Glendale Canal Walk And Cycle
Begin at Rio Vista Community Park, where a paved canal-side trail runs east from the park’s picnic areas and playgrounds. The path here is smooth asphalt, flat and wide enough for walkers, joggers or cyclists to pass comfortably, with shaded stretches beneath mature cottonwoods lining the canal bank.
Shortly after you set off, the trail skirts Greenway Granada Park, a small green space with turf fields and shaded seating just north of the canal. The path continues under quiet neighborhood streets and through stretches of low desert scrub, with the canal’s clear, slow-moving water always on your right.
About halfway along the 9.5 km route you arrive at Thunderbird Paseo Park. Here the trail passes rolling lawns, picnic tables and a handful of fitness stations, making it a convenient rest stop. Beyond the park the canal path remains straight and flat as it threads through mixed residential and light-industrial areas, with mesquite and palo verde trees occasionally breaking the monotony of the canal embankment.
The entire route is entirely level and paved, designed for mixed use and accessible year-round. It offers a peaceful urban-edge experience—quiet water views, riparian vegetation, and a gentle breeze off the canal—before the trail concludes roughly 9.5 km east of Rio Vista at the edge of downtown Glendale’s street network.
