Los Angeles has four separate mountain ranges within a tank of fuel of downtown, and each one gives a completely different day on a motorcycle. The Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu are a tight canyon grid you can ride in a morning. The San Gabriels behind Pasadena carry Angeles Crest Highway, 66 miles (106 km) of ridgeline that tops out at 7,903 feet (2,409 m). The Santa Ana Mountains south of the basin hold the Ortega Highway. The San Bernardinos to the east climb to Onyx Summit at 8,443 feet (2,573 m) on the way to Big Bear. This page covers what each one is for, which is open, and how to pick between them on a given weekend.
The basic geography
Los Angeles sits in a basin ringed by transverse ranges. That layout is why the riding here is unusually good for a city of this size: every direction out of the basin except west runs uphill within an hour, and the roads that cross those ranges were mostly built long before anyone thought about traffic volume. What you trade for that access is company. None of these roads are secret, all of them carry recreational cars and cyclists at weekends, and the popular ones carry commuters as well.
The second thing shaping every ride here is closure. Southern California mountain roads close for fire, for slides, for snow and for emergency repairs, and the closures often last years rather than days. Any plan built around one specific road needs a backup.
Top roads at a glance
| Road | Length | Character | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angeles Crest Highway, SR 2 | 66 mi (106 km) | High ridgeline, summit 7,903 ft at Dawson Saddle, middle often closed | La Cañada Flintridge to SR 138 near Wrightwood |
| Mulholland Highway | About 50 mi (80 km) | Santa Monica Mountains ridge, spine of the Malibu canyon grid | Calabasas to SR 1 at Leo Carrillo State Park |
| State Route 38 to Big Bear | 59 mi (95 km) | Longest sustained climb in the region, Onyx Summit 8,443 ft | I-10 at Redlands to SR 18 at Big Bear |
| Ortega Highway, SR 74 | About 27 mi (44 km) | Tight blind crossing of the Santa Ana Mountains, heavy weekend traffic | I-5 at San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore |
| Rim of the World Scenic Byway | 107 mi (172 km) | Ridge traverse on SR 138, SR 18 and SR 38 across the San Bernardinos | Near Cajon Pass to Mill Creek Canyon |
| Decker Canyon Road, SR 23 | Southern section of a 32 mi (52 km) route | Steep, tight and exposed, documented as a dangerous road | SR 1 near Trancas to Westlake Boulevard |
| Topanga Canyon Boulevard, SR 27 | Canyon section | One of the few through routes across the range, so it carries commuters | SR 1 at Topanga State Beach to Woodland Hills |
Open the Angeles Crest run in Google Maps — the longest single mountain road in the group, ready to send to your navigation before you leave.
The Malibu canyons, for a half day with no planning
If you have a morning and no appetite for logistics, ride the Santa Monica Mountains. Mulholland Highway runs about 50 miles (80 km) along the ridge from Calabasas out to the coast at Leo Carrillo State Park, and a set of canyon roads connect it down to Pacific Coast Highway: Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Malibu Canyon Road and Las Virgenes, Latigo Canyon Road, Kanan Dume Road and Decker Canyon Road. Because they form a grid you can build a loop of any length and change it mid-ride.
Access to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is free and most parking lots run from 8:00 AM to sunset. The National Park Service site for the area is the reference for current conditions, and it is worth reading its own warning that cell service in the canyons is unreliable.
The catch is traffic. This is the most heavily used riding area in Southern California, shared with sports cars, cyclists and sightseers, and Saturday mid-morning is genuinely unpleasant. Details are in our Malibu canyons day ride guide.
Angeles Crest, for the biggest road
Angeles Crest Highway is the standout on paper: a two-lane road running 66 miles over the San Gabriel Mountains from La Cañada Flintridge to State Route 138 near Wrightwood, with sections above 7,000 feet and a National Forest Scenic Byway designation on the western portion. It has no fuel along its length and almost no intersections.
It also has, at the time of writing in August 2026, two closed segments in the middle for emergency repairs, and State Route 39, the only mid-route escape, is closed as well. That means the road currently works as an out-and-back to a gate rather than a through route. It is still worth riding for the lower and middle sections, but plan it that way. Our Angeles Crest Highway guide goes through the segments and what the Forest Service closures mean.
Big Bear, for altitude and a full day
The San Bernardino Mountains give the longest and highest day. State Route 38 climbs 59 miles from I-10 in Redlands through Mentone, Mill Creek Canyon, Angelus Oaks and Barton Flats to Onyx Summit at 8,443 feet, then drops to Big Bear Lake. Coming back you have a choice of State Route 18 along the rim through Lake Arrowhead and Crestline, or State Route 330 down to Highland in 15 miles (25 km) of switchbacks.
