to get on the Hiltscher Trail which will be a little more demanding. Remember to always wear a helmet and show courtesy to others.
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!
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.
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.
My husband and I rode this trail again today for the fourth time. It was cold and windy. 25 mile ride from Aliso and Wood canyon nature preserve to cooks corner and back. Not much bird activity along the creek yet. Too cold I think. The parks were all full of soccer and Little League baseball activity. The trail is still closed at the I-5 due to construction. Be sure to take your GPS so you can navigate the detour through Lake Forest.
My husband and I rode from Aliso Wood Canyon nature preserve to Cook’s corner and back today. 25 miles total. It was a cold and windy ride today but this is still one of my favorite trails. Because it was Saturday, and we hit the trail at 9 AM, we ran into a 5K run, lots of walkers, and other bike riders. It still felt like winter along the trail. Not much bird activity on the creek yet. The trail is still closed at I-5 due to construction. Be sure to take your GPS to maneuver the detour through Lake Forest.
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.
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