nexttimeiwill

Anybody else ride this trail?

diphthong

apparently not in 8 months...

https://www.bikeforums.net/southern-...hing-sart.html

skidder

Yep, its one of the regular rides I do. Nice flat asphalt path, no hills unless you consider all those underpasses under the street bridges that cross the river. It can get crowded on weekends, especially at the beach end of the trail. I've only ridden on the lower section (Angel Stadium area to the beach) since the homeless closure a few years ago, so not sure of the conditions farther inland (up to Green River Park in Orange County and onward into Riverside and San Bernardino Counties). Only 'excitement' lately has been the construction at the 405 freeway as it occasionally gets shut while the construction crews transport materials through the tunnel from the north side boneyard to the south side. I like it without an excessive amount of drama.

TakingMyTime

I haven't been on it for a while. Regardless, it's a great flat ride with plenty of options to exit the trail and grab a snack or food along the way. I too have found that it is probably advisable to try and do your rides on a weekday. The weekends attract a lot of walkers and riders who don't necessarily observe proper traffic etiquette. Also, if you're heading back towards the beach later in the day the headwinds can really suck the fun out of a ride.

CAT7RDR

I ride SART about 3-4 times per year. That's all I can tolerate from it. Nice bike freeway but really little scenery, curves or climbing to stir the senses. The upper SART would be spectacular if the trail extended to Big Bear.

surveyor6

When I was in the USMC in the late 80s, we rode it during our lunch hour. We rode from the big blimp hangars in Tustin to the beach and back. Good times.

nexttimeiwill

It's the worst!!

nexttimeiwill

LOL, you can have it man!

diphthong

have a decent five mile stretch here in san diego along the silver strand...big ring big gear low cadence grindfest.

headwinds generally worse on the sart than the sgrt but pavement better and so is the scenery. prefer riding the la river trail over either tho...except for that dicey northern start/finish...

Garfield Cat

In today's Los Angeles Times, Sunday June 6, 2021, an Article on the Venice Beach MUP.

It reminds me of the SART a few years back when the homeless encampments took center stage.

But now, its Venice Beach, the storied MUP with its shops, residences, etc.

I tried to provide a link to that article but it seems blocked because a subscription to the paper needs to be done first.

skidder

Here you go. Plenty of video on YT. I do see the occasional homeless person on the SART that seems to be doing an 'overnighter', but no one (or group) is setting up housekeeping.

Slowkevin

Road it from Corona to Newport and back and found the beginning and ending 5 miles to be the nicest parts. Way nicer than the LA river trail.

Cyclcist11023131

Lots of root caused “Speed Bumps” from Kramer on up to Weir Canyon. Can toss you if you are not paying attention for a second.

CAT7RDR

^^^^ Funny thing is several years ago a short portion was closed for construction in that area that re-routed onto La Palma. That part was more enjoyable than SART. Next time in that area I will try the gravel portion instead.

skidder

I was on it this morning between Angel Stadium and the beach. Cool morning air, no wind, no clouds, very few people, great sunrise. Just another uneventful day in paradise.

SoSmellyAir

I just learned about the existence of this trail after almost 5 years of road biking. Any recommendation on where to park my car?

2seven0

Depends on where your start/finish point is. Up northern part Yorba Regional Park. Mid-points there are small lots on the west side of the trail at Lincoln and at the end of the driveway to the Islands Driving Range at Ball Rd. (or around the corner on Main St. by the Cemex plant)
Parking lot at the ARTIC station, Edna Park in Santa Ana.
Southern end if you have a state park pass use the end lot between Brookhurst & river jetties or just park along Brookhurst or Magnolia just up from PCH.
I'm sure there are more if you search any map site.
Way less cycle & pedestrian traffic on weekdays.
West

CAT7RDR

If you want to make it part of a loop and add some hills, park at Ronald Reagan Park in Anaheim Hills (free) off of Weir Canyon Rd.
Yorba Regional fills up fast on the weekends while Reagan has plenty of parking.
Serrano dead-ends into Weir Cyn Rd and is a hilly popular route that leads you to Santiago Cyn.

SoSmellyAir

Thanks! Looks like Yorba is the most northeastern point from the OC. I had called Featherly Park but was told I am not allowed to part there.

Thanks. I have only driven that area early on during the pandemic to maintain my driving skills; not sure I can bike the same loop with my 12-25 cassette.

krakhaus 

I'm doing a ride from Palm Springs to Costa Mesa in a few weeks, and it looks like I'll need to take this trail, at least between Corona and Yorba Linda. I'm wondering if it's worth staying on the trail from Yorba Linda to Costa Mesa, or taking surface streets? I rode to Santa Monica a few months ago and Google maps recommended the Pacific Electric Trail, and it was a horrible experience. I wasted about an hour on that until I got fed up and took Route 66, which was awesome, and really fast.

CAT7RDR

SART is a superhighway for bikes compared to the PET.
In fact, there are no stops from Yorba Linda to the beach. Four bridge crossings but this will be obvious.

SoSmellyAir

How high and wide are those bridge crossings?

As someone with acrophobia (i.e., heights), I am not a big fan of bike bridges. In Irvine, I can tolerate the ones on the Jeffrey Open Trail:

Awards and Nominations - 2016 - Jeffrey Open Space Trail - ASCE OC - American Society of Civil Engineers - Orange County Branch

But the Jeffrey Pedestrian Bridge that cross the I-405 freeway (to link the Juanita Moe Trail and Freeway Trail) scares me tremendously, even though it has fully fenced sides.

CAT7RDR

The bridges are plenty wide enough for a vehicle. They are about 20-30 feet over the Santa Ana River.
Just take it easy or even walk your bike over the wood bridges at Imperial Hwy and the second wood bridge two miles from the beach.

They can get really slick when foggy or from recent rain.
I found out the hard way on the Imperial Hwy bridge that it is easy to slide when turning on wet wood. Ouch!

SoSmellyAir

Thank you. I will probably walk the bridges. Wanted to check out SART as the OC portion is somewhat close to me, but had not planned to set some Strava PR on it.

krakhaus 

Right on. Thank you.