Ballona Creek

Is this path particularly beautiful? (or even safe?) well, no
but it takes you to the beach and you don’t have to cross traffic so it gets the job done. Poor drought-​ridden Los Angeles, you can’t help it that your canal dried up.

Crushingly disappointing for hiking or birdwatching. A brochure you can download called «Ballona_creek_brochure_small.pdf» has a picture of one the «attractive gateways» to the bike path. I took a photo of the same spot today, but of course I was on the outside of the gsate, because it is locked with an attractive «NO TRSEPASSING» sign posted next to it. (I will try to attach the photos to this post.)
I spoke with a Fish and Wildlife officer onsite, who told me I wasn’t just a dufous failing to find the front entrance, which after 10 minutes wandering around I was hoping would be the answer. No, the reality is the entire wetlands are closed to the public except when the Audobon Society or the Friends of the Wetlands have a tour — several times a month. I spoke with several people who often come to the bikepath, and they confirmed this. The nearby Lagoon Park is tiny, but has more birds than an hour trek dodging bikes on the bikepath showed. The ‘trail’ open at all times is simply the few feet to the side of the bikepath. In fairness the bikepath looks great — for bikes and lots of high-​end superfast bikers will keep you agile as you walk on ‘the trail’. The Fish and Wildlife guy told me that, contrary to what I read on «the Internet», no dogs are allowed at any time in the wetlands.
In short — go with a scheduled tour, or go for a bike ride.

I absolutely would love to live here permanently. This beach is definitely one of my favorite beaches along the strand. This is the best place to go for a long bike ride or jog the trail. Plenty of space to exercise or just be near the ocean. There’s tons of people near the bridge on the weekends enjoying the great outdoors heading north or south, but weekdays and weeknights are my favorite times to go when there’s less people to deal with on the path.

I really appreciate this biking «super-​highway» between Culver and the Marina. I had to go to USC today from MDR, and it was super easy to take this path to Duquesne, and then wind through some side streets to get to the Metro station. I don’t know that I’d feel safe riding here after dark, though, as there are definitely some dodgy types that hang out on this path. Use caution.

This is a small review, only because I’ve only walked on a small portion of it between the jetty and up to Lincoln. I would love to go up further and can provide more details in an update.
Although my experience was a short one, it made quite an impression and memorable to where I want to go back and want more! It’s such a peaceful area and route so scenic along the way. You get nature along the way, even though I noticed there were some area with signs stating not to go in. People just go there for their routine walks, runs, bicycling etc., perfect for our furry four legged creatures to stretch their legs. Everyone was moving along and polite.
I did notice some spots of homelessness, especially under trees. It’s like one reviewer stated, they don’t bother anyone, just go about your business and make sure if you are alone to go around times when everyone else it out (mornings and weekends) but never go alone during the late afternoons or evenings when or if secluded).
I’d like to go further next time, we shall see if I make it when it’s still filled with people or pry the hubby to go with me. (If there’s beer at the end, he’d be right on it). Lol.
I saw a few birds and butterflies (I’m not good with names, like everyone else I work with, they can describe the exact type & species). Also walking back to the jetty, was nice to see a canoeing class, looked like fun, but oh man, hard work! But good for those kids to get at it at such a young age!
More to come, but in the mean time, if you haven’t been and love nature you must check out! There is parking and some small parking lots, you’ll have to explore!

What’s not to love? No cars. No lights. No traffic. Beautiful views. This is hands down the best bike path I have ever ridden.
The actual Ballona trail is 2 lanes. The lanes are wide. I have never felt crowded while riding. I’ve never had a bad experience on the path. Everyone is very friendly. If someone needs to pass, they’ll pass. Even the more serious riders are cool. The path can get complicated. There are several hills, 4 back-​to-​back in-​between Overland & Sawtelle. I’ve seen people get off their bikes and walk up the hills. So those sections are definitely not kid friendly. After that, it’s pretty flat to the beach. It’s not just for cycling, I always see tons of runners too. The trail ends at the beach. From there you can head south where the bike path widens and you ride down the coast. It’s like out of a movie. Million dollar beach houses on the left, Pacific Ocean on the right.

