Biking from Ojai to Ventura on the Ojai Valley Trail

Ventura County is a great place to explore if you like biking. They have a nice beachfront trail that takes you along stunning coast views and this fantastic trail that goes from the mountain town of Ojai all the way to the Ventura Coast. While you can ride it in either direction, I got dropped off in Ojai and rode it back down to the beach. Doing it this way makes the trail largely downhill and allows you to soak in the views with minimal work. Here is all the information on the Ventura to Ojai bike path.

Details

• 15 miles each way
• Downhill from Ojai, uphill from Ventura

Video

Here is a video I made on the trail.

Getting There

There are many locations to start the trail if you want to make it shorter, but as far as I know, the official start area in Ventura is on North Olive Street and Rex Street. In Ojai, it is on Bryant Street near Caravan Outpost. At least that is where I started, but correct me if I am wrong in the comments. There is limited street parking at both locations. 

The Ojai Valley Trail

The trail from the Ojai starting point is pretty great most of the way. It gets industrial at the end in Ventura, but other than that, you are surrounded by nature most of the time.

This is especially true for the first half going through Ojai. There are multiple areas where trees fully shade the trail as you ride along.

This part of the trail has many bike stops signs as you cross city streets, which slows your biking. It wasn’t too busy when I went though, so I never had to wait long for my turn to cross.

The trail continues through a beautiful natural section here before crossing the street near the horse statue and following Highway 33.

You will be riding along Highway 33 for a while in this section. The trail is close to the road, but it is its own paved trail which is much nicer than riding along the road. There is also a dirt path for equestrian usage and walking for most of this section of the trail.

As you follow the road, there are multiple benches that you can stop and rest at if you would like.

The trail continues along Highway 33 until it splits off near Oak View. It is easy to follow the entire time.

Also, there is a nice overlook right before the Oak View section as well. There are a few of these along the trail, and they are great places to take a break and soak in the view.

At Oak View, signs note bathrooms, bike maintenance, and food if you want to pull off for a break. There is another viewpoint right after you cross the street here.

Continuing, this portion is beautiful as you ride along with houses and under trees with a large wash out to your right. Eventually, the road will connect again with Highway 33, and you will follow it again for another portion near Casitas Springs.

After passing Casitas Springs, you will be at Foster Park, which is the end of the Ojai maintained portion of the trail. From here, it moves into the Ventura maintained section. 

As you leave Foster Park and cross the road, you will see a freeway entrance and another opportunity to park and enter the trial.

The trail here also has a few art installations, with the wheel tree being the first thing you will see. 

From here, the trail leaves nature and trees behind and moves into an industrial section that will take you the rest of the way to Ventura. 

There are abandoned buildings here, large RV lots, and a waste treatment plant.  

The ride is still nice though, and you will cross under the freeway near Ortonville to continue towards Ventura. 

This last section is even more industrial, with large warehouses, oil drilling machines, and even stops created along the bike path to allow trucks to cross the path safely.

 

It is a stark difference from the start of the trail, and while interesting, I prefer the nature section.

The path then goes along Highway 33 one more time before ending at Rex Street and North Olive Street. 

You can end the trail here or ride along the city streets down to the ocean and connect with the bike path. I did this, and I just put Surfers Point into my GPS and made my way there. 

The trail continues for a while along the coast, but I just rode it till the Ventura Pier. It was nice to ride along the coast to end the trail instead of ending with the industrial section previous to it.

Plus, if you make it all the way to the Ventura Pier, you can stop at Madewest Brewery for a drink or Beach House Tacos for a good meal.  If you are into biking, this really is a great trail. Let me know what you think in the comments!