Distance: 28.5 miles out and back
Elevation gain: 712 ft
(The ride description and photos have mysteriously disappeared from this post. I will have to reconstruct it. jr)
Normally I don’t like rec trails, because they’re crowded and fussy. But the occasional rec trail rises above the regrettable norm, and Bestrides discusses seven that I really like: the Sacramento River Trail, the American River Parkway, the El Dorado Trail, the Nimitz Trail, the Willamette River Trail in Eugene, the Coyote Creek Trail in San Jose (use the search window for the last three), and this one. . As with most multi-use trails, the pace here is often slow and the experience is more akin to strolling/ambling/sight-seeing than hammering, but at least half of the route here is far from Monterey proper, largely deserted, and suitable for hard time-trialing if that’s what you seek. And the scenery is excellent: one part rocky coast, one part Monterey harbor, and one part lonely sand dunes. The elevation numbers say it’s dead flat, but it really isn’t (RidewithGPS says 975 ft), and if you hit the rolling dunes hard you can get a workout.
The curse of municipal paths is crowds, and the third of this route that goes through the Aquarium-Cannery Row neighborhood can be downright unpleasant if crowded. (“Hell is other people”—Sartre). As always, I would avoid weekend midday if I could. But my last ride was Friday at 11 AM in July, and other users were never a problem.
Rec trails are meant for rec riders, and if you’re one, you may want to rent a bike. Monterey has you covered. Adventures by the Sea has no less than 3 rental shops along the one-mile stretch of the Trail by Cannery Row. If it’s been a while, rent an e-bike.
Like many rec trails, this one goes by many names. I’ve seen it called the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail, the Monterey Bike Trail, and the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail. It’s also a leg of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, a monumental project that is in the works and dreams of eventually running from Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove to Wilder Ranch, a few miles west of Santa Cruz—c. 55 miles!
As of Oct. 2025, Fort Ord State Park and Beach Range Road, are currently closed due to a large construction project. The closure sign was dated July 2025, and didn’t give an indication of an expected finish date. There’s a lot of heavy equipment and it looks like a major job. You can still ride the path near highway 1, but it is really close to the highway and pretty noisy.