LA Bike Routes
These bike routes are suggested to us by cyclists riding within the Los Angeles area as alternatives to your standard car route. The routes are displayed on Google Maps utilizing the GMAPS Pedometer.
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Submitted by: Michele C.
Area: Lancaster-Palmdale
Submitted by: Michele C.
Area: Lancaster-Palmdale
Submitted by: Michele C.
Area: Lancaster-Palmdale
Submitted by: Michele C.
Area: Lancaster-Palmdale
Submitted by: Dave
Area: Valley
Most maps ommit the fact that the old railroad tracks on along Chandler Blvd. in Burbank have been replaced with a bike path. The path starts one block east of the Red Line North Hollywood station. I get off the path at Hollywood Way but you can take it to Victory Blvd. -- almost downtown Burbank.
Tip: As of October 2006 there is some construction work going on between the Red Line station and the start of the bike path. It is possible that they are working on an extension of the path so it may reach the station in the future.
Submitted by: Highland Park
Area: Valley
Clark Street is a dream. This is my ride to work route. Avoid much of the heavy traffic, and ride residential.
Tips: Be cautious around mile 3, it's dense with apartments. Ride in the left lane at mile 4 under the freeway, then left turn lane. Just past mile 5 you'll start riding in traffic, but the lane is good and marked well. If you wish to keep heading eastward, then a detour north to the bike path along the orange line will take you to Balboa.
Submitted by: Tadpole Rider
Area: Valley
Going across the Valley, Roscoe, Saticoy, and Sherman Way are pretty busy with cars. Two blocks south of Roscoe, is Strathern St. A street slightly wider than the one in front of your house running straight through the neighborhoods from about DeSoto all the way to Balboa Blvd. Wanna fight the traffic or enjoy the ride? I prefer Strathern.
Tips: Starts at Irondale Ave. just east of DeSoto. Mexican? DeSoto and Roscoe. Sushi? One block south of DeSoto and Roscoe, on your left. Carl's Jr... Yup, DeSoto & Roscoe.
Submitted by: Dave
Area: Valley
Submitted by: Cory
Area: Valley
Easy way to get to the REI in Arcadia. Thank god we don't have to bike to San Dimas anymore!
Tip: Just a little bit of hectic on Colorado before it becomes the 210 frontage road, and a little bit more on Santa Anita when you get into Arcadia. The left veering turn that takes you from Colorado Pl. to stay on Colorado Blvd. is a timed light - it will eventually change for you. Crossing Rosemead sucks without a light - make use of the center turn lane.
Submitted by: Zane Crawford
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: Zane Crawford
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: Zane Crawford
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: Tony
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: Eric
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: Anonymous
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: Eric
Area: San Gabriel Valley
Submitted by: David
Area: South Central LA
Submitted by: David Benoff
Area:
My commute route starts at the Howard Hughes Center just north of LAX. The first mile of it is the worst: along Sepulveda Blvd. until it branches off to Jefferson Blvd. Shortly after that I cut through a leafy neighborhood in Culver City, past a nice park with little leaguers, kids playing soccer, and homies playing handball. Then I cross a foot (and bike) bridge to the Ballona Creek Path. I ride the path to its northern end (if only it went all the way into Hollywood!) at another city park. Then it's up to the surface streets to Venice Blvd.
Venice is a good street for bicycling because of its wide bike path. I head east on Venice past Hauser, then I cut up north on Burnside, which becomes Dunsmuir. Then it's up more side streets like Cochran and Cloverdale to Detroit, all nice, quite streets. You occasionally get some person doing 60 miles an hour in an SUV (I'm not exaggerating) though these streets that are lined with houses and front yards with kids on their big wheels, but that's not an everyday occurrence thankfully. I've gotten in a small handful of confrontations with people taking such high-speed side-street shortcuts in my year of biking this route. Eventually I reach the crumbling, pock-marked roads of glamorous Hollywood and the steep climb -- I call it the final burn -- to my home.
It took me a year of motorcycling and taking the bus to work (sometimes with my bike mounted on front) before realizing that I could save a lot of money, aggravation, and time (the bus can take up to two and a half hours) by simply riding the bike home. I'm hooked.
Tip: There is almost no downhill coasting on this route, which is great if you're interested in knocking out your commute and workout at the same time. Stretch before and after.
Submitted by: Brian Bell
Area: West Side
Submitted by: David Pulsipher
Area: West Side
Submitted by: Dan Gallagher
Area: West Side
Submitted by: The Fenders
Area: West Side
Submitted by: Ryan
Area: West Side
Submitted by: Julie
Area: West Side
Submitted by: Julie
Area: West Side
Submitted by: Jason
Area: West Side
Submitted by: Yury Sakovich
Area: West Side
This is a good route from the Old Bank District to Echo Park. This ride is so fun at night because the traffic on Glendale Blvd. really empties out.
Tip: Take care when going through the 2nd St. tunnel.
Submitted by: Ryno
Area: Central LA
This route is pretty mellow, and even kinda nice most of the way. You can extend it a little further to MacArther Park if you need to.
Tip: The St. Vincent Hospital salad bar is the best deal in town. $ 2.50 a plate, and you can load it up all you want. Link
Submitted by: Reina
Area: Central LA
This route avoids most busy streets between Silver Lake/Echo Park and Culver City and is faster than driving during rush hour. As others have mentioned, 4th street is a great east-west route.
