Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A Guide For Accessing the LA River Bike Path From Glendale

A friend asked how to enter the LA River Bike Path if you're coming from Glendale. Several of the entrances aren't well marked, so I made an annotated Google Map:


View LA River Bike Path Entrances near Glendale in a larger map

via Fairmont flyover/Glendale Riverwalk:

Towards the north end, you can take the Fairmont flyover bridge from Glendale towards Dreamworks. The bridge, which looks like a freeway bridge but is in fact perfectly legal to bike on (and almost entirely empty), will deposit you on Flower near Dreamworks. From there, you can enter the brand new (and lovely) Glendale Narrows Riverwalk, which ends at the Bette Davis Picnic Area. Cut across the park, cross the Riverside Drive Bridge towards Griffith park and you're at the northernmost entrance to the bike path.

via Chevy Chase:

Take Chevy Chase Drive west until you hit the river. You'll find the newly expanded and re-landscaped North Atwater Park. You can ride the east bank of the river alongside the LAPD stables and the Los Feliz par 3 golf course, which will deposit you a block away from the Los Feliz Blvd entrance to the bike path.

via the Sunnynook Footbridge:

From Los Feliz or Glendale Blvds, take Valleybrink or Glenfeliz to Sunnynook Drive and head west. You'll find a footbridge that connects to the bike path.

from Glendale Blvd:

Stay right (heading UNDER the bridge) at the split for the Hyperion Bridge. The entrance is on your right - watch out for the lip of the curb.
the hole in the fence just south of Los Feliz

BONUS - to access the quiet, pretty, not-really-a-bike-path route on the eastern bank of the river between Glendale Blvd and Los Feliz Blvd:

you have a few options:
  • The Sunnynook Footbridge (see above)
  • A hole in the fence (!) just south of Los Feliz Blvd
  • From the south side of Glendale Blvd you can walk UNDERNEATH the Hyperion Bridge (it can be a little creepy) and you'll be right on the eastern riverbank.
I regularly walk the scenic east bank between Los Feliz and Glendale Blvd and wish there was a more welcoming way to access it than looking for a hole in a fence or ducking under the Hyperion Bridge. Get on that, city of LA!



Let me in!




2 comments:

John MacDougall said...

Thanks for the access directions. I was amazed at how hard it was to find such directions. I went through a dozen web sites, out of date City of Glendale web pages, newspaper articles and announcements of various kinds that described the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk, but yours is the only one I found that actually tells me how to get to it. I have ridden the west side bike path several times, which was also a bit hard to find directions to, but I had never found my way to any of the east side paths.

Mokara said...

THANK YOU! I almost gave up on finding the entrance points... just like "bemused" I experienced the same thing and was very happy to find your blog.