The Avalon Vista loop is the shortest outback ride you can do at Catalina Island. It begins with a boat ride leaving Newport Beach at 9AM and ends upon return to Newport around 6PM. The ride itself isn’t terribly hard, but because of time constraints must be done at a 6 MPH pace to get back to the boat on time. This ride is recommended for Strong Beginner to Intermediate level riders. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to take photos along the way, but it’s best not to rest longer than a few minutes at each stop. With rest stops, this ride usually takes about 3 hours to complete.
Starting from downtown Avalon (sea level), you begin climbing up 5.7 miles to a peak elevation of 1610′. For the next 2 miles you drop almost 600′ to the middle point of the ride where you get an awesome view of both Avalon and the way side of the island. Then after a short and steep mile climb, most of your climbing for the day is done. It’s a ridgeline up and down cruise for about a mile and a half until you get to another view point. The remaining distance is entirely paved and downhill back to town.
If there’s enough time, we do the scenic route followed by all the golf carts around town to add more distance, climbing, and sweet views of the town.
