Segment B – San Pedro to Palos Verdes – View Google Map – View Photos

Distance: 20.6 miles     52 stairways     1,244 up-steps     Total Climb: 2,280 feet

Facebook Event on 8 Oct 2016

Facebook Event on 5 May 2018

Cities/Regions:  San Pedro, Palos Verdes

Official Finishers:
Dan Gutierrez on 8 Oct 2016 | Pat and Elizabeth Schirmer on 7 Jan 2017 | Evelyn Sanchez on 2 May 2017 | Dave and Kristy Moorman on 20 May 2017 | Jeff Rozema, Maribel Sanchez, Kathy Lopez, Teresa Cavazos, Luis Prado, Jose Terriquez, Terri Orabona on 27 May 2017 | Lizbeth Padilla, Matty Barriga on 17 Jun 2017 | Olivia Oshimo, Shelby Potts, Margo Perez on 19 Aug 2017 | Maria Casillas, Alfredo Salgado on 9 Dec 2017 | James Peterson, Mike and Julie Howlett on 27 Jan 2018 | Gaelle Gralnek, Delise Shearer on 5 May 2018 | Marla Stephenson Thornton on 23 Jun 2018 | Jane Fransella on 21 Jul 2018 | Rene Ditton, on 29 Jul 2018 | Lisa Digger, Claire Franks on 19 Jan 2019 | Who will be next?

Route Features: This route has a number of medium difficulty climbs, with long stretches of flat to rolling terrain in San Pedro and Palos Verdes, with a number of great ocean views. The first half is a mix of rolling hills and flat San Pedro walk through older neighborhoods and the San Pedro Harbor area climbing the lion’s share of the stairways in this segment, most are small to medium, with one stairways with 122 up-steps. The second half, rolls up and down along PV Drive along the ocean side of Palos Verdes about half way around the peninsula visiting a couple of stairway clusters en route, with only one large stairway with 125 up-steps.

Start Location: Pacific Coast Highway and Western Ave, which is bus accessible via Metro Bus Line 232 on Pacific Coast Highway.

Finish Location: Palos Verdes Drive West and Hawthorne Blvd, which is bus accessible on weekends via Metro Bus Line 344 to the Artesia Transit Center.

Transit Connections: Finish to Start: From Palos Verdes Dr at Hawthorne, take Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and Western, take Metro Bus Line 344 north to Pacific Coast Highway, then take Metro Bus Line 232 on PCH east to Western Ave, to start the segment.
DTLA to Start: Take the Metro Silver Line Bus to PCH, and then Take Metro Bus Line 232 west, to Western Avenue to start the walk.
Finish to DTLA: On the return trip, take Metro Bus Line 344 north to the Harbor Gateway Transit Center to connect to the Metro Silver Line Bus to DTLA. Do note that the Silver Line serves both the 7th/Metro Station and Union Station, thus providing links to the Blue, Red, Purple, Expo, and Gold Metro Rail Lines.

Route Description:
Miles 0-5: From PCH the route climbs Western for 3/4 of a mile to the peak at Palos Verdes Dr N, then descends on Western S, then Westmont E, to mile 3, traversing 4 small stairways in the last 1/2 mile in a residential neighborhood near Taper Ave Elementary School. After a short walk on residential streets, the route passes a Target store, and the first restroom stop. The route continues on Gaffey to Channel, moving away from the residences toward a more stark industrial area in the Port of LA, continuing east on Channel to Pacific, continuing along the the waterfront past the 4 mile mark. Pacific turns southward, past the Harbor Occupational Center, which has a nice pedestrian over-crossing with stairs at either end, connecting to the parking lot, but is locked on the weekends, so the route continues past it. Once the first street to the right (west), Upland Ave. is reached, turn onto it and after a short stroll, as the road turns right (north), take the Upland stairway that goes straight up the hill in 122 mostly shallow height steps. At the top of the stairway you will be in a working class residential neighborhood, and after winding your way to and crossing the MacArthur Ave bridge, you will head south on Gaffey Place to Elberon Ave, turning right (west), and on the approach to the bridge over Gaffey, take the stairway down to Gaffey St., turn left and cross to the opposite diagonal corner of Summerland, and continue a short block to a small 7 step stairway on the left, down to Summerland Place. Descending Summerland Place passes the 5 mile mark, reaching Oliver Street, and the end of this part of the route.

