Best Riding Location In south/central Ca?

If one were to move to California where would the best location be to move to to hit the trails riding out from the house?


Thanks, Dan

why would u want to move to Cali from beautifull Colorado

retirement or ??

Central California Sucks! (Unless you are on the coast)

Watts is the best area in south central for riding....ask Chillum

Thanks for the input guys.

To clarify I'd be moving to the greater LA area to be closer to family. Colorado is fantastic for riding, but despite being an avid skier I like riding better and the winters are just too long. The riding season is June --> Sept here w/ the good stuff only open July & Aug.

I like all types of riding: single track, desert, long DS rides.

I have a Rallied out KTM 690 and a 530 XC-W. The XC-W is CO plated. Will I be able to get a plate for it in CA, or will it be Red/Green stickered only?

Thanks.

kern county has what your looking for.

I don't see any turn signals, license plate, or the sort of thing that come on bikes plated from the factory, so I think the 530 will be a green sticker bike. Red stickers are for 2-strokes.

I would look to the northeast portions of the LA basin to keep out of the crowds. There is lots of desert riding out there, and Hwy 395 will give you direct access to the Eastern Sierra (including Mammoth Ski Resort).

There is more forest riding in the Western Sierra, such as Sequioa and Sierra National Forests, but that would put you a few hours away from your family.

yea dont bother looking aroung the sierra national forest area..

Big bear?

If you want to stay in LA county of course you will want to be north.

I really like our location. North/east as far as you can go.

All you need to do is look at a decent map.

South and west are beaches and it can be two or three hours to the mountains or desert.

Anything nice out of Thousand Oaks?

The closest riding areas to Thousand Oaks would probably be Rowher Flats or Gorman. They are both smallish riding areas.

You need to buy a map of Los Angeles so you can see what you're talking about. You can't expect to live in the city or a suburb and ride from your house, unless you want to jump on the freeway. OR, unless you happen to live close to Gorman or Rowher Flats, which are both smaller riding areas, like I said.

Or live close to a MX track.

I do know some people that live in Orange County or San Bernardino County (farther from LA) that can take surface streets from their houses and get to forests or mountains. Otherwise, like the people above said, you'll probably need to live a couple of hours from LA in the desert or Kern County to be able to ride from your house.

if riding is your living or semi retired with riding your priority...i will choose hesperia, victorville, palmdale or lancaster. many of the best riders came from those cities. and though growing, those cities are affordable compared to the los angeles area.

thousand oaks is a very nice bedroom community, but $$. it's close enough to the ocean and l.a. if you want some variety in your lifestyle. there are several riders who live in the area and i see them ride a lot. have a pickup truck if you want to ride the small bike more often.

wish you well when you get here.

What's the riding season for the desert areas?

I'm assuming something like oct --> april, before it gets too hot.

Looking at a map of OHV riding areas in California it seems like there are more opportunities between Hesperia & Barstow, than on the Santa Clara side.

Would it be better to live on the Hwy 15 side of the Los Angeles valley to get to these areas, than the Encino Thousand Oaks side?

Thanks for all the input.

definitely not far from the riding areas.

It's obviously harder to get out of town on the west side.

Look at a map. There are VERY few routes through the San Gabriels:

15 fwy
395
Route 2.
14 fwy

Consider the 'Foothill corridor' as a place to live

Any good map will show Foothill Blvd or Route 66 or 210 fwy, any place along there is convenient.

Burbank, Glendale, Altadena, Pasadena, Duarte, La Verne, San Dimas, Glendora, Claremont, Upland, Alta Loma, Rancho Cucamonga.

You want to be north of the 210, west of the 15.

Looks like we are focusing in on Thousand Oaks. Any pros/cons you guys would like to mention?

Thanks, Dan

You won't have to shovel your driveway
It'll be over 100° most of the summer