sdimattia

I'm heading to Los Angeles, CA for a week and I want to do some biking while I'm out there. Hoping to do mostly gravel with a little bit of road thrown in. No mountain biking though I'm not opposed to singletrack, just nothing too technical. My mtb-ing skills are rather rudimentary but, I'm also on vacation and don't want to break anything.

Option 1: CX bike I use for road riding, currently equipped with 28mm slicks but, can take up to 35mm tires.
Option 2: Gravel bike that takes up to 50mm tires.

If I brought the CX bike, I'd bring 35mm baby knobbies and swap tires as needed. I'm leaning towards the gravel bike. I don't know the LA road/gravel scene at all.

Someone mentioned the Topanga State Park trails are some of their favorites, wondering if anyone else has recommendations for trails or for which bike to bring. Appreciate any insight.

big john

Topanga state park is in the Santa Monica mountains. There are some good fire roads in those mountains as well as some really good roads, especially if you love climbing.
There are also some good, long dirt road rides in the San Gabriel mountains.

sdimattia

I'll definitely check those out, thanks!

I'm no mountain goat but I need to get out of my comfort zone every once in a while. I'm sure the views are worth it.

wayold

I'm recommending some paved trails here, so the OP looking for gravel rides may not be interested. That said, I think the various LA area river trails are a pretty cool thing to check out during an LA visit. LA River, Ballona Creek, Santa Ana River and Rio Hondo all have nice paved trails along their banks and are interesting ways to travel around the LA basin while avoiding motor vehicle traffic. Like the rest of LA, sometimes they can be scenic and sometimes gross and/or disturbing, but river trail rides in LA have never failed to be interesting. Of these my personal favorites are loops involving the San Gabriel LA and Rio Hondo rivers. Loop rides from 25 to 90 miles are possible.

The river rides also have the advantage of being pretty flat, so cranking out lots of miles is reasonably easy. Most of the dirt trails I know about are near the edge of the LA basin and are (a lot) hillier. If you have low gears and/or strong legs then there are lots of options. I know several in Ventura County if the OP is interested (Sycamore Canyon, Sulphur Mountain, etc), but they're all an hour or more away from downtown LA and may not easily mesh with a visit.

big john

Road views in Santa Monica mountains.

Dirt view.

sdimattia

I've got nothing against pavement or flat rides! I'm still trying to decide which bike to bring, though it sounds like some of the gravel rides will need tires wider than 35mm. I don't run tubeless so swapping tires is easy enough. Thank you!

urbanknight

Dirt Mulholland is a favorite for gravel bikes and the East end isn't too far from downtown. The Hollywood sign is doable on a gravel bike with some climbing skills.

diphthong

really depends on a few things:

exactly what part of la are you staying in? i believe it's still the largest (or one of) city in the world in terms of square mileage.

will you be riding directly from where you're staying or have access to transportation to start/finish rides?

what's your comfort level riding with automobile traffic? also, what's your comfort level riding 10-15 miles away from support (water/food sources, bad cell phone coverage)?

looking for flats, hills, ridiculously long/steep climbs, scenery? pick 2-3. what distance(s) you looking to ride?

sdimattia

I’ll be staying in the Pico/Central LA area. I have car access though the rides will be “drop me off in the morning and pick me up in X hours.”

I’m very comfortable biking in traffic, did that in NYC for the better part of four years. Currently live in Vermont and have also done a couple of remote bikepacking trips so I’m not too concerned about being self-sufficient.

I won’t say no to scenery, I’d prefer small climbs to long and steep. Rides 20-80 miles depending on terrain. But all good things I should think about.

Eric F 

There are an endless number of options for riding of all kinds in the greater LA area. A gravel bike would be the most versatile, but a CX bike with 35s will handle the kind of riding you've described pretty well. As others have said, the Santa Monica Mountains are a good choice for a wide variety of both gravel and paved ride options. The San Gabriel Mountains have lots of options, too, but the gravel climbs tend to steeper. For just road miles, the river trails are good, as is the bike path/trail network in and around Irvine and Newport Beach. A ride along the Pacific Coast Highway, north of Santa Monica, or south of Seal Beach can be pretty nice, too. Chino Hills State Park is worth a look for a gravel ride.

