From Lakewood to the Ocean
Lower San Gabriel
Has some unique and surprising features . . .
This is the last 10 miles or so of the San Gabriel, from Lakewood to the Pacific, where the river marks the boundary between Long Beach and Seal Beach. It’s easily the prettiest stretch of the entire river trail, not only because the concrete river lining is replaced by rocks and plants as the river nears the ocean, but also because the best parks – large, such as El Dorado, and small, such as Liberty Park – most of them well-maintained and inviting, dot its banks.
This trail has connections: you can branch off to the northeast about six miles from the ocean, and follow the Coyote Creek trail; or, if you don’t mind cutting through a bit of heavy auto traffic, veer westward and pick up the Long Beach Shoreline Trail; or ride down the coast a few miles toward Huntington Beach and pick up Bolsa Chica.
Thomas Guide, pp 766, 796, 826.
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Like all the area river trails, there are long straight sections with few distractions. The best part of the trail, though, are the parks, such as El Dorado and Liberty.
Question: How can I get from Leisure World on Seal Beach Blvd to the San Gabriel Trail heading toward PCH? Thanks
Hope someone replied to your question, but if not hopefully this will help.
There is a road, Beverly Manor Dr. that paralles the 405. It is a connector “spur” to the trail.
Communted to work today along the lower San Gabrial…it was quite discouraging seeing all the trash floating in the water. It was exceptionaly bad between the PCH bridge and the 7th Street/22 overcrossing. It was high tide….!
The PCH underpass is one of the things that’s supposed to get corrected soon, building it up so it won’t be submerged at the extreme high tide. I frequently see fish jump down there though, and Friday saw a seal.
Coming from Pacific Coast Hwy, where does the bikepath split between the San Gabriel trail and the Coyote Creek trail?
Bill:
Right near El Dorado Park. There is a covered bridge that crosses the river. Going south on the San Gabriel, you cross the bridge to get to the last leg of the trail. If you’re going north from Seal Beach, and you want to stay on Coyote creek don’t cross the bridge.
JWM
not a well maintained trail lots of trash and broken asphalte makes for a rough ride on the hands. I rode it today and saw 2 bikers with flats, and an obstacle (piece of wood sticking out of the ground) caused me to damage my wheels. The trail is scenic but not really worth it.
hugo, the bad section is the 3/4 mile between the 405 & 22 freeways. Most of the 37-mile length has been repaved (not just slurry-sealed) in recent years, but this one section in Seal Beach still remains neglected. I’ve put tens of thousands of miles on the trail in the last 30+ years, and that part has not changed much.
The Cities of Seal Beach and Long Beach are teaming up to fix this section soon. In fact, the entire stretch from the beach to Wardlow Road will be reconstructed. Last I heard from Seal Beach, was that the contract was awarded and construction was expected to begin sometime in the winter, possibly January. So expect some temporary closures and detours.
And the non cyclist are making it almost impssibe to ride.
What is a non cyclist? Do people run on the trail?
I rode it 37 miles round-trip on Friday and averaged over 20mph although I’m definitely not in my best shape at the moment. Just call ahead “Passing!” and the non-cyclists move over. I used to commute 50 miles a day, 2/3 of it being on this trail.
Is the trail open all the time or closed from dusk to dawn?
DoomsDave, it’s open all the time. I have ridden it at night many times (with lights of course). The parks along it are generally closed at night.
rode san gabreil from the ocean up to MM 15. Happy to see that all the suicide tunnels straightened except for 183rd. lets start a call in campaign to LA department of public works to get 183rd fixed! Regarding walkers who hog the path, I use “passsssing on your left/right” as an oncoming warning, much better than the bell ringers in Europe
The 183rd tunnel is scheduled to be repaired in Jan 2012. Thanks, LACDPW!
Our first time on this part of the bike trail!
I couldn’t find a place to stop and grab a drink with my son to celebrate, but eventually we found our way over to the marina just west of the end of the trail, and found a new place, “Royal Cup Coffee Shop”. They have only been open for a few weeks.
They have all kinds of coffee drinks and smoothies (amazing banana smoothie) but they also serve panini and bagels. Plus it is a wine bar too, but it was a little too early in the morning for me.
I will use this place as a destination on our next bike ride.
Next time go east on Marina Drive to Main Street in Seal Beach. Turn right on main toward ocean. Recommend Crema Cafe on Main, or Bogart’s across from the pier.
We just moved to Rossmoor and want to try out this path. Is there a way in without having to travel down Katella past the 605 entrance?
From Katella, go north on Oak Street (at police station). Just past Oak Elementary School on the left is a path to the Coyote Creek trail. Go south to catch the SGRT.