csrpenfab

I went out Friday afternoon to scout a bit of gravel riding. I parked at the SART parking lot near Green River/91 and proceeded up the hill to the course, across the railroad tracks, and then on gravel into the backside of Chino Hills State Park. I then rode East a bit towards Prado dam on a rough dirt road that parallels the golf course. All of the sudden I see SART signage, and a pristine 1 mile stretch of paved path. It was like new, with tons of signage about "slippery when wet", "pass with caution", etc. As I rode East, the paved portion ends about 1/4 mile from Prado Dam at the 71.

Makes me wonder why they put all the effort into paving this isolated stretch that's bounded on both ends by dirt? I guess someday (in the year 2050) this will be the connection that gets me from my home in Eastvale, across the Prado basin to the rest of the SART?



View from 71 looking West towards Green River


Dirt portion West of paved trail, heading towards Green River Golf Course.

TakingMyTime

Today, when I was about 4 miles up from the beach I came across a coyote. Kind of scared me since he was standing on the riverbed edge and was only about 15 feet away. He looked really sick. I think I was more scared than he was. He just stood there and watched me ride by.

2seven0

I've seen several along the trails. One was trotting along the fence line of Yorba Reg. Park on the SART. Saw one on the SGRT standing alongside the path just north of Beverly. Trotted off into the riverbed as I got nearer. A few weeks ago my wife & I saw one standing next to the SGRT at the south corner of the Nature Center (near Katella). A family- husband, wife, small child & 2 dogs were walking south towards it just a hundred feet or so away so I warned them of it's presence. The husband said thanks- yeah I been watching him!
Month or so ago we rode Santiago Cyn Road & were coming back up Portola. At the Arco station just before Alton one was standing on the grass strip next to the sidewalk not a care in the world! We stopped at the rest area there & a few minutes later saw it trot south across Portola into the shopping center parking lot.
My wife was on an early morning ride over Gilbert hill between Rosecrans & Imperial in Fullerton & one ran across the road just in front of her.
Our Ring app is full of videos of them running through neighborhoods etc.
Those urban dogs are used to the environment & aren't spooked by people at all as opposed to the ones out in the wild.

jimincalif

I saw a coyote trotting along the San Diego creek trail in Irvine, between Valley Oak and Sand Canyon.

csrpenfab

I see coyotes daily along the SART stretch in Eastvale. I usually run into a group of two young ones in the same spot all the time. They don’t bother anyone.

It gets even more interesting when the wild pigs come out of the riverbed to root around in the grassy park areas along the trail. They are way more aggressive than any coyote.

TheDudeIsHere

I see coyote on SART, GMR, and the foothills. Never been bothered by one.

Right now, the biggest threat for me on SART are other cyclists.

Unapomer

The Dude said it all

bigd777

Is it safe to ride there again

TheDudeIsHere

Of Orange?

skidder

I'm usually on it once per week at the south end (PCH up to Anaheim) and its just turned back into the quiet, flat, kinda boring trail its always been. A few a-hole cyclists and TT groups going way too fast, sometimes there are utility trucks doing maintenance on the trail or the river bed itself, but those are the only issues and easy to deal with.

DrIsotope

At the current (and probably eternal) northern terminus of the SART at Waterman Avenue, there used to be a bollard right in the middle of the trail, presumably to stop anything wider than a bicycle from entering.

When the county closed the trail for a month to do "maintenance" back in September, they took out that bollard... and put in a gate. So now we have to either dismount and lift the bike over a gate, or try to navigate a patch of smooshy sand outside the gate.

In the following months, every single time I've ridden the trail, there have been some sort of off-road vehicle using the trail. I've seen dirt bikes, quads, even one of those big Polaris RZRs.

So now we have the homeless camps (bigger than ever) and the trail has all manner of off-road stuff on it all the time. Not saying the gate did this somehow, but the gate did this somehow.

CAT7RDR

I was run off the LART once by a gang of about 20 mini-motorcycles. They did not even try to avoid me, took up both lanes and glared at me hoping for a confrontation.