Miles 5-10.5: The next 2 miles are a trek through my boyhood stomping grounds, traversing 2 stairways in Bandini Canyon between Oliver and Sepulveda, and one near the Catholic Church my mother used to visit, on La Alameda Ave. The route continues southward on La Alameda until it converges into 5th St, continuing down 5th to Pacific, then over on block to the south to 6th St, were the route passes by the Warner Grand Theatre shortly before mile 7.  As a pre-teen, I used to walk to that Theatre and watch matinees of B-movies for all of 50 cents in the early 1970s. I saw such classics as Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western triology, culminating in, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, as well as, Kansas City Bomber, a roller derby movie starring Raquel Welch! Enough nostalgia, the walk continues down 6th St to Harbor Blvd, a very visually engaging and historically important location in San Pedro. Directly ahead on 6th is the Former Ferry Building, now the Los Angeles maritime Museum, that used to operate the car shuttling ferry before the completion of the Vincent Thomas Bridge. There is a nice bow-on view of the USS Iowa, a WWII Battleship, now a floating museum. The plaza itself has numerous memorials to Harry Bridges, a leader of the longshoremen in the labor movement of the early 1900s, as well as markers commemorating the time when the Harbor Building was the San Pedro City Hall, back in 1903 (if my memory serves), prior to its incorporation into the City of LA. From the plaza, the route heads south on Harbor Blvd, crossing the street at 7th, and continuing up a small stairway to the area formerly known as Bartlett Square, and now a part of the San Pedro Plaza Park development. There used to be 4 stairways connecting the walkway above the bluff, to Harbor Blvd, and I had the opportunity to walk them as part of the Inman 300 in 2015. They were all destroyed in the development, and have been replaced with a long ADA compliant ramp with two small segments of stairway taking one down from the bluff-top walkway just south of 12th St, to Harbor Blvd, at the approximate location of 13th St. You walk down the first flight, then take the ramp downward, then walk down the second flight. Continue south on Harbor Blvd, then cross Crescent and take the bike path through 22nd St Park, passing mile 8, and about half way between 20th and 21st Streets, there is a 54 wooden step stairway on a fork to the right. Take it down to the parking area, and continue through the lot to the main entrance, where there is a crosswalk across 22nd St, and follow the walkway down some stairs past the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, to the walkway by the boat slips at 22nd St landing. Turn right on the landing walkway, and following it westward to the plaza. From the plaza, there is a wide 46 step concrete stairway back up to the 22nd St, take it up to the street and continue west to Pacific Ave. Cross to the far side of Pacific and follow it south past the 9 mile mark to 26th St. Follow 26th west to Carolina St, turn left (south), and do a two stairway jog to Peck, and then back down to Carolina on 27th and 29th Streets respectively. Continue south on Carolina St on the west side to Pt Fermin Elementary, and cross at the first stairway entrance to the walkway on the east side. Follow the walkway to the larger stairway taking you up to the main sidewalk on Carolina, and on up to the top of the hill at 37th St. From there, go down 37th eastward past the 10 mile mark toward Cabrillo Beach, and jog one block north at Pacific to cross at the light on Stephen M White Dr. After crossing make a right on Bluff Pl, and take it all the way to where Stephen White Dr ends into it, and continue south a short distance to where Bluff makes a kink to the right. To your right is the 39th St Stairway, climb all 56 steps up to 39th St and follow the sidewalk to the right across Pacific, to the Lighthouse Cafe, the lunch stop for the route at the 10.5 mile mark.

