In the San Diego area, the Silver Strand bikeway is an easy, 9 miles (14.5 km) bicycle and pedestrian path from Ferry Landing Marketplace to Imperial Beach

Imperial Beach, California

Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the most southern beach city in Southern California and the West Coast of the United States...

 at sea level with no elevation gain. It is regarded as the most beautiful and most cyclist-friendly bike route in Southern California.

Location: Ferry Landing Marketplace to Glorietta Boulevard to Silver Strand bikeway. End at Imperial Beach on Orange Avenue or at the wetlands.

Distance: Approximately 9 miles (14.5 km) one-way

Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain/loss: 0

Class: I for 8 miles (12.9 km), class II/III for 1 miles (1.6 km). See List of San Diego bike paths for information on class I, II, and III bike paths.

Rentals: Bikes & Beyond (from $5 an hour), 1201 First St.; 435-7180. Holland's Bicycles (from $5 an hour); 977 Orange Ave, (619)435-3153

The route

• See "http://www.efgh.com/bike/rsdbay.htm" for a map of the route with detailed pictures.
• Drive across the beautiful, blue San Diego-Coronado Bridge
  San Diego-Coronado Bridge
  The San Diego-Coronado Bridge, locally referred to as the Coronado Bridge, is a "prestressed concrete/steel" girder bridge, crossing over San Diego Bay in the United States, linking San Diego with Coronado, California...
  
  or take the ferry from downtown San Diego to Ferry Landing Marketplace. Here you can rent bikes, eat, etc. before and after your ride. From here, you can head toward the shore to find a paved bicycle/pedestrian path that heads east under the Coronado bridge where it merges with Glorietta Boulevard along the edge of the Coronado Golf Course. Glorietta will fork, one path going uphill, one path going downhill. At the fork is a crosswalk leading straight into a class I bike/pedestrian path that parallels Silver Strand Highway 75 (Orange Avenue). Take that path past the Hotel Del Coronado, into Imperial Beach. At Imperial Beach, turn north on Orange Avenue for restaurants or go straight on the bike path to the wetlands/bird viewing area. Retrace the path back to your car to complete the route.

Cautions

• In the bike path, beware of people's car doors. This is the most common cause of injury to cyclists on this path.
• At points where the class I path ends and turns into road, there is usually a yellow pylon, so keep your head up.
• This is a pedestrian/bike path so watch for pedestrians.

Ownership and Contacts

Bike path quality in the City of San Diego is coordinated by SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments). According to the SANDAG fact sheet found at "http://efgh.com/bike/bayshore.htm", Stephan Vance at (619) 595-5324 or sva@sandag.cog.ca.us is the person to contact for more information regarding the Bayshore bikeway.

For more information about Coronado and the bike path, contact the Coronado Visitors Center; (800)622-8300

Future plans

see SANDAG's Bayshore bikeway fact sheet at "http://efgh.com/bike/bayshore.htm" for more information

External links

• "1" signonsandiego.com's article about Silver Strand bikeway
• "2" sunset.com's article about Silver Strand bikeway
• "3" efgh.com's article about Silver Strand bikeway and other Coronado/Imperial routes
• "4" a 20 miles (32.2 km), alternate route made by a runner