Tip: One tricky spot is Edgemont Place and La Brea, but other than that it’s smooth riding. You could also jump on to the bike path in Culver City and go all the way to the beach.
Submitted by: Buck Burns
Area: Central LA
The stretch between Vermont Ave and La Brea Ave can be easily covered taking 4th street. This is a popular street among commuters who whant a quiet alternative to other more busy east-west streets like 3rd st, Wilshire, or Beverly. Lots of trees, good looking lawns, and people walking their dogs and kids. Very few stop lights, a lot of stop signs.
Tip: A lot of crossings have stop signs in all directions. These are easy on a bike since most cars, already stoped, will respect your right of way.
Submitted by: Federico
Area: Central LA
This route also takes you through K-town and the Miracle Mile area, all without having to ride one big, nasty street. If only it went all the way to Santa Monica!
Submitted by: SurviveLA
Area: Central LA
Submitted by: Dan Gallagher
Area: Central LA
An excellent, quiet safer alternative to using Vermont Avenue from Los Feliz, through East Hollywood and on to Koreatown, day or night. Starting north at Los Feliz Blvd, take Edgemont Street straight down until just past Santa Monica Blvd. Make a left at Willow Brook and a right at Heliotrope (this route passes by The Bicycle Kitchen). Jog through Melrose continuing on Heliotrope until Oakwood, turn left and then turn right on New Hampshire. Take a zig-zag at the light on Beverly and New Hampshire takes you uninterrupted until San Marino St, then do a little zigzag and you end up at Olympic.
Tip: Thai, Armenian, El Salvadoran, Mexican, Guatemalan, Chilean, Filipino, Bangladeshi, Indian and Korean restaurants – all very affordable – can be found along or within a 3-block radius of this route. You can’t lose! This also intersects with Fountain Avenue (the ideal bike corridor through Hollywood) and the 4th St. bike corridor. Also, when on Edgemont, head east along the very bike-friendly Lexington and then make a left on Bates Ave. to get to the Sunset Blvd Bike Lane to Silver Lake, Echo Park and Downtown.
Submitted by: Militant Angeleno
Area: Central LA
Submitted by: A. MINC
Area: Central LA
Submitted by: Dave
Area: Central LA
This is the best way I’ve found to get to USC from the vicinity of LACC. Side streets all the way to Hoover (where you’ve got a bike lane) and you cross all major streets at a light. New Hampshire (described in another post) peters out after Olympic but you can jump over to WESTMORELAND (how I adore WESTMORELAND, quaint tower-views, relatively slow traffic, good connections) at 4th to pass by Shatto Lanes or any other street that has a light across Vermont.
Watch the Parking garage just North of Wilshire on Westmoreland, waving at the cars that do stop for you. The sidewalk is the easiest way to make this jog of an intersection. South Western University is closed to cars but you can pedal right through. Other little trick is to take 17th St, which curves around into S New England where you can cross Washington at a light, then take 20th St to Hoover’s underpassing of the 10; thus avoiding some dodgy right-turning cars/trucks taking Hoover to the 10. The bike lane on Hoover from 20th to USC is a dream. Now, if only LA would install bike-friendly push-buttons like Vancouver at some of these cross streets… 35 mins to USC from my apartment near LACC; 45 mins home. Still working on the return route, but after dark I’ve been taking advantage of the bike racks on the 754.
Submitted by: Maren F.
Area: Central LA
Submitted by: Karl W
Area: Central LA
I adapted the “echo park to south end of beverly hills” route for my commute to work. This is the “Sunset Junction to Beverly Hills / Beverly Center” route. All large streets are crossed at a light. Lot’s of great houses to look at along the way.
Submitted by: Christopher
Area: Central LA
Tip: Go with friends, as this is a rarely, if ever, traveled path. Enjoy and please send comments! Dan
Submitted by: Dan Gottlieb
Area: North East LA
Submitted by: Andrew Jones
Area: North East LA
Almost completely bypasses the Eagle Rock and Colorado Blvd. madness.
Tip: When coming off Mount Royal road turn right into the alley way just before Colorado Blvd. This will take you to Townsend.
Submitted by: Liz
Area: North East LA
Wonderfully scenic with slow car traffic most of the way. Consider riding the Arroyo Seco portion on a late, hot summer night — the crickets are amazing.
Tip: Bring a good headlight for night riding, some of the streets are very dark at night.
Submitted by: Shay
Area: North East LA
Submit a route
- Locate your route on GMaps Pedometer.
- When you’re ready, click the “Start Recording” button to begin mapping your route.
- Thereafter, every double-click will draw a point on the map, and the distance from your last point and your cumulative distance will both appear in the boxes above.
- To save your route click on the “Save Route” link. When the route has been saved, a URL will appear below the link. Send this link to us using the contact form. Tip: Zoom out before saving your route.
What Makes a Good Route?
Keep the new commuter in mind when crafting your route. Think about streets that that have any or all of these characteristics: less car traffic, lower posted speed limits, wide shoulders, or even scenic value.
Some streets have different prevailing attitudes. Some multi-lane arterials can sometimes have a more relaxed feel than a 2 lane secondary street. Freeway attitudes can sometimes migrate down to streets running parallel to it, resulting in higher car traffic speeds and a greater intolerance to cyclists travelling there. Keep this in mind when crafting your route.
Sometimes it’s not possible to craft an entire route on ideal types of streets. It might be necessary to travel on a fast paced arterial for a short while when no other alternative exists. This is okay, but bring it back to the more relaxed streets as soon as you can.