By Richard Fox
Updated April 2024
Of the places that I cycled while doing the research for enCYCLEpedia in 2012-2013, Oceanside held one of the biggest surprises. In fact, for an easy scenic cycling destination, it had enough great features to earn a high rating in the book. The highlight is the 9-mile San Luis Rey River Trail that mostly follows a levee along its banks. Reach it from Pacific Street just southeast of Oceanside Harbor, or from the northwest end of Cleveland Street (west on Neptune) downtown. Like most SoCal rivers you won’t see much water in the San Luis Rey most of the year except for the tidal delta and after heavy rain periods, but it traverses a lovely riparian corridor through a low density residential valley.
The trail’s high 20 mph speed limit means that you can get a great workout as long you’re careful around pedestrians, and many do just that. On-shore breezes can make your return to the coast strenuous, typically more towards afternoon. A highlight about halfway along the path is the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, the largest in California, accessed via a detour south on Douglas Drive then east/south on Pala (the first light).
Guajome County Park, just past the east end of the trail, has RV camping, dirt trails, lakes, and facilities. Both dirt trails and highway bike lanes connect it to the river bike trail. Mance Buchanan Park at College, the skateboard park at Foussat, and the Mission contain the only other public facilities along the route.
The delta near the southwest trailhead is a beautiful tidal region with plenty of shore birds to watch.
Oceanside Harbor and its enticing nautical village is a great place to stop for a meal on your ride, and then cycle the 1.5 mile sharrowed road around the harbor, very popular with cyclists. Seasonal Sea Lion Island makes a fun, amusing (and smelly downwind) stop near the OCEANSIDE sign.
Saving the most scenic for last, you can take Class II Pacific Street south, and make a right on Breakwater that leads to The Strand along Oceanside’s beautiful beach and pier.
The 2-mile ride along the beach is best done when not crowded because of the odd mix of one way slow vehicle traffic and two-way bike lanes. Despite the crowds, it is a very worthwhile cruise, being able to ride so close to the ocean and the beach, watching the surfers and the waves. Steep Seagaze and Surfrider streets connect the waterfront road with Pacific Street in downtown, where restaurants are centered around Tremont and Mission.
The seaside promenade/road ends at Wisconsin to the south, where you can ride up the small hill and continue the route south toward Carlsbad on sharrowed Pacific St or the Coastal rail trail next to the tracks. Another important feature of Oceanside is its transit center, located downtown south of Seagaze. Four rail lines converge here – Amtrak’s Surfliner, LA’s Metrolink, and San Diego County’s Coaster and Sprinter, creating great opportunities to combine a train ride to elsewhere with ride with an Oceanside bike ride.
A popular cycling event in Oceanside is Bike the Coast – Taste the Coast with 100-50-25-15-7 mile options, held in early October.
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