Beyond the end of the river trail - ?
 

My regular rides these days include SART north to the "end" (Green River area) and the Irvine path (not sure of the name) from back bay out to the spectrum area. Although I have gone up into the hills in the neighborhoods past Green River, I'm wondering if the trail picks up again somewhere out there. Also, from the Irvine trail, once you dumped onto Irvine Center Drive, is there another trail/path that picks up somewhere? During the week I can ride before (SART Fullerton/Yorba Linda area) or after work (Irvine) but since the roads are pretty busy during those times I try to stick to the paths/trails as much as possible. Any input on additional bike paths or stretches of road that are particularly bike friendly would be appreciated. (Back bay is closed to all traffic - including bikes until 2/27 - FYI) Thanks!

Yes, the upper SART picks up in Chino and goes out to Redlands.

The sart picks up again at the Norco / Riverside border and goes for 20 miles to San Bernardino. I connect to them quite a bit going to Disneyland or the beach.

Can you give me some specifics on how to get to the Norco/Chino trailhead? Thanks for the tips!

Maybe this heat map can help you pick it out if nobody else chimes in.

http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12/-...2611/blue/bike

If you want something different to do from that general end of SART, you can hop off the trail at Imperial and follow that south (turns into Cannon, a gentle grade if ever there was one) and then go up Santiago Canyon and come back to civilization on the Aliso Creek trail. Muirlands / Barranca can take you back towards the Irvine area.

From Irvine Center Drive, head south, make a right on Bake, left on 133/Laguna Canyon Road, and take that to PCH.

I wrote ahuge response, and then my phone crashed before I pushed the button.
Check out some maps esp Irvine.

Thanks for the tips!

The trail you spoke of from the Back Bay to the Spectrum area is called the San Diego Creek Trail. It passes within a block of where I am currently living.


Another option in the Spectrum area is to head for the Aliso Creek Bikeway (ACB), a Class I bikeway. To get there from the end of the San Diego Creek Trail, head for the intersection of Alton and Barranca, near the Irvine Metrolink Station (about 2 miles of Class II). Then follow Barranca/Muirlands about 3.5 miles to El Toro Park (again, Class II). The Class I ACB runs through the park. I've only ridden this route on a weekend; it was fine then.


I've ridden south on the ACB from El Toro Park. The ACB ends near Laguna Niguel Regional Park, which you can ride through on fairly mellow roads and trails to near the intersection of Crown Valley Pkwy and Niguel Rd. From there you can head up Niguel Rd. about half a mile to Marina Hills Dr., where you can pick up the Salt Creek Bike Path (Class I) and ride it all the way to PCH, just north of Dana Point. It's a nice ride. It's a mix of suburban and open space.


You can then make a nice loop out of it by riding about 4 miles of Class II to Doheny Beach, and then about 5 miles of Class I to San Juan Capistrano, where you can catch the MetroLink back to Irvine.


I've read that you can take the ACB north from El Toro Park to Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park and Santiago Canyon Rd. But I haven't actually done it (yet).