Explore the best rated trails in Mission Viejo, CA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Coastal Rail Trail and Southern Avenue Greenway . With more than 71 trails covering 452 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.
This is one of my go to short and quick rides. I start from Valencia park in Jamboree and end at Peters Canyon trail head. It's a beautiful trail with a mild slope.
About 4 miles of paved trail from walnut to Sand canyon. Runs along metrolink railway and there is a park along the way if you want to take a break. I started from west point Irvine in Jamboree then took Peters Canyon from Bryan to Harvard and Walnut trail. It was 13.6 miles of nice relatively easy ride.
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.
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.
Rode this on a Wednesday. Wonderful path. One of the best we have been on because it is very wide and well marked. Some areas have separated pedestrian lanes which is always a bonus. We are 4-78 years olds on 3 Ebikes and one Etrike. We are always respectful of other riders and walkers. There were quite a few people using the path-enough to make it fun. Probably crowded on weekends. The bluff above the portion that is the Huntington Dog Beach was so great for watching all the dogs have a blast in the waves. This will be a repeat path in our travels.
Aliso Creek Trail in the middle of beautiful Orange county. What a great bike path. Easy Breezy. Can connect to Santiago in the north and Laguna in the South.
We started off at the San Gabriel river trail at Santa Fe dam park, got onto trail then headed to Whittier Narrows, we cross over to Rosemead blvd and Durfee and entered Rio Hondo trail starting point. There is a restroom at the corner Bosque del Rio bldg if needed. From there we continued on trail cross the 60 Frwy and we stop inside park a little while to watch the Remote RC planes, huge planes those guys are good showing there trick flying fun to see , we then got back on trail, and at Sam’s club we stop for a Hot Dog, they are good and cheap. We then continued all the way to end of trail at Peck Road at a little park, then took peck to Duarte rd and got back on San Gabriel river trail side arm entrance at City of Hope trail next to parking lot, that got into Santa Fe Dam back where we started. It’s a approx 28 miles, yes there are some homeless but where isn’t there in this area,. They are 2way bike lanes nice , lots of water in river in march 2024.
I rode it the other day, I plan on riding again with friends!
Between the poor maintenance of the asphalt and trying to dodge the homeless carts and random people walking through the trail, I’m not sure it’s the safest bike route I’ve ever taken. I started at the Escondido transit station and won’t be doing that again!
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!).
I ride the short one from la Mirada to la Habra 2.5 miles and to get to the southern trail I would have to ride over 2 miles down Alondra blvd just to get to the second half. Wish the county would connect the two.
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