Southern California - Irvine private roads?

I am planning on doing some road riding in Irvine. I am going to use Google maps, the bike function, to route it. Just wondering if any of the roads are private, so that I can avoid them. I have been through Shady Cyn, so I know that is open to the public.

If they are private, it's obvious. (like a gate or a big sign.)

I haven't had any trouble the Google Maps bicycling function routing me onto roads where the public is not allowed. However, if you suspect that a road is closed to the public, you could use the Google Street View function to check out the intersection of a known public road and the road that may be closed. That way you may be able to see if there is a gate or a No Trespassing sign.

As a side note, just because a road is private doesn't mean its closed to the public. I live on a private road and except for the fact that the city won't maintain it, you'd never know it was private. There is a little, hard to read sign at the entrance but no big deal.

As a side note, just because a road is private doesn't mean its closed to the public. I live on a private road and except for the fact that the city won't maintain it, you'd never know it was private. There is a little, hard to read sign at the entrance but no big deal.

You're right, there are quite a few "Private" roads here in Irvine, I live on one myself. An Irvine Cop also told me it's out of their Jurisdiction, they can only stop a Motorist for two reasons, reckless driving or suspected DUI.

It's good to explore private roads because they can avoid busy main street intersections etc...

Thanks for the info on private streets in Irvine and law enforcement. But won't the security in most gated communities still hassle you for riding through them?

Thanks for the info on private streets in Irvine and law enforcement. But won't the security in most gated communities still hassle you for riding through them?

There are, I think, two basic kinds of gated communities. The most common kind has a gate but no real regular security. Sometimes the gate will be open all the time, sometimes the main gate will be closed but the community will have loopholes somewhere along the perimeter. Last time I was in such a community, I got in through the back by walking around a big gate with "No Trespassing" sign (but no fence to either side), rode the entire length of the community without seeing a single soul, arrived at another closed gate (this time, with a barbed-wire fence), and sat there for 5 minutes waiting for someone to come by and open it.

There are also serious gated communities, in those cases, security won't hassle you because you won't be able to get in there in the first place.