FWIW, my gravel bike has 35mm tires and I bash that thing though some moderately-demanding terrain on a regular basis.

mattcalifornia

I live on the west side, so I mostly gravel ride in the Santa Monica Mountains. The other big option is the San Gabriel Mountains east of LA, which are substantially bigger. The SM Mtns are roughly 2,000 vertical feet (a little more in some spots in Malibu - a little less in Brentwood/Pacific Palisades). The San Gabriels are more like 6,000 vertical feet, or even more. Anyway, there is a lot of gravel riding available in the Santa Monica Mountains west of the 405. The easiest way to access from LA is to start in Brentwood or the Palisades. You can hit dirt from 4 different spots off of Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood (Westridge, Sullivan Canyon, Gardenland and Hollyhock), the trailhead at the top of Kenter Canyon (that's a little more complicated, not as pretty, and involves a much steeper road climb to access). There are also access points at Sullivan Canyon Fire Road (access from Amalfi Drive in PP) Will Rogers Park in PP (this is the prettiest, but probably not recommended because there are some technical sections to get through), or Temescal Canyon Fire Road, Trailer Canyon Fire Road (just off Sunset near the village in PP), or East Topanga Fire Road accessed from Los Liones or Paseo Miramar off of Sunset closer to PCH. I'd probably just start from one of the Mandeville access points -- either Sullivan Canyon off of Bayliss (not the Sullivan Fire Road) or Gardenland (access near top of Mandeville)

From any of these places, you can then ride up to dirt Mulholland, which is the dirt road that runs along the ridge at the top, and then head West to connect with other canyons and trails all the way to Topanga (and then connect with more trails on the other side of Topanga). There are some bigger climbs and a longer network of fire roads West (North) of Topanga Canyon in Malibu. If you know you only want to ride those, you could also start in Malibu, but that's a much longer drive for someone to drop you off. You can search Trailforks to see a lot of the available trails. You can also check out other people's rides on Strava. DM if you have trouble finding what you're looking for.

As far as tires, you can definitely handle the fire roads on 35s -- although there are occasionally sections with some deepish, loose sand that may be tough. I've actually ridden some of these fire roads on my 28mm road slicks and Look Keo pedals, but I wouldn't recommend it. I usually ride 44mm near slicks (if I am doing a lot of pavement on the ride and only riding good fire roads) or 47mm knobbies if I'm riding all dirt or want to hit some more technical spots.

sdimattia

Thanks mattcalifornia for your detailed response! And to everyone else for their recommendations. I'm starting to compile a list of rides and places I want to check out. Not sure I'll have enough time to do it all but I'm getting very excited for my trip!

diphthong

sounds like the hollywood hills and griffith park will be your closest gravel trails. plenty of narrow streets, (dirty) climbing and views. both the santa monica mountains (30 min drive west) and san gabriel mountains/angeles national forest (ditto) are fantastic but more involved with someone potentially dropping you off/picking you up. since you're used to traffic, not worried about you riding north/south for a shortish distance/around the hollywood, studio city, universal city, beverly hills areas. extra caution around the freeway on/off ramps tho.

don't know when you're headed out to socal, but if you wanna bounce out to the beach and the flats, nearby venice blvd is the best west/east route in terms of street width, visibility and bike lanes. once in the culver city area east of pico environs, you can stay on venice blvd or head slightly south to the ballona creek trail which deposits you
in playa del rey at the water's edge. from the trail's end/pacific ocean, you can navigate north to venice beach and santa monica or bike path it all the way south along the water to redondo beach and back.

and if you wanna mix it up in the city, head east and hit dtown la area for a fantastic smorgasbord of sights and smells between 9am-2pm after/before commuting traffic.

mattcalifornia

@diphthong -- that's true. He could find some dirt closer in toward the city. Griffith Park and Franklin Canyon have some options, but I don't know them very well.

