Long beach bike trail

The Bicycle trails near Long Beach are spectacular and varied. They all start near Shoreline Park and head in various directions. One trail heads south toward Belmont Shores and Naples. A second trail passes near Rainbow Harbor. A third trail heads across the channel and passes near to the Queen Mary. A fourth route connects to the LA River Trail that heads toward downtown Los Angeles.

Marina area

The Marina includes countless ships and Grissom Island, an oil production facility.

Countless ships and a few oil production islands populate the Marina area south of Rainbow Harbor.

Night in the Marina

A fisherman silhouetted by an oil cooling tower on Grissom Island.

Rainbow Harbor

Rainbow Harbor, like the name suggests, is a colorful mixture of tourist shops and ships, the Long Beach Aquarium, the Long Beach Convention Center and a colorful harbor area.

A 360 degree panoramic view of Rainbow Harbor from near the Aquarium. Scroll to the right to continue the view. Click on photo for a larger version.

Rainbow Harbor is a sea of color at night.

Queen Mary

The neat little Rainbow hovercraft. Although just crusing at 5 miles per hour in the harbor, it is capable of traveling at 80 miles per hour over both land and water, floating on a thin cushion of air.

A beautiful ship in Rainbow harbor complete with a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter on the rear deck. So who owns a ship like this? A US marine vessel registry search on the name "Attessa" reveals that the ship is currently owned by Inland Marine Inc. in Missoula, Montana, but a google search on this company does not reveal much more. An aircraft registry search on the helicopter tail number (N162WC) reveals that the owner is Washington Corp, also in Missoula, Montana. A google search on "Washington Corporation" and Missoula finally reveals who the very lucky owner is; Dennis Washington. Click here for a 360 degree panoramic view from this location.
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Queen Mary trail

A 180 degree view showing the Queen Mary, the Russian Submarine and several passenger ships. Click on the image for a more detailed view.

Belmont shore trail

One of the trail segments heads south past Belmont Shores toward Naples. This path is generally busy with numerous bicyclists, roller bladers and joggers. Off to the side are large sandy beaches and the Belmont Pier. Several miles further south and requiring travel on busy surface streets is the San Gabriel River trail.

Long Beach city as seen from Belmont Shores.

This small oasis along the Belmont Shores bike trail is the yearly Tiki beach festival. Click here to enter the festival.

Wide open beaches and bike trails south of Belmont Shores.

Not a solar eclipse, but a surfing kite above Long Beach.

Kite surfing
(More kitesurfing)

Wind surfer

Distant cargo cranes on Terminal Island

Connecting trails include the LA River trail to the north, and by busy surface streets, the very scenic San Gabriel River trail to the south.

Rating: * * * *
Season: Anytime -- but occasional special events can make travel more difficult..
Difficulty: Easy
Hazards: Crowds.

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