Southern California - Signal Hill

So I've got a quick question for those in the area. I want to get some more riding in during the week. I'm at the University and I've got a rather large gap between one of my classes on Thursdays so I figured it would be the perfect time to get in more riding during the week. So I was wondering what are the best routes through Signal Hill from CSULB? I could always ride one of the rivers or PCH, but the flats are boring. :p So I figured some hill repeats through Signal Hill would be the next best bet.

I'm not very familiar with Signal Hill at all, I rarely ride in LB or go through that area. I've been up Signal Hill once but the road I took, don't remember the street name, had a no bikes sign. :crash:

So any routes/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

From CSULB to Signal Hill, you can take Atherton to Ximeno to PCH and head North to Redondo. Or hit 7th to PCH and travel to Redondo. Another way is Palo Verde or Bellflower North to Willow. Head west on Willow until you his Redondo.
What is with Signal Hill? I rode through there yesterday and have yet to see a no cycling sign then again, I would not care because ride wherever I want.

I was looking on google maps streetview and the street I remember seeing the sign on was E Hill St. Don't know if it's still there...I'll probably head up that way anyways, don't see too many other ways up there.

Thanks.

as far as i know, the only no bikes (or skateboards/inline skates either) street is hill st, between obispo and temple. there are lots of little routes up/around signal hill. there are also lots of ways to get to signal hill from csu. basically, get to the traffic circle area from campus, and then go up pch, hathaway, stearns, or willow to get to signal hill. we usually climb up temple via pch, and take skyline down. we sometimes climb from the north, from junipero/temple but to get to the top you still have to meander around to the south or west side of the hill. we sometimes do little circuits around the different residential streets on the hill. the routes around the hill itself (cherry, walnut, 21st, etc) are also fun little routes, but not necessarily the type of climbing you're after.

I'm thinking taking atherton down to Outer Circle, hop onto PCH, then take temple up to Hill St. then to Hilltop Park on Skyline and Dawson. Descend Skyline down to Cherry and maybe do some hill repeats back up to the park from there?

Is Skyline Dr. from Cherry a decent place to be riding?

as far as i know, the only no bikes (or skateboards/inline skates either) street is hill st, between obispo and temple.

I've ridden up that many times and only recently noticed the no bikes sign (although I am sure it has been up for as long as I have been riding it). It is steep but fun. Skyline up from the other side is also challenging. In Long Beach, Signal Hill is the only real hill around. The rest is mostly flat.

Is Skyline Dr. from Cherry a decent place to be riding?

Skyline up is great. Skyline down is riding the brakes all the way to the red light at Cherry.

I haven't seen the no bikes sign on Hill Street either..hmm. Anyways, I only go down Hill, never up!!

Hi wcoastbikr et. al.,

I ride Signal Hill periodically for limited hill repeats. Limited because I can't do more than a couple of repeats. But I digress...

IMHO, the safest way to ride to Signal Hill from CSULB is to take Stearns St. across (west) to Redondo. (How you get to Stearns is up to you, but catch it by the time it crosses Clark Ave.)

Turn left on Redondo going south (this is the worst part of the route, but it's short). The climbing basically starts here. Make your first right on to E. 20th St. and take that until it ends at Temple Ave.

Turn right on Temple Ave. and go up the hill. The road naturally makes a sweeping left turn and the name changes to Skyline Dr. You can stay on Skyline and it goes back downhill to Cherry. I turn around at Cherry and go back up the hill on Skyline to Temple. You can stay on Temple down to PCH and turn around and do another repeat around to Cherry.

After that I call it a day and on my way back down Temple I turn left on to E. 20th and return home via Stearns.

BTW, I haven't looked in the last few years, but there had been a sign at the top and bottom of Hill St. on the Redondo side that said no bikes, skateboards, etc.

Hope this helps.

BTW, I haven't looked in the last few years, but there had been a sign at the top and bottom of Hill St. on the Redondo side that said no bikes, skateboards, etc.

The sign is still there - it is small and easy to miss. I've gone up it many times though and never had a problem.

I took Palo Verde up to Willow, Left on Redondo, Right on Hill, up and over to Cherry, back up to the park but this time I went down Temple to PCH, turned around and went back up. I had plans to to go back down Hill towards Redondo and go back up that again but there was a cop following me. He passed me when I was going up Hill (not the part that says no bikes), then I see him parked at Hilltop park where I grabbed some water, went back down to Cherry and he went down as well. Went back up to Hilltop park, he passed me again and there he was at Hilltop park. So that's when I decided to change the route.

After heading back up to the park, went back down Temple hopped on PCH. Made a right on Redondo, took that down to 7th street and all the way back to the university.

Probably the only part I would have changed was riding on Willow. I didn't like the portion that went under the 405. I felt like I was on a freeway. I felt comfortable everywhere else though.

Fun hard short climbs.

Thanks everyone for the help. I'll probably make this my regular Thursday ride.

cherry is the summit of siginal hill and offers the hardest climb..

The sign was and has been there since I started riding in the mid '70s. The median is fairly new, they used to have the downhill skateboard speed championships there when I was a kid. 60+ mph on a '70s skateboard.

cherry is the summit of siginal hill and offers the hardest climb..

The summit is at the site of the old radio station(where the tower is). Cherry is well below that at the bottom of Skyline.

Skyline was redone when they started building all those houses up there. It used to be much more twisty. My Brothers and I used to call it "The Tour de France Hill", that was back in the day.

thanks for the info, Velodad. good to know!

wcoastbiker: You thought Willow was bad compared to 7th? I stay off 7th (and Anaheim) at all costs. No bike lines, parallel parking with car doors popping open, and the cars are flying.

wcoastbiker: You thought Willow was bad compared to 7th? I stay off 7th (and Anaheim) at all costs. No bike lines, parallel parking with car doors popping open, and the cars are flying.
Willow was fine except for the part that goes under the 405. I felt like I was on the freeway. I've done 7th street, PCH, and similar roads soo many times I'm not bothered by 7th.

Willow was fine except for the part that goes under the 405. I felt like I was on the freeway. I've done 7th street, PCH, and similar roads soo many times I'm not bothered by 7th.

If you didn't like Willow at the 405, then you will also want to avoid Lakewood blvd and Spring st. Not the intersection, but where each of them go under the airport runway. Those tunnels are tight and the cars think they are the ones on the runway.........whoooooosh.

If you didn't like Willow at the 405, then you will also want to avoid Lakewood blvd and Spring st. Not the intersection, but where each of them go under the airport runway. Those tunnels are tight and the cars think they are the ones on the runway.........whoooooosh.

i'm used to riding with/through cars, traffic, and what not and riding through lakewood/spring really gave me a scare one night.

Hi,

The only "tunnel" that I'll ride through is the short one on Willow and I'll only ride through that one on Sunday mornings. The road is too narrow and traffic is too fast for me to ride Lakewood or Spring (and, yes, I've tried both).