San Gabriel River

The trail is decent nothing special, good if you’re just getting out to exercise, think there should be a group day every week, so people can have a little company and motivation… Plus it’s fun

Like someone said, this is the freeway for bikes, and it interconnects with other bike trails, and there are some nice parks along the way. From the mountains to the ocean just for bikes, it is a Los Angeles County lesser-​known wonder.
Know what you’re in for– there are vast stretches with NO SHADE or exits, so careful about the heat of the day when planning a ride. Under the bridges is no respite, it sometimes smells of pee and there might be people lurking so you want to ride through PDQ.
DON’T TOUCH THAT WATER! It is a vile admixture of various forms of doo-​doo water. Look at the incredible volume pouring forth from the sewage treatment plant north of the 91 freeway.
The steep angled sides are good exercise to walk up and down– you can’t get that workout just anywhere. Most parts are like 40 grit sandpaper, plenty of foot traction but watch out for chalky/​sandy patches where you’re suddenly slipping, man that could be a nasty fall!
Mostly friendly people you’ll meet, but there are some shady neighborhoods along the way and help is seldom nearby here so don’t let your guard down. If I had kids I wouldn’t want them biking here alone.

I ride the river trail from South St./Lakewood down to Coyote Creek Trail quite regularly now. It’s a fantastic trail. I take the El Dorado trail (@Wardlow) into the park as well and it adds a nice nature element as well. Fellow exercisers are always very friendly and helpful if they see your having trouble w/​anything. I haven’t made it to the beach via this trail due to time restraints but soon…

This is my gateway from Long Beach to Cerritos and vice versa. It’s essentially the bikers freeway. The bike roads are very smooth. The river alongside the bike path make it a pleasant ride. Occasionally the wildlife takes a dip into the water. Liberty Park which has a large land span is also alongside the bike path.
Sometimes you’ll get passed up by enthusiast bikers and wonder where they came from if you’re a beginner like me. People also walk/​run on the bike paths. I would definitely come back again if I decide to bike the 20 or so miles round-​trip to Cerritos.

A 38 mile trail to the Pacific (Seal Beach) begins at the West Fork in the San Gabriel Mountains. According to Wikipedia, 19 cities are actually located on this river. Do people even remember that LA is in a river basin? I’ve read about people complaining that our local rivers aren’t real because they’re incased in cement but LA used to fear flash floods more than earthquakes before the control channels were built. The peace of mind created lead to a housing boom that paved over the local agricultural and dairy industries.
In high school we used to run this all the way to the ocean. Most entrances to the river are now fenced off but I used to walk this path. (It smelled because of fertilizer and pollution.) On one side were Christmas tree lots and greenhouses next to high power electrical transmission towers. Sometimes there are stables instead.
Including its tributary Coyote Creek, this is the geographical boundary between Los Angeles and Orange Counties. It would have been nice if the flood prevention dams didn’t kill off grassland and marshes. The riverbed is (naturally) normally dry and usually low but that drought-​look is depressing. There is often graffiti. Under riverbed bridges where roads overlap I’ve found personal effects of the homeless but not the people.

I pretty much came here just for the exercise. This area of the San Gabriel River is in back of Bellflower City Caruthers Park in between Cerritos and Downey. Today was like no other, a quite, peaceful environment where I jog up and down the angles of the sides of the riverbed.
However, there is more. You can see families and freinds biking down the cement trail or riverbed area. You see joggers quite a bit as well as walkers. Right next to the riverbed is the Cauthers skate park and the apparent horse trail. I saw many skaters having thier fun on the ramps and curves and I indeed saw one horse with a guy wearing a sombrero.
There is a little stream at the center of the riverbed with dry concrete at the left and right of it. I can imagine this area is much more wet when rains and storms come in, well duh. Beware, if yousee the water rising you, maybe you should leave. East of this riverbed you can see golfers at the course having fun.
Sometimes, I can just stand or sit there and relax with the sound of the water and freeway and ponder deep thoughts. I wish I could exercise here more often, but my next visit may not be for a while.