Want to bike L.A.’s coast? Try these six must-see stops
Few experiences exemplify California living more than a bike ride on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail. Also known as the Strand, the 22-mile oceanfront path between Pacific Palisades and Torrance winds past five piers, two marinas, volleyball games, hang gliders, street performers and skate parks. Much of it is accompanied by views of the Pacific Ocean and Southern California’s famously wide beaches.
I started biking the Strand more than 20 years ago when I lived an easy ride away from it in Marina del Rey. The more I traverse it (now with my husband and kids), the more I realize that it’s not just an extraordinarily scenic exercise path. It boasts historic landmarks, old-growth trees and native plants. It’s also home to many delicious restaurants and food stands that go beyond typical boardwalk fare.
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Now that temperatures are finally rising, it’s a perfect time to take advantage of one of our most prized assets: the beach. Whether you cover the whole bike path in either direction or stick with a section closest to home, here are six easy-to-overlook spots that are worth a stop. Each one celebrates L.A.’s signature coastal scene in its own way.
The Original Muscle Beach
It’s easy to confuse this sprawling outdoor gym with the smaller membership-based weightlifting one in Venice. Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach was a top fitness spot from 1938 until 1958, when out-of-control crowds and onlookers led the city to shut it down. It was restored in 1999, and it’s now filled with kids and adults enjoying its swing sets, rings and ropes course and parallel bars. It’s a great place to people-watch and soak up the action of the Santa Monica Pier from a distance.
The Venice Canals
Bikes aren’t allowed on the canal paths, but you can lock up your wheels and take a walking tour of the miniature Italy-inspired community built by Abbott Kinney in 1905. It’s a surprisingly peaceful experience right off a busy stretch of the trail that parallels Washington Boulevard. The lively patio at nearby Baja Cantina makes a nice pit stop for weekday happy-hour deals from 3 to 6 p.m., including $10 margaritas and $4.50 birria tacos.
Oxford Basin Nature Loop
In 2016, a contaminated flood control basin in Marina del Rey was turned into a park filled with native plants and trees. The Strand winds right through this shady oasis with benches and birdwatching opportunities. Just south of the park is a sleek new shopping center called the Boardwalk, with tiered outdoor seating areas and primo daytime views of the small-craft harbor.
Bruce’s Beach
Before enjoying the outstanding views of this Manhattan Beach park, learn about its incredible history as a popular resort catering to Black families in the 1900s. The land below the park, where the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Training Center now sits, was improperly seized from owners Willa and Charles Bruce and demolished by the town in the 1920s; the county-owned portion of the land was eventually returned to the Bruce family’s descendants, who sold it back to the county in 2023.
Its grassy hillsides sit just above the Strand, featuring basketball hoops, shade trees and benches perfectly positioned for a reflective moment by the ocean.
Hermosa Beach Pier
This is one of the more congested areas of the Strand, and you will be required to walk your bike through it on peak summer days. But if you time it right, you can snag a bench on the pier and watch early morning surfers (with coffee in hand, it makes a soothing start to the day.) Or stroll it as the sun sets and fishermen cast their lines for corbina and mackerel. You may recognize it as the setting in “La La Land” where Ryan Gosling sings and dances to “City of Stars.”
Moonstone Park
Head west at King Harbor on Marina Way from the Strand and follow it to the end. There, you’ll find Moonstone Park, which is little more than a patch of grass and a picnic table, but a rarely crowded one with waterfront views. Pick up a burger with griddled onions ($10) at Proudly Serving in southern Hermosa Beach or a swordfish sandwich ($15) from Captain Kidd’s and enjoy it while watching sea lions and stand-up paddle boarders. If you happen to be here on a Thursday morning, the farmers market at nearby Veterans Park is also a worthy stop for its ocean views and wide selection of prepared foods and produce.
Before setting off on the bike trail, make sure you’re aware of state and local biking laws. All riders under age 18 are required to wear helmets. In Hermosa Beach, e-bikes must be pedaled manually, and there’s a speed limit of eight miles per hour. In Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, cyclists are required to walk their bikes in busy areas near the piers.
Need to rent a bike? Perry’s has nine Strand locations between Santa Monica and Venice ($14 an hour; $45 a day). In Hermosa Beach, Hermosa Cyclery near Pier Plaza rents cruisers for $12 an hour or $35 a day and has three free air stations.
3 things to do
1. See Shakespeare under the stars in Topanga Canyon
Theatricum Botanicum, the open-air theater founded by Will Geer in the 1970s, is kicking off its repertory season with “The Winter’s Tale” on Saturday and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Sunday. Other shows of the season, which runs through October 20, include “Wendy’s Peter Pan,” “Tartuffe: Born Again” and “The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote.” Guests are welcome to come early and enjoy a picnic in the garden, which features specimens of plants and flowers referenced in the Bard’s works. Tickets can be purchased at www.theatricum.com.
2. Explore wetlands in Long Beach
Long Beach Utilities is partnering with Friends of the L.A. River and other community and environmental groups to host an outdoor educational event Saturday in one of the city’s newest parks. Activities include making seed balls, painting terra cotta pots, live music, free milkweed giveaways and tours of the park’s freshwater wetlands and wildlife habitats. It’s free and runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. More information is available at www.folar.org.
3. Take a hike along the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena
Join the Sierra Club on an easy evening hike along the southern section of the Arroyo Seco trail and learn about its important place in the natural and Indigenous history of Pasadena. The three-mile hike begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday by San Pasqual Stables in South Pasadena and ends around 9 p.m. Dogs are not allowed on this hike. For more details and to sign up, visit angeles.sierraclub.org.
The must-read
The Sutter Buttes are a central core of volcanic domes sheltering an oasis of verdant hills and wildlife about 60 miles north of Sacramento. I had never heard of them until reading The Times article by Jessica Garrison about the bitter, decades-long debate over public access to them. California bought about 1,800 acres on the northern side of the buttes and declared them a state park in 2005. But because all the roads leading to the park are privately owned, Garrison reports, there’s no way for the public to access the state-owned land. The impasse is going on its 20th year. Whatever happens, everyone seems to agree that the Sutter Buttes encompass “some of the most magical and otherworldly terrain in California.”
Happy adventuring,
P.S.
Abalone Cove in Palos Verdes is home to the black sea hare, a slug that grows from microscopic at birth to the size of a basketball. I learned this and other fascinating facts about the California coast while listening to KCRW’s Madeleine Brand interview marine biologist and Cal State L.A. professor Patrick Krug. His new book, “Between the Tides in California: Exploring Beaches and Tidepools,” explains why creatures such as the black sea hare live where they do and offers tips on how to spot them.
For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.
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