# Riding to Arrowhead



## MTBMaven (Dec 17, 2005)

My wife and I are going to Arrowhead for Labor Day weekend with group of friends. I'm contemplating riding from Pasadena to Arrowhead , well Cedar Glen to be exact.

Is it legal to bike Highway 18? I have never seen anyone biking that road.

I mapped a route going up the backside via Cajon, Silverwood Lake areal. This route is almost exactly 100 miles, which is a bit far considering the elevation change. One issue with this route, all surface roads seem to stop just short of Cajon Junction where I would begin climbing up to Arrowhead. Has anyone ridden in this area to know if there is a way through? Can one ride the 15 for this short section?


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## hclignett (Dec 18, 2006)

I think old route 66 goes only as far as Cleghorn then stops at the 15. There are some ways through but they are all dirt roads. You cannot ride a bicycle on the 15 freeway. You could ride up highway 18, but good luck! people haul butt up that way and I don't think they would take kindly to a someone on bike being in there way. Your best bet would be to start at the junction going up to Silverwood off the 15. Thats a nice ride, especially once you get past Silverwood, but you still need to watch out for cars.


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## calrider (Oct 11, 2005)

Devore Rd to W Kenwood, to Cajon Blvd (dips under the 15) it is Old 66, go to Cleghorn Exit and get on 15, Shoulder is OK on 15, just stay far right and get off at 138. There is a dirt road off 66 but it has a ton of gravel from the train lines and it would drop you off on the west side of the 15 on the 138 even if you could make it through on a road bike.


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## MTBMaven (Dec 17, 2005)

calrider said:


> Devore Rd to W Kenwood, to Cajon Blvd (dips under the 15) it is Old 66, go to Cleghorn Exit and get on 15, Shoulder is OK on 15, just stay far right and get off at 138. There is a dirt road off 66 but it has a ton of gravel from the train lines and it would drop you off on the west side of the 15 on the 138 even if you could make it through on a road bike.


Nice! Thanks for the response. So it sounds like because there is no other road you can bike on the 15 much like on the 5 through Camp Pendleton. I was hoping that was the case. 

This is definitely something I am going to consider doing.


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## hclignett (Dec 18, 2006)

No you can't take your bike on the 15 it's against the law to ride on a freeway in California. But hey what do I know I only lived and road in that area for 18 years. Give it try you might make it past the CHP's. There are signs posted on the on-ramps that forbid you take bicycles on the freeway if you want to check. You can take a bicycle on a highway though but I don't believe the 15 is considered a highway there. Good luck.


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## MTBMaven (Dec 17, 2005)

hclignett said:


> No you can't take your bike on the 15 it's against the law to ride on a freeway in California.


This is totally not true. It may be true for the section of the 15 freeway in question but not for the 5 through Camp Pendleton. I have ridden this section of the freeway and there are no signs at the Pulgas entrance onto the 5. I spoke with two Boarder Patrol officers parked at the exit if it was ok to ride this section and was told it was ok. The Amtrak Century rides this section of freeway when the base prevents riders to ride through the base.


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## halfnhalf (Apr 16, 2006)

You are able to ride I-15 from the Cleghorn Offramp to the Hwy 138 offramp. The length of the section of I-15 that you will have to ride is just about a mile long. The reason that you can ride on the freeway is that there is no other route that you can take to bypass I-15. What I have done in the past is to jump on the 15 at Cleghorn and exit at the weigh station for trucks. Ride through the station, there is a small dirt path that leads to the frontage road where the McDonalds/Chevron is but I just prefer to merge back onto the freeway and exit at HWy 138.

The ride between I-15 and Lake Silverwood is nice, has a few climbs. lots of rolling terrain. Be cautious on the long straight section that leads to the lake. Lots of people haul ass there.

I just want to warn you that going up the backside of Hwy 138 to Crestline is a real buttkicker. Many switchbacks are located thru here, lookout for trailers as the people really like to cross over the double yellow. For a quick shortcut, rather than take Hwy 138 into Crestline, turn left on Old Mill Road, follow that into Crestline and then jump on the 189. This will take you the rest of the way into Lake Arrowhead without having to use the Hwy 18/Rim of the World Drive. Less Cars. 

I have also ridden up Hwy 18/Waterman Canyon a few times. I prefer to exit at Old Waterman Cyn Road and bypass some of the main Hwy by riding this. It will eventually spit you out back onto Hwy 18. I have found that if you head up the Hwy early enought that traffic is not much of a problem. If you do elect to ride up the frontside, rather than take Hwy 18 to Daley Cyn head into Crestline and then ride the 189 over to Arrowhead. The section of Hwy 18 between the Crestline Turnoff and Daley Canyon is narrow at times and gets the majority of the traffic. If you have other questions, shoot me an email. 

There is a park, Wildwood Park, that is located right at the bottom of the climb, good place to start from although there isn't much of a warmup before the climbing starts.


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## dovesprings250r (Nov 11, 2006)

That's a good ride but a bad weekend to do it. Major traffic on sketchy roads. Be careful.


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