See the Cali Coast – Ride the South Bay Bicycle Trail

At USA Travel Guide, we’ve perhaps been a little extravagant with our L.A. advice: fifty-eight dollar bus tours, holidays at Disneyland, a British film festival. So today, we’re going simple and inexpensive.

Which isn’t to say we’re going small. In fact, you can explore a huge chunk of Los Angeles, California coastline for the cost of only a few thousand calories when you grab your two-wheeled ride and hit the South Bay Bicycle Trail. It’s good for the body, and as many fascinating sights as you’re like to see along the way, it’s good for the mind as well.

Considered the longest beach path in the nation, the South Bay Bicycle Trail is a 22-mile paved path that starts at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades, north of Santa Monica, and continues southbound all the way to Torrance County Beach, south of Redondo. Though paved, the trail sits on the beach for almost its entire length, with only one or two pesky detours that you may actually find well worth the effort.

The South Bay Bicycle Trail is an easy ride except for its length, fourteen feet wide and fairly flat most of the way down. The challenges you face will have nothing to do with the path, and everything to do with the folks on top of it. With such beautiful scenery (both left and right), the trail attracts thousands of walkers, runners, riders and wheelers every day. It’s not like trying to ride a bike through downtown Tokyo, but it’s a not a secluded mountain trail either. Always ride carefully and courteously, and be prepared to hop off and walk your bike maybe once or twice each way.

That’s not all a bad thing, though. More people means more people to watch, which should be every bit a part of the fun. Unless all you care about is sustaining that heart rate, we’re not actually recommending you tackle the trail in a straight shot. Park it from time to time, lock it up and see the sights. Don’t think of it as exercise. Think of it as a DIY tour of all the famous Los Angeles beach communities.

Along the way you’ll have opportunities to stop in Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Marina del Ray, El Porto and the big three: Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. If there’s a downside, it’s that the most interesting stretch of the trail, the famous boardwalk of Venice Beach, comes along so early. After an easy, scenic ride along the coast of Santa Monica, take a break in Venice and watch the street performers, chat with the sidewalk vendors and maybe even grab a snack at any of the charming little shops.

Don’t stay too long though, because you’ve got another 14 miles to go, and 36 to go if you plan to make the return trek (otherwise you can rely on public transportation to get back to wherever you need to be. Most L.A. bus routes offer racks.)

The South Bay Bicycle Trail is completely free, of course, making it altogether one of the best and cheapest tours of Los Angeles. No Web site for this one, but you can learn a little more about traffic hazards and view the map here.

Completists will force themselves to ride from Will Rogers State Park, but truth is we like to take a little bit of a head start by launching in Santa Monica. For one thing, that’s often where our hotel is. For Santa Monica hotels, we’re fans of the Holiday Inn Santa Monica Beach Hotel – At the Pier. This is a timely choice, actually, because the hotel actually rents bikes, and it’s located more or less on the trail. We always find it a little silly to drive to a bike trail, so it makes us happy that when we stay here, we don’t have to.

Have some heart-healthy fun with the South Bay Bicycle Trail!

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