It is alot more fun to ride the San Diego Highway 56 Bike Path than to watch everyone else while you are sitting in traffic on"the 56." This is one of the few inland rides that will allow you to put in some flat miles without straying too far from the coast.
O.K. So this isn't the prettiest ride of all times but it is one that everyone in San Diego will ride eventually. Get used to the 56 bike path. As you find yourself on longer and more challenging rides, the 56 bike path can be used to go from the coast inland without too much difficulty. Many riders heading out to ride their bike on Highland Valley Road use the 56 bike path. For now, lets just ride the bike path, get in some miles, and get back to the coast for coffee. Shall we?
View Highway 56 Bike Path in a larger map
Start out at the Bruggers Bagels or Starbucks in the heart of Del Mar. If Del Mar is not for you, another option is the nearby Torrey Pines State Reserve. Either way, head out and get on Carmel Valley road. The hills at the beginning and end of the ride going down toward Carmel Valley Road and on Carmel Valley Road are essentially the only hills of mention in this ride. They are not too challenging but they are hills nonetheless so please take note as you will be riding up these hills on the way back. While we are talking about hills, take a look at the elevation profile below. It looks like there is a big hill in the middle of the ride right? Well, not so much. Rather the entire bike path is on a "false flat" so there is a gradual incline the entire way out. Most people do not even notice it riding out because the incline is so shallow. On the way back, however, you will feel like you are getting a second wind because it is slightly downhill on the way back.
Go under the overpass for Highway 5. Your next big intersection will be El Camino Real. Take a right and then keep a look out for the bike path on the left side of the road. Please take a good look at the map above. The entry to the path is not really labeled that well and in many cases unless you see someone coming off the path you will miss it. If you think you went to far you probably did so ask someone where the path is.
After you get on the path, pretty much put your head down and ride straight out and straight back. It is tough to get lost on the path but you will need to do a little jog at the intersection of Carmel County Road.
The path ends at Highway 15. However, the end of the path is perenially under construction so the actual end of the path seems to be a moving target. Turnaround when you get tired, bored, you hit the end of the path, or you hit Rancho Panasquitos Blvd.
To download additional information about your ride, right click on
the links below and then click "save link as" to download the file to
your computer.
Download a GPX file you can use to upload to your Garmin
Download a KML file you can use to upload to Google Maps or Google Earth
