Southern California - Riding Jamboree From Santiago Canyon To PCH

A friend and I want to start incorporating more street riding into our rides as opposed to staying strictly on the SART. I'm looking at taking Jamboree from its headpoint up in Orange at Santiago Canyon down to where it meets PCH in Newport. But I'm curious if Jamboree is indeed rideable the entire way? I know that it sort of merges with the 241 at one point for a few miles, but I think that there's a side road to use at that point.

Anyway, since it's a route I haven't used before I'd like the advice of any of you folks out there who have used it in the past and any notes, tips and hints that you might have with regards to riding Jamboree.

Hello,

You can stay on Jamboree all the way to PCH. There is a section where it seems like you're riding on a freeway but the shoulder is reasonably wide the whole way. There are some busy intersections so be careful.

riding on jamboree from the marketplace down to barrance is pretty scary. Like cleave said, its like a freeway. I wouldn't ride on that stretch if you are new to riding on the roads. coming south on jamboree from santiago, turn left on irvine blvd or bryan and then turn right on culver. once you hit barranca, you can cut over to jamboree. that's a much safer option.

I second Cleave's recommendation, but if you want to avoid the Marketplace and the freeway-like section, even better than taking Culver would be to take the Peters Canyon trail under I-5, then use Harvard to parallel Jamboree. From Jamboree, turn left on either Portola Pkwy or Irvine Blvd. After crossing the 261, there will be an entrance to the trail. The trail will parallel Jamboree for a while and then make a left turn, dumping onto Harvard.

BTW, the frontage road next to the freeway-like section doesn't go all the way through.

if you ride on jamboree past the entrance of the 5 freeway often enough, you WILL eventually get hit... avoid it like the plague.

if you ride on jamboree past the entrance of the 5 freeway often enough, you WILL eventually get hit... avoid it like the plague.

70 mph speeds on that street, and that exit halfway between the 5 and Barranca are enough to scare me off. I see people doing it all the time, but I think they are nuts.

I take the trail mentioned above, then pick up the trail further down Harvard that leads through the Back Bay. Just because I hate dealing with all those streetlights...

not sure of your starting point (did you already ride santiago canyon? north). either way, loop back on santiago and continue on el toro until mouton, then left and goto crown valley all the way to dana point and then you can go north to newport...if thats where you wanted to go.

gets ya some good extra miles and a reasonable safe and fun ride.

LCI Brian's recommendation is a good one. That trail is not as boring as the SART and it's nice when you don't have as many traffic lights.

if you ride on jamboree past the entrance of the 5 freeway often enough, you WILL eventually get hit... avoid it like the plague.
Other than the Warner/Park Ave ramp in the middle, how is that section any different than from the 65 mph roads with bike lanes/shoulders (such as Irvine Blvd) that are generally considered "good" places to ride?

the trail recommendation is good, but the OP said he/she wants to incorporate more street riding.

Irvine Blvd and Jamboree are world's apart. Jamboree just looks like a freeway (and is treated as such) and is probably one of the busiest streets in the city. Irvine Blvd goes through a residential neighborhood and people are turning left/right all the time so speeds are much lower. Plus Irvine Blvd has a lot of signals. On Jamboree, there aren't that many palces to go except full speed ahead. I would and have gone 70+ on Jamboree. I've never gone above 60 on Irvine.

If you're talking about the stretch east of sand canyon, it looks like Jamboree, but there's way less traffic.

I wouldn't ride Jamboree past Portola (you will run into Tustin/Irvine Marketplace plus the freeway) - if you are coming down Jamboree, at Portola turn left. Take that past the 261 toll road and turn onto the Hick's Haul/Peter's Canyon trail. The HH trail dumps onto Harvard, take that down South to the San Diego Creek trail (entrance just past Barranca) and take that trail down to Back Bay all the way to PCH. No traffic, water, birds, scenic, easy, enjoyable... the other option is to take Tustin Ranch Road off of Jamboree to Walnut, cut over past Jamboree and then take Harvard down to University to Back Bay.

If you are going up Jamboree to Santiago, then take the Creek trail to Portola, turn left to Jamboree and then take that up to Santiago... not certain why "street riding" is more enjoyable than a bike trail especially with lights etc. You get plenty of street riding going up say Bake to Glenn Ranch to Santiago and through the Canyon and down Jamboree to Portola.