Venice Blvd. is hideous though. If you're riding to the ocean, I'd take the new-ish bike line on SM Blvd and then work over to San Vicente in Brentwood to Ocean Ave. That's 100x nicer. There is also the Expo Line bike path once from Cheviot Hills to Santa Monica. You can hop off the path at Pico/Gateway and take Gateway to Ocean Park Blvd., which has a great bike lane all the way down the middle of Santa Monica beach. You can then hop on the bike path all the way up to Temescal Canyon in Pacific Palisades and access trails from there.

diphthong

truth if wanting to access trails. love love san vicente either eastbound or westbound between ocean/wilshire and involving the scroll up/dropdown with chautauqua/entrada/channel but it's a complicated area on both ends and just looking to keep it simple for the op/out of towner. not looking to drop the op into the kill zone of pch or wilshire/405 in those areas. it's one thing recommending a route with 25-30mph traffic. quite another when traffic is nearly always freeway speeds. heaven forbid the tunnel underneath pch in the area is flooded-yet again. if op wants a day to cruise the socal beaches vibe, venice blvd has some bright spots and is wide and some points of interest but yah, personally take it westbound into culver city and head south or north to either path once in the 405 fwy zone. south to (imho) ballona creek is a little more intuitive/slightly easier coming from the east than trending northwest to the bike path just south of the 10 fwy...plus ballona creek doesn't have the interfaces with street crossings.

wish i got this much info when i hit up different regional forums for advance riding acumen. socal riders bring both the knowledge and the hospitality!

*edit* also seem to remember some significant dirty dirt directly south of the pico area in the baldwin hills. enough for a solid ride. perhaps someone can confirm this roadie's fantasies/nightmares?

diphthong

seems like baldwin hills (to the south) and griffith park (to the north) might be your best nearby gravel bets. some definite hills/grades but fairly, immediate payoff vs
santa monica mountains/san gabriel mountains 3+ mile ascents everywhere you look along with the drop-off/pick-up inconvenience. if you're in town for a spell, there's more recommendations but if in town for 5 days or less, keeping it close is probably best. griffith park will be your classic la vibe and sights and easier to extend ride length.

Garfield Cat

The Los Angeles Times did an Article on Gravel Bike routes.

I saved that article. But not sure if you can get it, free that is.

Try this: Gravel cycling rocks - Here are 11 spots around LA that get you biking freely in nature

BY BRIAN E. CLARK

JUNE 2, 2023 8:44 AM PT

Here's the link:

https://www.latimes.com/travel/list/...ern-california

tFUnK

It's been a while since I lived in LA, but from what I recall, I think you'll be just fine riding 35mm tires on the CX bike. I used to live near MacArthur Park and Griffith/Hollywood sign was the usual destination. The other choice would be to ride out to Pasadena and do Chaney/Lowe from there (or some other trails at the foothills of the Angeles forest). You can go out west as well (Mulholland/dirt Mulholland; I lived briefly on the west side and didn't particularly enjoy the road cycling there (SM, Venice)).

All very doable right out the door from Pico/Union. We always just rode from home, never drove out to anywhere for riding (too much traffic).

As others already mentioned, there's plenty of river trail and tarmac riding near LA as well.

Eric F 

Warning: Low gears required. Chaney Trail and Mt Lowe Rd. have sections over 15%.

tFUnK

Before gravel bikes were a thing we just did them on regular road bikes. Not saying that's ideal or something to be enamored with, just saying 35mm tires will be fine!

big john

We used to do those dirt roads on fully rigid mountain bikes. I see people up there now going fast on gravel bikes.

Also, I've ridden to the Hollywood sign on my road bike with 25s. It's mostly paved but very rough and full of holes. Some of the roads in Griffith Park are similar, which is just to say that a gravel bike will be fine.

sdimattia

Many thanks to everyone who has responded, you're all very hospitable! I'll be there for a week, CX bike with 35mm knobbies and a second pair of 28mm slicks. In the meanwhile, ride safe out there! Can't wait to get some miles in and enjoy the sights. It's been twelve(?) years since I was last in LA and I wasn't biking back then . . .

big john

The weather has been great this spring. Hopefully you can ride here before it gets too hot.