River trails at night?
 

I know the SART, SGRT, and LART are to be avoided going to the beach and back in the dark. What about the RHT from Montebello to LB and SGRT from Whittier park to Sante Fe Dam?

Ride through Compton and Lynwood at night? I don't think so!

Ok scratch RHT. How about SGRT from whittier to Sante fe dam? Is that something roadies normally ride at night? I seldom see any roadies on the roads at night in my area near Pasadena/Arcadia. However, in Irvine I would ride the san diego creek trail at night (8-10 pm) and see quite a bit of people including walkers, joggers, commuters, and roadies.

Irvine is supposedly the safest community in America, or so my friend who lives there loves to remind me. So what may be safe in Irvine, may not be so wise elsewhere. Personally I would not ride SART, SGRT, or RHT at night. Others here on BF may tell you otherwise, but there have been more than a few "beaten and robbed on SART" threads on this SoCal subforum: SART Mugging 2/2012; SART Mugging 1/2012; SART Mugging 10/2011; etc.

That said, I know someone who rides a lot around Whittier at night, but we're talking after 11:00 p.m., not 8:00 p.m. I don't know exactly where he rides, but I gather it is on streets, not on trails. He tells me all the WPD know him, and he has been doing this for years.

I noticed at the Newport Beach/Irvine San Diego Creek Trail, there is graffiti.

I'd stay north of Santa Fe Dam after dark. I'll ride that late evening, haven't done it in total darkness. The trolls on the north side of the dam seem to be the more reclusive type and just headed for their dens.

South of the dam is a different story.

There's usually an encampment under Valley blvd where the residents occasionally exhibit rather bizarre behavior even in broad daylight, and it's a confined space where you could get trapped with no way out. The stretch just north of Whittier narrows has been a popular place for gang bangers to dump a body or two in years past. wouldn't want to be there either after dark.

I ride the upper part of lower sart all the time at night (which is 6-8pm for me, plenty dark in winter. No further south than Edna park, no further north than Green River, and I have never once felt like anything sketchy was going on.

I've ridden on SGRT plenty but not really at night - north of Whittier narrows seems a little sketchy after sunset - lots of people start to come out of the neighborhoods to hang out on the trail (or down by the water), smoke weed or whatever else they get up to. Except for the weird little communities of people living under the overpasses, all of SGRT seems pretty safe, although Garfield might disagree.

LART, forget it.

I don't know where you're coming from but you could start at the big A and head north on SART till you get bored and then turn around. That whole stretch is pretty nice, even at night. Keep your mouth shut though, unless you like some bonus bug protein.

The place is pretty much going down hill.

Only in a group of three or more, and this applies to any non-street trail.

During the winter I regularly ride down the San Diego Creek Trail and around Back Bay... it's safe and lots of people are out using lights... but in the winter that's like 5 pm - 7:30 pm... not certain if conditions are the same after say 9 pm... that said... there is no other river trail I would ride at night... even in a group. Too many homeless; too many criminals, not enough patrolling...

And MattCycle... the San Diego Creek Trail is still clean and safe... I've noticed no real changes or issues... I start up at the top in Tustin and go all the way down to Back Bay...even in the winter at night... Alone I feel safe....I have no idea where Garfield saw graffiti...

I think MattCycle was just joking. Whenever there is graffitti, then the knee jerk response is "neighborhood going downhill". He was just joking.

Even the SART has encampments on certain parts, more than ever.

And some of the $1200/year frats/sororities at UCI often arrange rocks to form their greek letters on the Campus/University underpass.

I commute year round and ride the SGRT everyday. I have never felt threatened in anyway riding dusk/night. Commute consists of the lovely valley blvd hobo encampment and its awesome Ramona blvd counterpart, which to be honest is just kinda sad to me. Don't get me wrong I definitely keep my wits about me and know who's around. I mostly see drunks, heroin addicts which are not really a threat. I'm more scared riding north on peck/myrtle. Always feel like i'm going to get nailed by a car right there I don't know why

I ride my bike through Compton, Hawthorne, Gardena, Lennox and South Central all the time and at all hours. Sketchy ? You bet. However, lots of people do it. In fact, you'll see hundreds of people riding their bikes around at 1am. Some are workers coming and going and some are drug dealers. The best thing is to just not stop. Also, if you are on the sidewalk and you see 3 black guys blocking the path, move quickly.
One of my favorites ghetto rides is to cruise "murder alley" at 1am. Vermont Blvd north of Imperial, its a hoot.

In my mid-20s I've biked all of those river trails, at all hours of the evening, usually with a group, but occasionally alone. Darkness and lack of visibility was always the main complaint. Heard my share of mugging stories and definitely passed by some situations that heightened my awareness. Even though I've never had any problems, now that I am older and wiser, I don't see myself taking those risks anymore in the future, unless it's with a good sized group. One or two blinky lights in the dark might tempt a robbery attempt, but a whole peloton of blinky lights probably would not.

Hey, it would be a thrill of a lifetime, regardless of long that life lasted.

hahah talk about motivation to increase your speed!!

That's it. The next CiclaVia will be a tour through the best neighborhoods in South Central all the way down to Compton and back.

This is a ride that many Angelenos have to experience, perhaps for the first time.

Ciclavia went to South Central a couple years back, yeah? I know a couple of groups did social morning rides out to Compton creek and Watts in the past.

When I lived in the LBC we used to ride to DTLA going through Compton, Watts, South LA. The streets were dark and quiet for the most part, but we knew not to linger. One time in Compton, someone in the group got a flat in we ended up in front of a donut shop/laundromat to fix the flat. Can't be doing that on some random neighborhood block. On another occasion we got the feeling that we were spending a little too much time taking pictures with the Watts towers. And I will never forget the time I got dropped from the group going up Figueroa towards Staples from South LA: my legs were toast but I dug deep to complete my solo TT. The rides up Figueroa were always interesting. Sometimes the girls on the street corners would wave and smile at us. Only after passing USC did we stops for tacos and beers.

I ride on SART everyday at 4:10am from Slater to Orangewood and I'm a woman. Nothing happen yet so far, but these news make me worry.

SGRT

Daytime - No problem except I still wouldn't like my wife riding it alone once you start to get North of the 5 Fwy. Riding together I have no problem. Still you have to keep your eyes open. There are a lot of homeless encampments.

Nighttime - No way. Possibly from Carson Street going towards the beach but I wouldn't head North.

Just as a side note, there seems to be a lot more people than normal on SART up by Yorba Park after dark. (7:30 pm ish). Plenty of bugs for nutrition too.

I saw one enterprising chap wearing a red bandana over his mouth last night. He was probably going to rob somebody.

Figueroa from Imperial north to the 40's is called the Ho Stroll. If you bring a few bucks the girls on the corner will do more than wave.

The scariest thing I have seen at night on SGRT south of Carson is a skunk.
I have ridden the length after 8:00, and saw mostly young couples walking. The solitude and my bubble of light in the dark were an enchanting experience. Still, I don't intend to do it again.