Miles 10.5-15: And now the route visits the Korean Bell, before leaving San Pedro for the ocean views of Palos Verdes Drive. Continue north on 39th St to Gaffey, then turn right, and continue up the hill to 37th and cross at the crosswalk to the Angel Gate Park, head straight across the grassy field to the Korean Friendship Bell just past the 11 mile mark. There is a restroom at the northwest end of the park, past the basketball courts, if needed. From the bell, continue down a steep dirt path to the parking area for Joan Milke Flores Park, but before reaching the bottom, veer left and walk at the shooting range level to descend a small stone stairway to the access road, and take the road SW to Paseo Del Mar. Look both ways and carefully cross this sometime busy street, to the sidewalk on the ocean side. Continue northwest along Paseo Del Mar and the great ocean and park views to be had as you reach Meyler St and a set of restrooms and a water faucet. Continue NW past the 12 mile mark to Weymouth Ave., and take the dirt path that goes around the landslide closed portion of Paseo Del Mar along the Grassland Loop trail, past the closure, returning to Paseo Del Mar. Continue NW past Royal Palms, a former resort, destroyed by the 1933 LB earthquake, with a great natural set of tide pools, and past the 13 mile mark to reach the second walkway cut through to Warmouth St. Follow the walkway and Warmouth until it ends, taking the trail that heads toward the ocean, the turns right to follow the bluff-top NW as the Sagebrush Walk Trail. Proceed NW and take the Shoreline Park Trail as it veers off to the right, nearly northward, passing the 14 mile mark as it crosses a (likely dry) stream bed, past where the Gnatcatcher trails merges into it, and take the next left – a cut-off trail – NW to the merger with East Portal Trail, continuing in the direction of the merge, southwest until the trail makes a hard left, and you will make a right turn up the 47 step stairway to Twin Harbors View Drive. Make a left and left again onto La Rotonda Drive following it past Cape Point Dr, taking an unnamed trail that switches back and forth into the golf course, heading west and north toward Palos Verdes Dr. The trail ends into a long 102 step stairway taking you all the way to PV Drive. Turn left and follow the dirt trail to a turnout and cut over to the bike path to your left, and continue westward, going up a small 13 step stairway to the parallel bike path at Seaview, then down an 8 step stairway back to the bike path, and continue westward passing the 15 mile mark, going down a 10 steps stairway in Marilyn Ryan Sunset Point Park, reaching the intersection of PV Drive and Conqueror Dr. This is the end of this portion of the route.

Miles 15-20.5: Cross PV Drive onto Conqueror and follow it up the hill and around the bend to the left where the name changes to Dauntless Dr. Continue on Dauntless and look to your right, there will be a long 125 step stairway for you to climb leading up to the Ladera Linda Community Center at about 16 miles. There are picnic tables and restrooms/water at the Community Center. Turn left at the tables following the walkway over two sets of stairways, up to the soccer fields. Turn right and head toward Forrestal, taking the final stairway in the park up to the sidewalk on Forrestal. The area around Forrestal was formerly a quarry, that was planned for development, with roads and sidewalks, but the houses were never built, so now it is a park and open space preserve. You continue west on Forrestal, and turn left at the 16 mile mark onto Main Sail Dr, and take it SW to the entrance to the Purple Sage Trail. There are porta-potties on the opposite side of the street from the trail. Follow the Purple Sage Trail to the Conqueror Trail, all the way down to PV Drive S. Proceed along PV Dr S on the right hand side trail then later sidewalk, past miles 17 and 18, and take in the great ocean views. At about 18-3/4 miles turn left on the far side of the intersection with Tramonto Dr, and head south on Seahill into a residential area. Pass Sandy Point Ct, and in the middle of the block is a walking path to the right. Take it westward past the gazebo, and follow the first fork to the right and go up the stairway to Sandy Point Ct, continue west, and take the walkway to the left, just before the cul-de-sac, down a stairway that connects back to the main walkway, turn right and continue to where the tennis courts and pool are located, and veer left, and take the stairway downward. There is a gate, that is sometimes locked, sometimes unlocked. [If the gate is locked, take the walkway back to Seahill and take it down to Beachview then turn right to head to where the stairway meets Beachview]. If unlocked, continue to the bottom of the stairway, turn right heading west past the 19 mile mark continuing on Beachview, past Seawolf, to the small set of stairs in the mid block to the right. Continue up those stairs and more small flights to the main walkway, turn left, climbing more flights up to the end to the walkway on Channelview Ct. Turn left and take Channelview to the end, continuing onto a stairway and walkway taking you to PV Dr S. From here it is about 1-1/4 miles of walking along the south (ocean) side of PV Drive, past the Pt Vicente Lighthouse and Interpretive Center – great places to visit on another day – passing mile 20, and continuing along the dirt trail to Hawthorne Blvd. Cross PV Drive at the light on Hawthorne to reach the end of Segment B at 21.1 miles.

