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Brooklyn Chronicles / Cycling & Culture
11 of the Most Bikeable Coastal Cities in America
Beach towns and bikes are a match made in heaven. Quaint downtowns and pleasant weather encourage vacationers and residents alike to leave the car at home and enjoy a leisurely ride through town or along the beach.
The opportunity to ditch the daily grind helps explain why nearly a quarter of Americans hope to vacation oceanside each year. If you count yourself among the millions of Americans who live or play at the beach — and among the more than a hundred million Americans who hop on a bicycle at least once a year — then it's high time you checked out these 11 bikeable coastal towns and cities. Not only do they offer a slower way of life and spectacular seaside views, but they also enable visitors to enjoy these perks from the seat of a bicycle.
Hilton Head Island, SC
Don't let the golf carts fool you — Hilton Head Island is one of the most decorated bike-friendly communities in the American Southeast. The League of American Bicyclists has awarded the island a Gold-Level Bicycle Friendly Community designation, making it the only recipient at that level in the entire Southeast.
The town maintains 72 miles of multi-use public pathways shared by pedestrians and cyclists, with connections to at least 50 more miles linking residential, commercial, and recreation areas across the island. Nearly 30 bicycle rental shops offer approximately 15,000 bikes for rent — yes, 15,000 — so you'll never be stranded without a set of wheels.
Sea Pines Plantation offers over 15 miles of dedicated bike paths winding through a world-class resort, including the Sea Pines Forest Preserve with its wetland boardwalks and historic Harbour Town. The island's 12 miles of hard-packed beach are also remarkably rideable, particularly at low tide. Hilton Head also throws itself into National Bike Month each May with community rides and events across the island.
Huntington Beach, CA
Surf City USA has earned its cycling stripes, too. The Huntington Beach Bicycle Trail — an 8.4-mile paved coastal path — runs the full oceanfront of Orange County's most populous beach city, from Bolsa Chica State Beach in the north through Huntington State Beach in the south. When connected via the Newport Beach side, the full route from Sunset Beach to Newport Pier stretches nearly 13 miles one way, with the option to continue south along the Newport-Balboa path for even more mileage.
The trail is wide, flat, and fully paved, passing the famous Huntington Beach Pier, dog beach, and some of Southern California's best surf breaks along the way. The Santa Ana River Trail connects at the southern end, adding another 30 miles of uninterrupted inland riding for those who want to stretch their legs further. The League of American Bicyclists has recognized Huntington Beach multiple times as one of the country's most bicycle-friendly communities.
Didn't bring your bike? No problem. Rental concessionaires line the trail offering cruisers, tandems, e-bikes, surreys, and more.
Long Beach, CA
Long Beach is a veritable biker's paradise — flat terrain, year-round sunshine, and more than 60 miles of dedicated bike paths throughout the city. The crown jewel is the Shoreline Pedestrian/Bicycle Path, a 17-foot-wide concrete trail running 3.1 miles along the beach from Alamitos Avenue to 54th Place, with two dedicated bike lanes and a separate pedestrian lane.
The city's four major Class I (off-road, separated) bike paths connect into a sprawling network. The Los Angeles River Bikeway (LARIO) runs 29.1 miles along the east side of the LA River all the way to the Downtown Marina. The San Gabriel River Bike Trail adds another 28 miles, tracing the river through El Dorado Regional Park. The El Dorado Park Bike Path offers a scenic 4-mile loop through a 450-acre regional park, while the Heartwell Park Bike Path covers 2.5 miles through a 162-acre greenway.
The city also operates the Long Beach Bike Share program with 650 bikes at 112 hubs throughout the city, including subsidized subscriptions for qualifying residents. Where Long Beach really shines is its flatness — it takes far less effort to ride five miles here than in, say, San Francisco, making it ideal for casual riders and families.
Miami, FL
Miami may be known more for its nightclubs and beachgoers than for its cycling culture, but it actually hosts one of the most active monthly group rides in the country. Miami Critical Mass draws hundreds of riders on the last Friday of every month, departing from Government Center at 7:15 p.m. for rides typically ranging 13–20 miles through neighborhoods like Wynwood, Overtown, Little Havana, Brickell, and Miami Beach.
