Biking to Outside Lands in 2025

baywheels bikes near entrance of outsidelands 20205 — The end of the BayWheels bike station with the festival entrance in the background. Hands down the best way to get to Outside Lands 2025 is by bicycle.

As usual, biking to Outside Lands is the best way to get to this fantastic festival in Golden Gate Park. No worries about traffic, bus crowds, lack of parking, surge pricing, or anything else. Riding a bicycle is the way to go. Unfortunately, the Outside Lands 2025 website only has one little blurb about bicycles on their Info page, and it leaves more to be desired.

But fear not, I am here now to share all the secrets about how to bike to Outside Lands in 2025. Much has changed since my last post about biking to Outside Lands in 2019, so I have an entirely new post about it!

the naga sea serpent in the pond next to jfk drive — The Naga sea serpent that has recently arrived to JFK drive just across from the self-park area and the BayWheels pop-up dock.

Ride a Bay Wheels to Outside Lands 2025

baywheels pop up valet station near grateful dead concert 20205 — The BayWheels pop up station will probably look something like this where you’ll hand the bike directly to the people at the station and can pick them up here too. Notice the festival entrance in the background.

This is likely the most convenient way to get to Outside Lands this year. It’s also the way Outside Lands is nudging everyone towards. Lyft and BayWheels are sponsors of the festival. Back in 2019 it was Uber & JUMP bikes.

With their BayWheels valet station, you’ll have an easy place to drop off a BayWheels bike, and they’ll probably have plenty at the end of the night. Not having to worry about security and bike lights makes biking a breeze, so if you aren’t already prepared with your own bike, hop on a Bay Wheels! Use my Bay Wheels referral link if you haven’t already ridden.

Bike Parking: There is NO bike valet this year!

outsidelands 20205 map with bike parking circled — The OutsideLands 2025 map with bike parking self-park circled. The BayWheels valet station is ONLY at the east entrance.

Previously there is a bike valet every year right near the entrance to Outside Lands. Now there’s only self-park racks and a BayWheels pop up station from 12pm – 11pm every day during the festival. Don’t forget to lock up your bike with a secure lock (or even an angle grinder resistant one) and lock your components as well!

Check the Outside Lands 2025 website says this about bicycles:

Outside Lands will offer free self-park bicycle parking areas located at the eastern and southern portions of the festival site. Bike parking is available during festival hours.

Need a ride to Outside Lands? Bay Wheels has you covered with a special Bay Wheels station on JFK Drive, just east of Transverse Drive – right near the festival entrance. On site valets will make sure there’s an open dock for you to park when you roll up to the festival, and a bike when you’re ready to head home.

— Outside Lands 2025 Website

lots of empty bike racks on the grass near a street in golden gate park for people to self-park their bicycles for the outsidelands 20205 festival — This is what the self-park racks will look like at the south and east entrances to the festival (this photo is from the racks at the Grateful Dead concert last weekend on a different nearby street in Golden Gate Park)

The SFMTA website also has this information.

Bottom line: if you’re bringing your own bicycle to OSL this year, bring a lock (even an angle grinder resistant one) and other security tools and be prepared to use them!

Ride Through Beautiful Golden Gate Park

I love making a bike ride out of any Golden Gate Park destination (especially with my chill Public C7 bike). It’s such a treat to ride through that park, especially now that JFK is car-free and full of art installations. Here’s the classic ride through the wiggle, Panhandle, and car-free JFK that takes you all the way to the self-park bike parking and the BayWheels bike valet.

Cruiser bikes parked in front of the LOVE blocks next to the Conservatory of Flowers. You’ll ride right by this if you bike in from the east side of Golden Gate Park!

Road Closures and Bike Route Detours

Deep in the bowels of the Outside Lands website, found only by tapping “Neighborhood 311” on the bottom bar, you’ll find some extra transportation information including the detour map for Outside Lands 2025.

If you ride a bicycle through the park usually, you’ll see the classic car-free route is a bit modified during the construction of the event, and completely closed during the event. Here’s a copy of that map here.

bike & car detours for golden gate park during outsidelands festival 2025 — Best place to arrive by bike is on the east side where it shows the bike routes, but there’s also bicycle self-parking at the south entrance (likely near where all the closed roads are)

Don’t Forget Your Bike Lights!

If you’re riding home after the last act it’s gonna be dark for sure. Bikeshare bikes and some rentals have built in lights, but otherwise you should grab some on your way to the festival or before you go.

All the bike shops should be open on your ride there, so stop in at one of them to pick up some lights. The cheapest options usually run less than $20, especially if you just get a rear light. If you have enough time to order on Amazon, they’re much cheaper. Or here are the cheapest bike lights I could find. This comes with 4 lights (2 front and 2 rear), so you can even have an extra for your friend who doesn’t remember their lights.

Have fun! If you decide this bike commute was great and want to do it again, be sure to check out some of my other posts like supporting better infrastructure in SF, securing your bike (with new safer angle grinder resistant locks), how to avoid cars in the bike lane, and other tips.

Happy Biking!