An L. A treasure.
Riding my bike down Ballona Creek is one of my favorite things in the world. If you can get a windless afternoon in fall, all the better.
Recently upgraded, beautified by the Parks Commission — this has to be one of the best bike paths in the city. From Hermosa Beach north to Marina Del Rey and then either up the aqua duct into Culver or westward to Venice and Santa Monica — it offers you a nice 10, 20 or 30 mile return ride along the ocean and waterways of LA.
A must do if you cycle, or want to cycle LA.

Simple flat out trail, yes it has slight incline and decline hills but still a nice concrete jungle with a creek. You can get a nice cadence and top speed on many parts of the path.
Conditions… smooth for a majority of the path, though closer to the ocean it does get rough on road bike tires. As others have commented the path could use some repaving in spots. But nothing dangerous to warn anyone about at the time we rode on it.
We hit the path mid afternoon on a Thursday so it was quite empty, 1 to 2 other cyclists and a jogger. Though there are quite a lot of homeless people living under the bridge so beware, however the ones we drove past seemed friendly enough.
Wished I could of brought my CF road bike, instead of the folding for faster repeats but from coming from –4 degree weather to 70 degree weather I am not going to complain one bit =)

Fantastic for biking and walking away from streets.
creek is concreted in and not very attractive in the upper reaches but even there you can find nature and get away from all the damn cars. I took it to the ocean bike path, went south and eventually found myself in Manhattan Beach.

Adding this bike route to my LA bike path list! Just tried this today with the bf and it was a fun 13ish mile bike ride. Drove from DTLA to Syd Kronenthal Park in Culver City (free parking) and found the path pretty easily. The Ballona Creek Bike path begins and ends at this park. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend riding this at night and it’s also always better to ride/​run with someone else. We went late afternoon and Daylight Savings just happened last night (1 hr back) so sunset was @ 5pm. It took as about 30 mins to reach the end which is Marina Del Rey (about 7 miles). So roundtrip is a little shy of 14 miles.
There are some bumpy spots and also someincline spots but overall pretty decent ride. The Marina Del Rey part is super pretty, especially when the sun is about to set. I hear this path connects to the beach bike path too so I must give it a try next time.

This is an interesting bike ride. I started at the Marina Del Rey entrance and rode alongside the LA River past Inglewood Blvd. At first, the scenery was nice, filled with birds and the cement banks of the LA River. But as I got closer to LA, there was tagging and even people living under the bridge at one point. I didn’t feel unsafe but I think it’s best to ride with someone else on this trail as it’s very secluded. I could go five minutes without seeing another cyclist or pedestrian. I’ll go back, with a friend, and try to ride all the way to the end soon.

If you ride this route early morning or weekdays its a good route from Culver to the beach, but beware, the later in the day and the closer you get to the end of the creek (where you pick up the Marvin Baude bike path) you’ll find your route will become congested with joggers, walkers and the occasional baby strollers, some who seem oblivious to bicycles.
The route is pretty flat apart from where you drop down and rise again to navigate the underpasses and some of the surfaces are a little cracked and raised, but its still gets my vote as an easy ride out to the beach.

WOMEN BEWARE!!! I caught a drunk Hispanic man in his early to mid 40’s trying to walk into the ladies room at Westside Park where the wash begins. I’m going to report the pervert. Thankfully, there were no kids inside, just another women but we could have taken him down. He left when I confronted him or maybe it was my husband behind me that did it. That dirty man!

From Culver City, The La Ballona Creek bike path connects me to the Marvin Baude bike path to Redondo beach or up to Malibu. It’s a good 12 miles to Playa del Rey and back. If you are a true cyclist a good 30 miles plus or minus to Redondo and back. A little scary at night… Not a lot of lighting along the trail though.

Just did this ride on Sunday. Great bike path! At the end, it hooks up with the beach trails to Dockweiler or through the Marina to Venice Beach. Lots of bird life, relatively well maintained and well populated but not crowded. No lighting though, so be off the trail before dark. There a few mild inclines and hills, and some dark underpasses (possibly some people living under them.) But that’s urban life, folks. By and large though, quite pleasant. If you start at Syd Kronenthal Park in Culver City, there are bathrooms and free parking.