Miami-Dade County currently has 201 miles of bike lanes across the county, with an ambitious 2030 Bicycle Master Plan aiming to put a bikeway within a quarter mile of every Miami resident — expanding from a baseline of 15 connected miles to more than 280 miles of network coverage. The plan includes five new bikeway types and 3,000 new bike parking spaces.
Bike-friendly infrastructure spans the city from South Beach to Virginia Key Park and beyond. The Venetian Causeway offers a protected lane crossing to Miami Beach, while the Rickenbacker Causeway connects downtown to Virginia Key and Key Biscayne with stunning Biscayne Bay views on both sides.
Myrtle Beach, SC
Come for the beaches, stay for the biking. The Grand Strand has built out an impressive network of seaside bike trails, anchored by the Waccamaw Neck Bikeway — a paved multi-use path that runs over 18 miles alongside US 17 from Murrells Inlet to Pawleys Island. The bikeway weaves through maritime forests, salt marshes, and past Huntington Beach State Park, where you can spot osprey, egrets, and sea turtles. It's also part of the developing East Coast Greenway, the long-range trail network stretching from Maine to Florida.
Other highlights include the Grissom Parkway Trail (6.4 miles), the Market Common Trails (flat, paved urban loops through a pedestrian-friendly shopping district), the Conway Riverwalk (a scenic path along the Waccamaw River in historic Conway), and the Horry County Bike & Run Park — nicknamed "The Hulk" — a mountain bike park with a 30-foot climb and winding singletrack for more adventurous riders.
The Grand Strand Cycling Club hosts regular group rides, and the region draws thousands of riders annually during Myrtle Beach Bike Week events.
San Francisco, CA
While you'll find bike lanes woven throughout this coastal city, the standout ride for visitors is the Angel Island State Park loop — a roughly 5-mile car-free Perimeter Road circling the island with panoramic views of San Francisco's skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Marin headlands. (A ferry from Pier 41 or Tiburon gets you there.)
On the mainland, San Francisco has built more than 50 miles of protected bikeways over the past decade, with the city's SFMTA unanimously adopting an ambitious Biking and Rolling Plan in March 2025. The plan targets improvements on 385 street segments and sets a goal of putting a safe bike route within a quarter mile of every resident's home by 2045. Since the quick-build protected lane program launched in 2019, traffic incidents involving cyclists have dropped by 25 percent.
The Bay Wheels bike-share program provides easy access across the city, with hundreds of docking stations and e-bike options. For a landmark ride, the Golden Gate Bridge crossing — roughly 8.5 miles one way from Fisherman's Wharf to Sausalito, with a ferry ride back — remains one of the most iconic urban bike routes in the country. According to Walk Score data, San Francisco ranks among the top three most bikeable large cities in the U.S.
Venice, FL
Just 70 miles south of Tampa on the Gulf of Mexico, the charming city of Venice has quietly built one of Florida's finest trail systems. The Legacy Trail — a rails-to-trails conversion of an old Seaboard Railroad corridor — stretches 18.5 miles from the Historic Venice Train Depot north to downtown Sarasota. It's fully paved, almost entirely flat, and dotted with covered rest stations and benches every mile or so.
But the network is even bigger. When you connect the Legacy Trail with the Venetian Waterway Park Trail (which runs 9 miles along the Intracoastal Waterway south from the Venice Train Depot to Caspersen Beach and Shamrock Park) and the North Port Connector (14 miles), you get a regional trail system of more than 40 miles of continuous, paved biking — all accessible without touching a car.
The city earned a Silver Award from the League of American Bicyclists for its accessibility to cyclists of all levels, a fitting recognition for a community that hosts a free City of Venice Monthly Bike Ride (the second Thursday of the month, October through May). Bike rentals are available at multiple locations along the trail, including e-bike options, and a thriving local shop scene means tune-ups are easy to come by.
From Florida to California, bikeable cities dot the coastlines of the U.S. — and whether you're a daily commuter or a once-a-year vacationer, there's never been a better time to explore the coast on two wheels.
Ready to ride? Brooklyn Bicycle Co. builds city and recreational bikes made for exactly these kinds of coastal adventures.
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