Palos Verdes Loop Directions

As a sometimes rider of the Palos Verdes Loop I am trying here to provide directions, commentary and options. This is a work in progress so I invite suggested additions and corrections. Experts on the route will notice I am missing options for Via Colinita, Crownview (the chain breaker), and the hill climbs (Via Coronel, Via Zumaya, Via Valmonte, Hawthorne (both sides) and Crenshaw. I invite help with all of these and promise more details to follow.

You may elect to do this loop clockwise or counterclockwise. The club rides most commonly go counterclockwise as follows:

First get to the start at Malaga Cove: Southbound on the beach path. Go all the way to the end of the path at Torrance Beach. Go up the ramps from the beach through the parking lot to the first street. Go up the hill, street curves left and dead ends at Palos Verdes Boulevard. Turn right. Soon you will be going downhill, road will fork, bear right and go up hill past Malaga Cove Plaza.

Option 1: Wait at the plaza to join a ride. There are rides here at 6 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 7 a.m. on Saturday. These rides are roadies and not triathletes. The club ride is 7:30 on Saturday.

After Malaga Cove Plaza, go straight by the plaza continuing south and you are on Palos Verdes Drive West. Follow that road.

Option 2: Take Paseo Del Mar to ride along the bluffs. About 2 miles out of Malaga Cove Plaza you will see a small parking lot on the right and a turn onto a roas (Paseo Del Mar) taking you downhill toward the ocean. Follow that road until it rejoins Palos Verdes Drive West or add a few more hills and a little distance by turning right on side streets after the road makes a sharp turn to the left.

Rejoin Palos Verdes Drive West. It becomes Palos Verdes Drive South. Keep going. About 12 miles in or so you will see switchbacks up a hill on the left side near the Trump golf course. Carefully get into the left turn lane and go up the switchbacks. Continue on that same road until you go up to the top of the hill by Marymount College.

Option 3: Turn left at the traffic light by Marymount College at the top of the hill and ride uphill (a little less than 2 miles) to the radar domes. It is very steep at first but not as bad later. If you don't throw up on the way back down you didn't work hard enough. Come back down to Marymount, turn left, and rejoin the road.

Continue north up and over the hill and get to a traffic light at the bottom. Best to complete this part of the loop early to avoid traffic. You will need to descend in the middle of the road at or near the speed limit. Be careful and try to go with a group. Once at Palos Verdes Drive North, turn left and continue to the fork in the road and bear right to end up back on Palos Verdes Boulevard to head North or bear left to go back up to Malaga Cove.

With Options 1 and 2 it's about 22 miles. Option 3 adds another 3 miles.

Western Option (not a TRUE Palos Verdes Loop). Another option is to go out to Western. For that do not turn left on the switchbacks but continue east on PV Drive South which becomes 25th Street until you get to Western, turn left and take Western up to PV Drive North and turn left again. Again a lot of traffic but perhaps less dangerous.