Segment D – Torrance to Playa Del Rey – View Google Map – View Photos

Distance: 20.1 miles     50 stairways     1,347 up-steps     Total Climb: 1,635 feet

Facebook Event on 5 Nov 2016

Facebook Event on 2 Jun 2018

Cities/Regions: Torrance, Seaside, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Dockweiler State Beach, Playa Del Rey

Official Finishers:
Dan Gutierrez, Jonathan Chaalan, Junie Wood, Dave Rucker on 5 Nov 2016 | Pat and Elizabeth Schirmer, Jane Fransella on 1 Apr 2017 | Dave and Kristy Moorman, Evelyn Sanchez, Olivia Oshimo on 17 Jun 2017 | Jeff Rozema, Kathy Lopez, Teresa Cavazos, Maribel Sanchez, Jose Terriquez on 22 Jul 2017 | Maria Casillas on 29 Jul 2017 | Luis Prado on 30 Sep 2017 | James Peterson, Alfredo Salgado on 11 Mar 2018 | Gaelle Gralnek, Marla Stephenson Thornton on 9 Jun 2018 | Lisa Digger, Jason Songhurst on 7 Apr 2019 | Corinna Koebnick and Kevin Hilsey on 18 Oct 2020 | Who will be next?

Route Features: Starting at a shopping center in Torrance, this route is relatively flat to rolling, traversing residential neighborhoods in Torrance and Redondo Beach, climbing and descending stairways along: the bluffs at Redondo Beach, the Redondo Beach Pier (where we will climb the gorgeously tiled “Ocean Steps” stairway), Hermosa Beach (where we will take a lunch break), and hilly Manhattan Beach, descending to a relatively flat beach bike path walk for the last 4 miles of the route, ending in Playa Del Rey. This is very much a beach stairs route, with most of the climbing being in stairways, and a few hills in Manhattan Beach.

Start Location: Calle Mayor and Pacific Coast Highway, which is bus accessible via Metro Bus Line 232 along Pacific Coast Highway connecting to the Metro Silver Line Bus and also  the Metro Blue Line Train.

Finish Location: Vista Del Mar and Culver Blvd, which is bus accessible via Metro Bus Line 115 which travels east along Manchester connecting to the Metro Silver Line Bus, and the Metro Blue Line Train.

Transit Connections: Finish to Start: From the finish at Vista Del Mar and Culver, catch the Metro Bus Line 115 on the south side of Culver, just west of Vista Deal Mar, which heads east on Manchester, and then get off at Sepulveda Blvd, and transfer to Metro Bus Line 102 south on Sepulveda, to the LAX City Bus Center. At the center, take Metro Bus Line 232 south on Pacific Coast Highway back to the start at Calle Mayor.
DTLA to Start: Take the Metro Silver Line Bus to the Pacific Coast Highway Station, go downstairs on the north side of the street, and transfer to the Metro Bus Line 232, taking it west, to the start at  Pacific Coast Highway at Calle Mayor.
Finish to DTLA: On the return trip, take Metro Bus Line 115 east on Manchester the Metro Silver Line Bus, at the Manchester/Harbor Freeway Station, or continue further east to the Metro Blue Line Train at the Firestone Station (Manchester changes name to Firestone shortly before the station is reached).  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: We start by climbing 3 inland stairways in the Seaside neighborhood of Torrance in a 3 mile march to the bluffs above the beach. First we climb the 52 Vanderhill/Bindewald stairways steps, and do a walk along Linda Dr northward to a small residential stairway connecting up 23 steps to Sepulveda Blvd from Redbeam Ave. Then from there we work our way to Prospect, then Palos Verdes Blvd, to climb up 13 steps on the Ynez Ave stairway, then use Ave D, then avenue C, passing the 3 mile mark, to reach our first beach bluff stairway, which we will climb, after descending an adjacent steep downward ramp. After Climbing Ave C stairs, we will zig-zag along the beach bluffs, climbing and descending 6 stairways in this order (u = up, d = down): 92u, 61d, 17u, 51d, 73u, and 46d, passing the 4 mile mark and arriving at the Redondo Beach Pier. At the Pier we will be doing a series of 5 stairways, including this mosaic tile beauty, The Ocean Steps:

At the end of those 5 stairways we will be on Catalina Ave, and begin an inland trek on Diamond St, crossing the 5 mile mark at PCH, ending this section of the walk.

Miles 5-10: Continuing inland on Diamond, we work our way up hill to Beryl pass the 6 mile point, then jog over to 190th St, to descend a small 14 step stairway that will take us after a few blocks on 190th to Green St, which we will take north, past the 7 mile mark, all the way north to Artesia, and after crossing the street, we will descend an unexpected 20 step stairway, and walk down a smooth dirt walkway to back to Matthews St. Form there we will do a residential street route, essentially paralleling Aviation Blvd, pass the 8 mile flag, and ultimately connect to Pier Ave in Hermosa Beach to reach the median pathway between Valley and Ardmore, that runs for 3 miles north to Manhattan Beach. We will use selected parts of this greenway. We enter the greenway by first walking parallel to it to the west, using a 26 step school stairway to climb up to the walking trail, which we will take northwest to 21st St, turning northeast, up to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), passing the 10 mile mark, and continuing northwest on PCH for about 1/4 mile to intersection with Artesia, in Hermosa Beach, that serves as our lunch stop. There are many eating establishments from which to choose in the shopping center at the northeast corner. This is the end of this second section of the walk.