You did it!

Stairway Data Table

Seg#	SS#	SW#	In-300	Zip	Stairway Name	Up	Down
B01		36	N/A	90275	Mini-Mall	26	26
B02		37	N/A	90275	The Terraces L1-2 N	30
B03		38	N/A	90275	The Terraces L2-3 N	28
B04		39	N/A	90275	The Terraces L2-3 Mid		30
B05		40	N/A	90275	The Terraces L1-2 Mid		26
B06		41	N/A	90275	The Terraces L1-2 S	24
B07		42	N/A	90275	The Terraces L2-3 S	30
B08	45		N/A	90732	La Alameda Ave		11
B09	46		N/A	90731	Bandini Canyon	2	59
B10	47		N/A	90731	Summerland Pl	7
B11		43	N/A	90731	Barton Hill School (Painted)	32	32
B12		44	N/A	90731	Pepper Tree Plaza	6
B13	48		TBD	90731	Harbor Blvd/12th St		35
B14		45	N/A	90731	Access Stairway	11
B15		46	N/A	90731	22nd St Park	54
B16	49		K9	90731	27th St	35	35
B17	50		N/A	90731	27th/28th || Alley Side-Stair	20
B18		47	N/A	90731	Gaffey/Alley@27th S	46
B19		48	N/A	90731	Gaffey/Alley@27th N		45
B20	51		K10	90731	29th St	27
B21	52		N/A	90731	Peck/Alley	25
B22		49	N/A	90731	Hey Rookie Pool SE	88	88
B23		50	N/A	90731	Hey Rookie Pool NW	28
B24		51	N/A	90731	Alley/34th	20
B25		52	N/A	90731	Alley/Peck S		36
B26		53	N/A	90731	Alley/Peck N	41
B27	53		K11	90731	Carolina Side-Stair	30	8
B28		54	N/A	90731	Pacific/Alley@37th	17
B29		55	N/A	90731	Pacific/Alley@37th/38th		11
B30	54		K12	90731	39th St	56
B31		56	N/A	90275	El Portal Trail/Twin Harbor View	47
B32		57	N/A	90275	Golf Course/PV Drive S	102
B33		58	N/A	90275	Seacliff Dr	13
B34		59	N/A	90275	Vista Catalina		8
B35		60	N/A	90275	Marilyn Ryan Sunset Point Park		10
B36	55		N/A	90275	Dauntless Dr/Forrestal Dr	125
B37		61	N/A	90275	Community Ctr/Paddle Tennis	16
B38		62	N/A	90275	Paddle Tennis/Soccer Field	40
B39		63	N/A	90275	Soccer Field/Forrestal Dr	37
B40		64	N/A	90275	Wayfarers Chapel Parking Lot	11
B41		65	N/A	90275	Wayfarers Chapel South	86
B42		66	N/A	90275	Wayfarers Chapel Visitor Center		9
B43		67	N/A	90275	Wayfarers Chapel South	7
B44		68	N/A	90275	Wayfarers Chapel Middle		41
B45		69	N/A	90275	St Peter’s by the Sea	10
B46		70	N/A	90275	Coastsite/St Peters		8
B47	56		N/A	90275	Beachview/Channelview	33
B48		71	N/A	90275	Channelview Ct/PV Dr S	6
B49		72	N/A	90275	PV Dr W/Admiral Risty	15
B50		73	N/A	90275	Golden Cove SW	25
B51		74	N/A	90275	Golden Cove NE		25
B52		75	N/A	90275	PV Dr W/Alaska	13
B53		76	N/A	90275	PV Dr W/Starbucks		10
					Total Stair Steps —>	1269	553
					Total Stair-Streets —>	12
					Total Non Stair-St Stairs –>	41