I surmised gangs use the river trails to avoid law enforcement. I'm thinking word of mouth and non-detection are the big reasons why off-road vehicles use the MUPS.

joesch

The SART from Green River/91 to HB no longer has homeless camps with the big one at Anaheim/Katella now fenced off and totally cleaned up.
Green River/91 to Yorba Reg. Park is still being improved and you are no longer forced to cross back and forth across LaPalma which I hated since its fast cars and required waiting for traffic lights. Good trail for riding fast and not worrying about cars and Not too many other MUT users like the beach paths.

TheDudeIsHere

This thread was started 2 years ago. A lot has changed since then as far as clean up. No problems at all lately.

I did see a black cop car at a fence just South of the soccer fields as if they had been chasing someone. Seemed to be a ditched MTB by the fence. A rider shouted to me as I approached, "be careful, blah blah blah ahead!". Didn't really hear what he said as he was wearing a scarf over his muzzle..

Almost looked like an immigrant type chasing vehicle. Maybe he said that to me as I am a little dark in color but that is OK, I have my papers!

As far as Edna Park, haven't had any crack head wimmins taking up and camping in the ladies' restroom in quite some time.

TakingMyTime

I think part of this thread is used so that those of us who use it can give a shout out from time to time when something out of the ordinary is spotted. The great majority of problems along the southern sections no longer exist.

2seven0

I've been waiting for the trail to close where the new railroad bridge is being built but so far so good.
West

Jan Feetz

Were these dudes with them????

CAT7RDR

Luckily I was riding my trike that day and took care of business!

gaidensensei

Thing about the levee is no cops can patrol it, it's not made for patrol cars. I used to bike down to the seal Beach section and in those days it was pretty clean, bud you'd see some tents at every other area. Wait until you see the SF area, it's a whole different story biking unless sticking with the dedicated trails.

TheDudeIsHere

If I see any more of these trike types on the trail, I'm giving up riding!

skidder

FWIW: Construction on the 405 freeway widening project where it crosses over the Santa Ana River and SART is well under way. I went through there on Friday AM, construction is happening with equipment/people moving around the area. Safety personnel are stopping bicycles briefly for vehicle and personnel crossing when I was coming back towards the beach; the 'boneyard' is on the inland side of the 405. Today (Sunday) its open with no issues.

Also today (Sunday): Looks like there are a few homeless folks living under the Hamilton/Victoria bridge (first bridge up from the PCH) in the crawl space between the bridge's underside and the rip-rap on the riverbank. No conflict with any crazy persons, but some stuff had come down onto the MUP as it goes under the bridge and could cause an issue if you hit it. There were also a few sleeping bags drying out on the rip-rap.

ERdept

The trail is safe, safer than when I cycled in the late 80's and early 90's when there was a ton of graffiti, gangs, broken glass, etc.


It's now mostly homeless, but much cleaner, almost no gangs, and just other cyclist with poor skills and courtesy.

IN the 80's I'd never go on the trail at night, now there are night riders.

skidder

I haven't been on it in a few weeks, but went for a ride on it this morning between PCH and 17th street in Santa Ana (Friday, so nice and calm). It appears the crawl space under the Hamilton/Victoria bridge between Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach has been closed up with concrete and rip-rap. Also, a OC crew was removing stuff from under the Harbor Blvd underpass (the underpass just south of the soccer fields). Some other crawl spaces under bridges up to the 17th street footbridge in Santa Ana appear to have been enclosed with fencing, too (better than simple chain-link fencing).

Cykilist2

I can recall a number of years ago, by Anaheim stadium, there were hardly any encampments. I saw recent pictures, and it looks like there are enough people there to have their own zip code. I'd probably ride during the day... Of course, you have to watch for dogs that like to run after bicycles, and are unleashed.

skidder

It was cleared out and cleaned up in late 2018. No problem riding through the Angel Stadium/Honda Center area now. I rode through there Saturday morning, no issues at all.