Santa Clara River Trail (CA)

California

5 Reviews

The Santa Clara River Trail follows its namesake waterway, one of Los Angeles County's last unchannelized rivers. The paved trail connects several of Santa Clarita's neighborhoods, including Canyon Country and Rancho Santa Clarita. It also links three other trails in the city, making it a useful recreation and transportation resource for residents and visitors alike.

Two disconnected segments of the trail are open, with only a short gap separating them in an area of the city seeing rapid residential development. Plans call for the two trail segments to be linked in the near future. Both open portions skirt housing developments, with a cluster of businesses reachable from the trail along Soledad Canyon Road.

Both the San Francisquito Creek Trail and South Fork River Trail can be accessed from the trail's start at McBean Parkway. Alternatively, join the Chuck Pontius Commuter Trail at Bouquet Canyon Road or Soledad Canyon Road.

Parking and Trail Access

Parking for the Santa Clara River Trail is available at Bridgeport Park (23521 Bridgeport Lane), River Village Park (26401 Riverrock Way) and Discovery Park (27555 Canyon View Drive), as well as at the Camp Plenty Road Trailhead (intersection of Camp Plenty Road and Soledad Canyon Road) in Santa Clarita.

Great

February 2016 d6034

Beautiful scenery,easy to ride, easy access to shops and restaurants, my family and I enjoyed this trail

beautiful

February 2012 bogglersto

This a great trail. Its clean and goes pretty far. I live in Santa Clarita and use the trails to travel all around town. The only down side is that during nice weather a lot of 'speedo torpedos' on road bikes think that it is a race track and ride dangerously fast. Pretty hazardous considering there are people walking with kids and dogs.

Hot day in Santa Clarita

September 2009 susanvogel

We explored this trail 22 April, 2009. There is a big, dirt parking lot at N34.41443 W118.54480 as Noel J. Keller pointed out. Approach the entrance slowly as it is easy to pass. If you go south from the parking lot you will come to a loop in about a mile. More of the trail is to the north.

If you take the trail north from the parking lot you come to an important juncture just after passing under Valencia Blvd. at N34 25 07.5 W118 32 55.8.

The trail seems to continue north but this is only a branch that ends in about a mile and a half. The main trail turns east here and goes around behind a car dealership. We learned this from a passing rider. We followed the trail just past the dealership to confirm that that was the way the trail went. We turned back shortly because it was getting very hot and we were running out of time. Like Noel, we'll be back to explore the rest of the trail when we can.

NOON RECON

March 2007 noel.keler

"A quick stop to find one of the trail heads for the Santa Clara River Trail. East bound on a divided Magic Mountain Parkway just before the River bridge N34.41443 W118.54480 is the entrance to public parking on a gravel lot. The small print sign is not readable at street speed limits. The South Fork Trail head N34.41329 W118.54419 elev 1166’. Slight upgrade , at ¾ mile the Chain link fence on the east side of the trail changed to a more pleasing Wood Rail fence. Adjacent to large high voltage power lines. The asphalt surface is smooth, however expansion cracks, some over 3 inches wide, have developed at irregular intervals. At N34.40034 W118.54066 elev , one mile turned around . Will return at a later date to explore this trail system."