Part of that loop is the Rim of the World Scenic Byway, a 107-mile National Forest Scenic Byway made up of SR 138 from near Cajon Pass to near Crestline, SR 18 from Crestline to Big Bear Dam, and SR 38 from the dam down to the forest boundary near Mill Creek Canyon. This is the one route in the region that closes for snow rather than fire, so its season is roughly the inverse of what you might expect. See our Big Bear day ride guide for the section detail.
Ortega, for a short hard road south of the basin
The Ortega Highway crosses the Santa Ana Mountains between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore in about 27 miles, and it packs more difficulty into that distance than any other road on this list. Narrow, blind, no shoulder, and shared between commuters and weekend riders. It suits an early start and a moderate pace, and it pairs well with a coastal run rather than filling a whole day on its own. Our Ortega Highway guide covers where it turns serious.
Checking conditions before you commit
Two Caltrans resources cover everything on this page. The highway conditions lookup takes a route number and returns the current closures and restrictions in plain text, which is the fastest check for a specific road. Caltrans QuickMap shows the same information geographically along with cameras and chain controls, which is better when you are choosing between options.
For the forest land these roads cross, the Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests each publish their own alerts pages, and their closures do not always show up in the highway data. A road can be open while the trailhead you planned to stop at is inside a multi-year fire closure. The Eaton Fire closure in the Angeles National Forest, which runs through the end of 2027, is the current example.
Riding rules worth knowing
California allows lane splitting, defined in Vehicle Code section 21658.1 as riding a two-wheeled motorcycle between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, on divided and undivided roads alike. That is genuinely useful for getting out of the basin on a Saturday morning, and irrelevant once you are on a two-lane mountain road with a double yellow line.
Forest parking passes are the other rule that catches people. Riding through a national forest costs nothing. Parking at a signed day-use site or trailhead generally requires an Adventure Pass or an America the Beautiful interagency pass, and near Wrightwood the concession-run sites use a separate Big Pines Parking Pass instead.
Choosing between them
Half a day, no planning. Malibu canyons. Closest to the city, most flexible, worst traffic.
A full day with real elevation. Big Bear via SR 38, returning on SR 18 or SR 330. Best in late spring to early autumn, on a weekday.
The biggest single road. Angeles Crest, ridden as an out-and-back until the middle reopens.
Short and demanding. Ortega, early in the morning.
Summer heat. Go up. Every one of these routes is more pleasant at altitude than the basin is, and the inland ends of Ortega and SR 38 are the hottest points on any of them.
Gear notes for Southern California days
Two things about this region put specific demands on a setup. The first is elevation. A single day here can start at sea level and finish above 8,000 feet, which moves tire pressure and changes how a cold tire behaves in shade. A TPMS sensor replaces guesswork with a live reading, and our route planning guide covers building elevation and fuel into a day rather than discovering both mid-ride.
The second is that road status here changes faster than your memory of it. Canyons and forest roads have patchy coverage, so the check has to happen before you leave and the route has to be loaded rather than streamed. A JADO S6 riding system keeps navigation and front and rear recording on one screen built for glare and vibration, which matters on roads this heavily shared.
FAQ
What is the best motorcycle road near Los Angeles?
Angeles Crest Highway is the biggest and most scenic, at 66 miles over the San Gabriel Mountains, though closures currently limit it to an out-and-back. For a road that is reliably open and closest to the city, the Malibu canyon grid around Mulholland Highway is the usual answer.
How far is Big Bear from Los Angeles on a motorcycle?
Big Bear Lake sits about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of San Bernardino, and the scenic approach on State Route 38 from Redlands is 59 miles (95 km) on its own. Treat it as a full day out of the Los Angeles basin rather than a morning.
When is the best season for riding around Los Angeles?
Spring and autumn suit everything on this list. Summer works if you ride early and go high. Winter closes the San Bernardino and San Gabriel high country for snow while leaving the coastal canyons rideable, so the mountain and coast options trade places seasonally.
Do I need a permit to ride in the national forests?
No permit is needed to ride the highways. An Adventure Pass or America the Beautiful pass is required to park at most Forest Service day-use sites and trailheads in the Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests.
Is lane splitting legal in California?
Yes. Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines lane splitting for two-wheeled motorcycles between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, and authorizes the California Highway Patrol to publish educational guidelines on it.
