rgrhon

It's really not that hard to get to the LA river using bike paths most of the way. Here's the scenic route with less traffic, you can follow along on a map:

1) Take Seal Beach Bl toward the beach from PCH when travelling North on PCH. Go straight thru the intersection. Follow the road as it turns to the right on Ocean. Follow Ocean to the end 'till you see water, Turn Right on 1st Street. Take 1st left onto Marina, (go past the San Gabriel River Trail entrance), over the bridge, and take the 1st right onto North Marina Drive. Follow North Marina Drive around the big left bend and it turns into East Marina Drive. Go thru the STOP sign (stopping first), and follow E Marina to the Traffic Light on East 2nd Street.

2) Turn Left onto East 2nd Street at the light and proceed huffing and puffing over the big bridge (be careful on the descent, cars turn right off the bridge just after the crest). Continue straight on 2nd Street until you come to a much smaller bridge. Since you need to turn left here onto Bay Shore immediately after the small bridge, discretion is the better part of valor - if traffic is heavy, cross at the crosswalk.

3) Continue on Bay Shore and bear left onto 54th Place just after the 2nd stop sign. Go 1-2 blocks until you hit the end of the road on East Ocean Blvd (the ocean is dead ahead). If you look straight ahead across Ocean on the left side of the intersection you will see the beginning of the beach bike path. You can relax and enjoy the view a while. This path will continue past the Belmont Pier, past Junipero Ave, past a snack and bike rental building on the right, where the path turns left toward the water and right onto the (concrete) boardwalk where people park their boats (slips?). From here you can see the Queen Mary on your left. Follow the boardwalk about a mile or so (and pass the blue restrooms) until you see a traffic circle on your right and a connecting sidewalk.

4) Enter the traffic circle via the sidewalk and follow Shoreline Village drive INLAND until you see an entrance to the sidewalk (not shown on maps) on your left just before you get to East Shoreline Drive (a very busy place). Don't try to ride East Shoreline Drive you WILL die. Follow the left sidewalk to East Shoreline Drive and just stay on the sidewalk that follows the left side of East Shoreline Drive past a fountain on the corner that usually wets the sidewalk for about 200 yards where you will pass a viewing tower on the left (you'll know it when you see it) and from this point on continue to BEAR LEFT until you enter the brick boardwalk, which you will follow around the bay, past the Long Beach Aquarium and beyond.

5) After the aquarium on your right STAY LEFT past the snack bar building. You should soon sight a lighthouse up ahead. Continue to BEAR LEFT at the fork and around the lighthouse and beyond ( the lighthouse is a nice place to rest but on the right fork in the road not the left). At some point about a mile beyond the lighthouse there will be a sharp right turn in the path. Continue to follow the path after the sharp right and continue to BEAR LEFT at the next left turn and past the docks with the big concrete building on the right. Follow the boardwalk until you have to turn left or right.

6) Bear Right. Now it gets a little tricky, but you're only about a half mile from the LA River trail, so don't get discouraged. There is also a sign indicating the bike path right around here (somewhere). Follow the road past the parking to just before Golden Shore. The Cal State University Chancellors Office is directly ahead of you (just a landmark). Turn left onto the sidewalk that parallels Golden Shore, and just before Golden Shore bends right, look to your left there's a bike trail. Stay on the trail and it will make a turn to the left and another to the right within about a mile. After you make this right youre on the LA River!

Now wasn't that easy? Actually I did it without instructions the first time with just a map, and only got lost twice, so you should breeze it dude!