Torrey Pines & the North County Coast
La Jolla to Encinitas · near La Jolla / Encinitas · San Diego
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- medium
- Best season
- Year-round; mild coastal climate; clearest outside morning marine layer
What is here
- Scenery
- coast
- Amenities
- Almost constant ocean views · Iconic Torrey Pines climb · Beach-town cafés & stops · Accessible & endlessly extendable
- Best for
- San Diego's classic coastal ride
- Features
- San Diego's quintessential coast ride · Iconic Torrey Pines grade · Del Mar, Cardiff & Encinitas beach towns · Accessible & extendable
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Coastal traffic — use bike lanes & shoulders · Busy beach towns; watch for turning cars & pedestrians · Marine-layer fog on some mornings · Popular route — ride predictably
- Beginner friendly
- Yes
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- coastal
- Road
- busy
- Climbing
- 2
- Ride notes
- San Diego's quintessential coastal ride — the Coast Highway (S21) rolls north from La Jolla over the iconic Torrey Pines climb and on through Del Mar, Cardiff, and Encinitas, with almost constant ocean views and beach-town charm
- Stats note
- Rolling coastal route; the short punchy Torrey Pines grade; endless out-and-back options
- Seasonal
- No
- Intl tip
- San Diego's quintessential ocean ride — the Coast Highway (S21) rolls north from La Jolla over the iconic short, punchy Torrey Pines climb, then strings together the beach towns of Del Mar, Cardiff, and Encinitas, with almost constant Pacific views and plenty of café stops. Gentle-to-moderate (Torrey Pines aside), so it's welcoming for newer riders and endlessly extendable as an out-and-back. A developed corridor with real coastal traffic: use bike lanes and shoulders, watch for turning cars and pedestrians, ride predictably. Morning marine layer can gray out views.
The guide
The North County coast route, following the Coast Highway (S21) north from La Jolla, is San Diego's quintessential ocean ride —…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Torrey Pines & the North County Coast — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 32.92, -117.26