Miles 10-15: After lunch, the route takes us back to the Valley/Ardmore greenway, via Gould Ave, which is the continuation of Artesia Blvd west of PCH. We descend a small 11 step stairway on Gould to reach the greenway. The route continues for another mile, going up a 15 step, passing the 11 mile flag, then up another 22 step stairway to reach Manhattan Beach Blvd, and turn west heading downhill toward the Manhattan Beach Pier, easily visible in front of us. before taking a long walk on a short pier, we turn right heading northwest on Manhattan Ave, which heralds the beginning of your Manhattan Beach stairway trek where we will zig-zag up and down 14 small to medium sized stairways in just under 2.5 miles of walking, ending with a 76 up step stairway in a school, that will lead us to the 14 mile mark of the route, just outside the school. From there it is an interesting trek along a walkway that will take us to Grandview Ave, that as named offers grand views of the surrounding inland region. At the end of Grandview Ave, the street becomes a walkway only, taking us to one of the upper entrances to Sand Dune Park, where we will immediately descend a 162 step stairway to the bottom of the park, walk along the bottom, to the north end of the park, and climb the largest stairways of the day, a 208 step monster that will take up back up to the Grandview walkway. From there we will backtrack slightly to enter the park one last time and descend to the bottom of a 54 step stairway we will climb to ecit the park on 31st St, which we will take downhill to Highland Ave, the main drag in Manhattan Beach. We head northwest on Highland, and reach the 15 mile mark at Beach Pizza, just past 33rd St, continuing on to Rosecrans Ave, which concludes this section of the route.

Miles 15-20: The last 5 miles of the route are mostly a flat stair-less walk along the beach, but to get there, we must descend and do the last few stairways of the route. Continue west and downhill on Rosecrans, descending the 31 step stairway to the beach bike path, head north west and climb the 12 steps of the 38th St stairway and continue along The Strand walkway to 44th St, and descend 24 steps in two flights to reach the beach bike path again. Now settle in for a long beach walk on the path. Walk past the power station passing the 16 mile mark en route, and continue up the coast, heading northwest past the 17 mile flag, the Dockweiler Youth Center, the El Segundo Cafe, the Dockweiler RV park, to reach the Imperial Highway entrance to Dockweiler State Beach. Head up the hill and out of the state beach to Vista Del Mar, cross it at Imperial, and continue northwest on the east (inland) side of the street, which has a sidewalk. Continuing on the Vista Del Mar sidewalk, past the 18 mile mark, you will pass the neighborhood at the end of the runways at LAX that was never built, though the streets were laid out and paved. Be sure to look up and watch the commercial airliners take off overhead. You will get to see their undersides up-close and personal! After about a mile and a half, well past the 19 mile marker, you will reach Napoleon St, the first street north of the LAX airport. In about 1/2 mile more of northwest walking, you will reach the intersection of Vista Del Mar with Culver Blvd, where there are a number of coffee shops and other eating establishments.

Congratulations, you have reached the 20 mile mark, and the end of the segment!

Stairway Data Table

Seg #	SS#	SW#	In-300	Zip	Stairway Name	Up	Down
D01	81		N/A	90277	Vanderhill/Bindewald	52
D02	82		N/A	90503	Redbeam Ave	23
D03	83		N/A	90277	Ynez Ave	13
D04		49	N/A	90277	Ave C	72
D05		50	N/A	90277	Knob Hill	92
D06		51	N/A	90277	Topaz St		61
D07		52	N/A	90277	Bike Path to Walkway S	17
D08		53	N/A	90277	Bike Path to Walkway N		51
D09		54	N/A	90277	Bike Path/George Freeth Way	73
D10		55	N/A	90277	Bike Path/Vets Park Library		46
D11		56	N/A	90277	Redondo Pier Red Brick	27
D12		57	N/A	90277	Redondo Pier Bike Path/Torrance Bl		19
D13		58	N/A	90277	Ocean Steps (mosaic)	34
D14		59	N/A	90277	Pier WW/Apartment WW	24
D15		60	N/A	90277	Apartment WW/The Village	14
D16	84		N/A	90278	190th St	14
D17	85		N/A	90278	Green Ln	20
D18	86		J15	90254	Hermosa Valley School	26
D19	87		N/A	90254	Gould Terrace		11
D20	88		J14	90266	Valley/Francisco	15
D21	89		J13	90266	Valley/4th Pl	22
D22	90		N/A	90266	13th Pl	14
D23		61	N/A	90266	Manhattan Beach City Hall	10
D24	91		J12	90266	17th St/Live Oak Park	23
D25	92		J11	90266	Live Oak Park/18th St	25	16
D26	93		J10	90266	Highland Ave/18th St		21
D27	94		J9	90266	Highland Ave/19th St	13
D28	95		J8	90266	Live Oak Park/19th		58
D29	96		N/A	90266	Live Oak Park/20th	42
D30		62	N/A	90266	Manor Dr		9
D31	97		J7	90266	Valley/20th Pl	14
D32	98		J6	90266	Ardmore/19th	24
D33	99		J2	90266	Valley/Flournoy	38
D34	100		J1	90266	Ardmore/Flournoy		12
D35	101		J5	90266	Valley/Blanche		27
D36	102		N/A	90266	27th St /Manor Dr	76
D37	103		J4	90266	Sand Dune Park/30th St		162
D38	104		J3	90266	Sand Dune Park/32nd St	208
D39	105		N/A	90266	Sand Dune Park/31st St	54
D40		63	N/A	90266	Rosecrans Ave		31
D41		64	N/A	90266	38th St	21
D42		65	N/A	90266	44th St		23
					Total Stair Steps —>	1100	547
					Total Stair-Streets —>	25
					Total Non Stair-Street Stairs>	17