A straight shot bike path from the west side to the beach with no streets to cross? Oh hell yes. I could be spoiled by this because the paths near my house in PDX have street crossings, so you have to stop, wait, etc. This path runs for quite a while along Ballona Creek and is a rad place to stretch the legs or get your pedal on. The creek itself is fairly wetland-​y, so there are tons of birds. In one ride alone I spotted birds of prey, pelicans, white egrets, cormorants, and an innumerable amount of little seabirds I’m at a loss to identify.
While it is a classic LA river style setup, with sloped concrete running down to a basin, this seems fairly (relatively) clean and established as a creek, and full of life. A great escape from the sprawl and a crazy convenient way to ride on down to the Dockweiler path, which runs north-​south on the beach.
My bro lives right near this (less than .5mi) so this will be an often-​used access point to the beach

Want to get from Culver City to Downtown LA on a bike and within an hour? Better yet, do it with no stops nor traffic and get an excellent workout along the way?
Ballona Creek has a 7 mile bike trail that starts at Syd Kronenthal Park in east Culver City and extends about 7 miles to the Coast Bike Path. Connected to Ballona Creek is the Expo Line Bike Path, which conveniently gets you to the Expo Line Station in Culver City. From the Expo Line, $ 1.50 gets you to Downtown LA within 20 minutes. Boom!
I rode a mountain bike through the the bike path. Not recommended, unless you are on your way to develop freaky big calves. Since I did and I am, I struggled through the path with its occasional hilly stretches. A hybrid mountain and speed bike would be ideal for this path. There are a few joggers and other bikers that I had to play frogger with, which made the ride that much more interesting. The creek itself was not too exciting. It contained low levels of water that occasionally smelled like bad fish underneath some bridges. There are people living under one of the bridges. Winter is coming! These inhabitants have a lot of stuff. It appears these hoarders are prepared to hibernate through the winter.
Overall, this is a nice path that put me in a nice state of Zen and serenity. Fix some of the broken water fountains along the way and extend the path some more and this biker heaven will get even better.

Great Bike Path
Great parking at the Sid Kroenenthal Park and riding along the Ballona Creek Trail to the beach, then down Dockwiler Beach, to Manhattan Beach, then to Redondo Beach to Palos Verdes.

I was doing my usual weekday evening training ride (from playa del rey, out and back on the Ballona Creek path, loop on Perships, back home… 23 miles)…
Anyway, as I was westward bound, fighting the wind, passing Mar Vista Gardens, four young kids (aged from about 5 – 11 I would guess) were standing there hanging out. Didn’t think much about it. About 10 – 20 feet after I passed them I felt something hard and heavy hit my shoulder — the little f&*#@rs threw a rock at me!
I stopped and yelled «Excuse me?!» most of them ran off.
I turned around and saw them coming back to see if I did in fact return.
I yelled I was going to call the police and they all scattered.
Not cool. Not cool at all. And just little kids.
Be careful out there.

This bike/​run/​walk trail is as good as it gets. From start to finish you WILL get a good workout in while also being able to enjoy the beach and ocean during or after! You know it can’t be BEFORE otherwise you just might not get on this trail. I mean, it is after all the CREEK. It’s not glamorous but it does the trick. It provides us with a car traffic free and paved (not gravel) road from Culver City to Playa (through Marina del Rey).
For the most part you won’t get the stink eye from the avid bicyclists if you’re walking or running. Just be mindful of them by trying to go the opposite direction so you can see them comin your way.
No drinking fountains or bathrooms along the way. It’s a CREEK people! Oh, please don’t do your business in the CREEK though. Please. So, plan accordingly. This includes being safe — especially if you’re training for a triathalon or a marathon or one of the «‘thons». I would highly suggest that should you choose to come with smaller kids, pad them from head to toe and tote them along on your own bikes instead of having them ride their own. It’s just not that kind of path. One more thing — ride/​walk/​run at the BC during the day. No lights or other emergency phones or what not on the trail.
With all of that — it is the trail I’ve been frequenting for a long, long time. It’s gotten so much better over time — safer. With about 3 miles or so along the BC you can go back/​forth or just part of it pretty easily to meet all kinds of needs. Entries from Centinela or Inglewood offer good parking areas if you’re trying to get a good few miles of a workout in! Venture off the path mid-​point to the Fisherman’s Wharf where you can ride along the marina or get a bite to eat!