Other than the Warner/Park Ave ramp in the middle, how is that section any different than from the 65 mph roads with bike lanes/shoulders (such as Irvine Blvd) that are generally considered "good" places to ride?

ummmm big difference... heading south on jamboree, once you pass bryan, you lose your marked bike lane... there's a huge right hand turn lane before el camino and once you pass el camino that's when the real danger begins b/c of the 5 north on-ramp, which is a gentle long sweeping on-ramp that people can and do take at high speeds with regularity. no one wants to slow down for cyclists so drivers usually speed up to try and get by you... to make matters worse, there is also a 5S on-ramp, so its a double whammy. by comparison, irvine blvd and the 261 intersection is no where near as well traveled.

there's no sort of about it.

you are better off going down to Portola and then getting on the trail. At the bottom of the trail, you can rejoin Jamboree.

The Market Place isn't the only spot to worry about. Near the 405 it becomes less bike friendly.

Other than the Warner/Park Ave ramp in the middle, how is that section any different than from the 65 mph roads with bike lanes/shoulders (such as Irvine Blvd) that are generally considered "good" places to ride?

That's like saying "Other than the bullets flying by, how is it more dangerous to walk across a shooting range than it is to walk across a grassy field?"

Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

While we want to incorporate more street riding into the mix I definitely have no problem with taking the trail that you guys are talking about. I used to be a courier and remember driving the area in question many, many times (Irvine Blvd. was the back route between Tustin and Mission Viejo). But it's an area I haven't really driven in many years. But I do remember how fast most of the streets could be around there (Irvine Blvd., Culver., Jamboree), so all of your recommendations help.

As for where we're coming from, we're starting on the SART at the Honda Center, going north to Imperial or Weir Canyon, then heading back on Santiago Canyon Road around to Santiago Blvd. to Villa Park Rd and that meets Jamboree on the backside of Santiago Canyon College. From the plan was to take Jamboree to PCH, PCH back to the SART and the SART back up to the Honda Center. However, forgetting that Jamboree is half drag strip and half freeway, I'll modify accordingly and take the trail as far down towards PCH as it'll let me go.

Um... does anyone know how far the Peters Canyon Trail goes south? (edit -- It helps if I had read all of Pam's reply because it has a complete route. D'oh! That looks like the route I'll take)

Again, thanks for all of your help and suggestions. It's really appreciated. I prefer to not become roadkill on Jamboree between the 5 and 405. :)

From SART, taking Imperial is the more direct route to get over the hill to Orange. You could take Weir Canyon, but you'll need to climb up Serrano to back-track towards Imperial. (It's called Cannon on the other side of the hill.)

Oh good God! I ain't touching Cannon... yet. I have an aversion to climbing at this point in time and I'm slowly working my way up to climbing things that remotely resemble Cannon. Fat might float in water, but it goes uphill terribly. :)

Thus we're going around the hill (still some minor climbing) and then back around to Jamboree. Part of this ride is to just get in more street time, which we don't get a whole lot of, and part of it is to get some beginning climbing in on non-Cannon style hills.

I've read you folks talking about Cannon. You've got me all spooked. :)

What's your motivation for street riding? Do you like stopping at lights? I'm not saying that you should ride MUPs all of the time but I prefer them to dealing with cars and traffic lights. Santiago Cyn is my favorite because I can do an out an back and throw in Silverado and get 30+ miles without stopping...more if I also tack on part of the Aliso Creek Trail.

If Cannon scares you, then you'll probably be put off by the Serrano bypass as well. My recommendation would be to take Chapman all the way to Santiago Canyon from the SART. Have fun!

Thanks for everyone's help with planning this out. We had a very nice 60 mile ride on Sunday and ended up taking the Peter's Canyon Trail off of Portola down to Harvard and on to the San Diego Creek Trail to the Back Bay Trail. It was a great ride and the route we took to get to Jamboree ended up giving us some nice climbing. God that sucked. :) But I guess I have to learn to climb sooner or later.

All in all though it was a great ride and I have you guys to thank for your help in planning it.

Definitely stick to the trail from Portola and stay on it through Back Bay to PCH. There's no nicer ride by street anyway.