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| Title:
Palos Verdes Peninsula Tour |
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State:
California
Submitted
By: Bill Belei
Date Submitted: Aug 03
Motorcycle Type: 93 Ninja 600
Motorcycle Road Length: 35 Miles
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Motorcycle
Road Scenery: 
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The
scenery on this route is the best coastal scenery you are
going to find in LA County. The Palos
Verdes peninsula with its hills, cliffs, and impressive
elevation offers breathtaking scenery and its only 40 minutes
or so from downtown LA. If you live in/near LA and haven't
discovered it yet, you've really been missing out on an
incredible coastal area.
If you follow the path that I spell out below in my directions,
you'll start out on a large hill overlooking the southern
coast of LA. From there you can see the Port
of Los Angeles and all the huge commercial ships coming
in and going out as well as smaller pleasure boats. As you
drive you'll wind your way around to the southwest and eventually
western coastal areas along high cliffs that give you a
great view of the ocean scenery (especially beautiful during
sunsets!!!). If you're lucky and the weather is clear over
the water, you'll see the beautiful and mysterious Catalina
Island. Many people in LA have no idea that such large
and beautiful island is parked just off shore because the
island often is not visible. However, when the ocean air
is clear enough, you'll be amazed at the large island sitting
only 20 or so miles of shore. You'll also get a great inland
view high above LA's south bay towns (Rolling Hills Estates,
San Pedro, etc.) if you take Palos Verdes Drive East detour
that I recommend in my directions below. This road will
take you nearly to the very top of the Palos Verdes hill
where you'll be at a great vantage point over the areas
below. This is especially pretty at night with all the lights.
Also, since this area has some of the most dramatic ocean
views near LA, you'll see some magnificent houses in some
really upscale neighborhoods that are positioned to take
advantage of the wonderful coastal views.
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Motorcycle
Road Quality: 
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The
road conditions couldn't be much better when you compare
them to the normally overcrowded LA streets. This road
is relatively smooth with gentle twists and turns. If
you take the Palos Verdes Drive East detour I recommend,
you'll get into some fun tighter turns with steep elevation
gains. Keep in mind that some road construction was taking
place in the summer of 2003 … should be ideal when they
get done and have all the brand new smooth pavement in
place.
Overall
this is a great road with on IMPORTANT exception. Just
after 25th street becomes Palos Verdes, there is a 1/8
mile stretch of road that runs by the coast where there
is constant land shifting toward the ocean. The road
has some SEVERE dips which can easily dump you if you
don't know they're coming. If you are prepared for them
with slower speed you'll be fine. Sections of the
road in that area are constantly under repair from the
cracks in the road where it has shifted toward the ocean.
After that the road is beautiful!
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Motorcycle
Roadside Amenities:
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As
far as things to do when its time to pull over and take
a break, there's enough stuff to do to keep you busy for
a full day or weekend if you look around. If you like seeing
large commercial ships as well as smaller private boats,
just head down the hill and find the Port
of Los Angeles. There are two large tourist areas near
the port that offer parks, restaurants, shopping and some
very inexpensive and enjoyable coastal cruises. One of the
tourist areas is the Port's
O Call Village which is a vintage New England style
port replica (apparently filming
for TV and movies takes place in this area). Also, the
Port of LA has an annual Lobster
Festival (in mid September) that is ideal for lobster
lovers. At the start of the directions I provide below,
you can visit San Pedro's "Korean Bell" or "Friendship
Bell" which is located in Angel's Gate park. This
huge bell was donated to LA from the South Korea back in
1976. It has a park and sits up at the crest of a hill offering
a great view. Also, if you like history, this park has the
Fort MacArthur
Military Museum which highlights a fort that was built
back in 1916. Just about a hundred yards away from this
park is another park named Point Fermin park. This park
offers tours of an old lighthouse and has a long walk/jogging
trail around the perimeter of the park. If you like shopping,
then you'll find a couple boutique centers that are found
toward the tail end of the road when you start getting back
into the more crowded areas. These boutique areas are great
places to pull over, get some ice cream, and walk around
looking at the arts and crafts. Also, if you want to do
something really exciting, take a boat to Catalina
Island which by itself, Catalina
Island could turn into a week's vacation if you wanted
it too.
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I
suggest starting in the town of San
Pedro, CA. San Pedro is just about 40 minutes from downtown
LA. To get to San Pedro you basically would just take the
110 south till you see the exits for San Pedro. Take the
last one which will drop you off on Gaffey street. You'll
have to cut through San Pedro by taking Gaffey street south.
After about 5 minutes you'll start to climb a large hill
and Gaffey will basically dead end into Paseo Del Mar/Sheppard
St. Note: If you want to see the Korean Bell (AKA Friendship
Bell) then look for Angel Gate park on the right … you can't
miss it. Otherwise, once 25th dead ends, take a right on
to Paseo Del Mar and head east. Take this about 10 miles,
all the way past White Point Park and then you want to look
for Western Ave. which will be on road that veers off to
your right. Take Western Ave only for a mile or two and
then take a left on to 25th street and head west on Palos
Verdes Drive south. Now the directions are less tricky and
you can really start to see some of the coastal scenery.
Head west for about 10 miles and you'll see a road off to
the right that is cutting back up steeply into the hills.
That road is Palos Verdes Drive East. I highly recommend
you take a detour there and head up into the hills. Although
its not very long, it has some great switch backs that will
be a lot of fun as you lean and twist into the turns and
accelerate up the hill. Take this road up until you come
to a stoplight at which you want to take a left on to Crest
Road. Follow Crest Road right up to the crest of the hill
and enjoy the great view as you take a break. Follow your
same route back down hill to get back on to Palos Verdes
Drive South and continue to head west along the coast line.
Now you'll have about 25-30 miles of great coastal driving
with relatively minor traffic congestion. Hopefully Catalina
Island will be in full view for your trip!!! At the end
of the route, Palos Verdes Drive South will turn into Palos
Verdes Drive West and will dump you off into Torrance and
South Redondo Beach. There if you want to continue along
the coast (not nearly as majestic and much more crowded,
you can take Catalina Ave or the Pacific Coast Highway.
This is the perfect end to the drive as you will have plenty
of places to pull over and eat or shop at. Good luck and
enjoy this hidden gem in LA!
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Additional
Information:
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