Ziptie

Hey there. I'm planning to ride from Irvine down to the coast. How is Laguna Canyon Road? I've never been on it. Is it safe? Road conditions? Gradient? Any info would be helpful. Thanks a lot.

Rick@OCRR

Easy climb, usually with a tail-wind! The bike lane is variable; sometimes quite good, other times not much at all. I've ridden it hundreds of times, and never a problem with cars or motorcycles.

How far up were you planning to go? A right on El Toro is easy, the left to continue on Laguna Canyon road at the top is tricky . . . watch very carefully because it's a big sweeping (fast) turn, and you have to cross two lanes of traffic.

Rick / OCRR

Ziptie

Hey Rick. Actually I was thinking of taking Laguna Canyon down, starting at the Irvine Amtrak, then possibly going as far as solana beach and taking the train back. Wasn't sure if Laguna Canyon was the best road down to the coast, or if another route would be better.

OC Roadie

Starting from the Amtrak station, Laguna Canyon is a good choice. An alternative would be Barranca to the River Trail, to Back Bay and PCH. It's slightly longer, but once your off Barranca there's no traffic. I've ridden Laguna Canyon at least once a week for years with no issues.

LCI_Brian

That road used to be part of my commute route, so I rode it back when it was only a two lane road - even though you now need to cross two lanes of traffic to make the left turn, I think it's MUCH easier nowadays to do so - because the sight lines are better and there's a super long left turn pocket.

BTW, last time I made the left turn, I couldn't get a green arrow, anyone else have a problem with that? All the more surprising because at the request of the Orange County Bicycle Coalition they put in a special loop that is supposed to be optimal for detecting bikes.

WhiteCarbonDude

Laguna is a nice road to get down to the coast but I would not take it to go south on Pch. I usually take Laguna up into Irvine. The section of PCH between Laguna and Crown Valley is not the preferred route we take to go to Oceanside. We usually take Alton to Irvine Center Dr/Moulton to Crown Valley to PCH. It's a much better route.

Rick@OCRR

From the Irvine Amtrak station there are lots of options to get to PCH. My recommendation would be to take Barranca to Bake, left (up) Bake to Portola.
Portola becomes Santa Margarita, right on Ave Empressa.
Right again on Antonio Parkway, right on Ortega Highway
Left on La Novia, right on San Juan Creek,
Left on Camino Capistrano, which becomes Doheny Beach Road
Which drops you onto PCH.
Lots of other options!

Rick / OCRR

rooftest

I've ridden that stretch of PCH dozens of times, and am not sure what you're referring to. I think it's a nice ride with a wide shoulder.

chimivee

I know of know shoulder through Laguna. It can be dicey riding through there, as there are a lot of cars and a lot of driveways and a lot of intersections. Taking the lane is often a good idea. That said, I don't have a problem riding through there.

WhiteCarbonDude

What I'm referring to is that my club never rides that section of PCH. It is not our preferred way of going south towards Dana Point from Irvine. Even when I rode with BCI, they never rode that section either, it's just not in any route slips I've ever ridden. I'm not saying it's a bad route, it's just not my preferred route.

Garfield Cat

It depends on the time of the ride. During the summer, the traffic is very heavy with visitors who may not know how tight the lane gets. Tighter than Corona del Mar on PCH.

If you go early in the morning before 6 am start, you can beat the traffic. Then coming back hopefully before 9am at Laguna Beach, then you're ok.

Traffic lanes seem wider going south after South Laguna.

OC Roadie

+1
There are many options, but this would be my preferred route.

Rick@OCRR

Okay then, once you've gotten on PCH there's a good Starbucks about 3/4 of the way through San Clemente .

After your coffee break, take the first right at the light and just before the overpass, then left at your first opportunity (i.e. almost immediately), and that road parallels the 5 freeway and takes you right to the entrance to the descent on the bike path towards San Onofre (watch for surfers!).

Rick / OCRR

Ziptie

Hey Rick. Thanks for the route, it looks great. Just one question, when you say "up" Bake, do you mean up as in north, or up as in climb? Not that I'm adverse to hills, I just wanna be prepared. Thanks again.

Rick@OCRR

Yes and Yes,

You'll be going East (basically) toward Bake when you leave the train station (left out of the parking lot), then North on Bake, which is a good climb. If you like climbs, you will like Bake. You'll go up, then down, then up again before you reach Portola.

After Portola becomes Santa Margarita you will have another good climb, then an excellent descent, and a final minor climb before your right turn on Avenue Expressa. Once you get onto Antonio, it's about eight miles down hill with two minor climbs, then an excellent descent to Ortega Highway.

No worries !

Rick / OCRR

jamlo21

WhiteCarbonDude is right. That stretch of PCH is very hairy. Last time I rode it a few months ago they were doing repairs to the road and it made life even worse. I did it early in the morning and there was still enough traffic to make life miserable. Take the alt. route.

LCI_Brian

I like both routes, my preference for the moment depends on time of day, weather, who I'm riding with, etc.

Sometimes that part of PCH can get so congested in the northbound direction that the cars are barely moving, as in this video. BTW, I'm only riding 8 mph, but some people get the impression that I'm going a lot faster.