Origin
Garden Grove, CA
Morning in Garden Grove on Sunday
Local time
7:36 AM
PDT
Current temp
72°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Trip from Garden Grove, CA to Long Beach, CA
Compiled and reviewed by the US Trip Planner planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 19, 2026 · Editorial standards
Drive Time
28m
Distance
15.5 mi
25 km
Drive Score
8/10
Great drive
Same Day?
Yes, doable
Fuel Cost
$4
one way
EV Charging
Sparse
1 stations
Best Time to Leave
4 AM
0h 26m
★
6 AM
0h 28m
8 AM
0h 33m
10 AM
0h 30m
12 PM
0h 29m
3 PM
0h 30m
5 PM
0h 33m
8 PM
0h 27m
Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.
Garden Grove, CA
Wikimedia Commons
Long Beach, CA
Wikimedia Commons
Trip Overview
If you are looking for a quick transition between Garden Grove and Long Beach, this 15.5-mile trip is an efficient way to navigate the Pacific Coast region. You can expect to spend about 28 minutes behind the wheel, making this a perfect candidate for a single-day excursion that requires no overnight stays. By utilizing the Garden Grove Freeway and CA 22, you will find the route straightforward and easy to manage. With a fuel cost of approximately $4, it is also a very budget-friendly commute. Whether you are heading to the coast for business or leisure, the short duration provides plenty of flexibility for your schedule. Since both cities are located within the same region, you will experience a seamless journey without the need for extensive planning.
Main Roads
| Road | Distance | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Garden Grove Freeway | 5.1 mi | 5m |
| East 7th Street | 2.7 mi | 6m |
| CA 22 | 2.5 mi | 3m |
| San Diego Freeway | 1.7 mi | 1m |
| Trask Avenue | 0.9 mi | 1m |
| East 4th Street | 0.7 mi | 2m |
| Taft Street | 0.4 mi | 1m |
| Alamitos Avenue | 0.4 mi | 1m |
Longest stretch:
Garden Grove Freeway
— 5.1 mi, about 5m
Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions
Step-by-step road directions between Garden Grove, CA and Long Beach, CA.
1
Start on this road
33 ft
·
4 sec
·
this road
2
Turn right
246 ft
·
20 sec
3
Turn right
230 ft
·
22 sec
4
At end of road, turn left onto Taft Street
0.4 mi
·
1 min
·
Taft Street
5
Turn right onto Trask Avenue
0.9 mi
·
1 min
·
Trask Avenue
Use the left lane.
6
Take the ramp
0.3 mi
·
28 sec
Toward CA 22 West
Use the left lane.
7
Merge onto CA 22
5.1 mi
·
5 min
·
Garden Grove Freeway
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
8
Continue on CA 22; I 405
1.7 mi
·
1 min
·
San Diego Freeway
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
9
Take the exit onto CA 22
2.5 mi
·
3 min
·
CA 22
Exit 23
Toward CA 22 West: Long Beach
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
10
Keep slight left at fork onto East 7th Street
2.7 mi
·
6 min
·
East 7th Street
11
Turn left onto Rose Avenue
0.3 mi
·
51 sec
·
Rose Avenue
Use the left lane.
12
At end of road, turn right onto East 4th Street
0.7 mi
·
2 min
·
East 4th Street
13
Turn left onto Alamitos Avenue
0.4 mi
·
1 min
·
Alamitos Avenue
Use the left lane.
14
Turn right onto East Ocean Boulevard
0.4 mi
·
1 min
·
East Ocean Boulevard
Use the right lane.
15
Arrive at destination
East Ocean Boulevard
Heads-up: tricky spots
5 of 125 decision points cluster between mile 0.1 and 13.8 — GPS handles the exact turns, but know they're coming. Your lane choice matters more than the turn itself.
5
0.1 mi into trip
|
~0m in
Turn right
Navigation decision point
5
0.1 mi into trip
|
~0m in
|
Taft Street
At end of road, turn left onto Taft Street
Navigation decision point
7
1.5 mi into trip
|
~3m in
Take the ramp toward CA 22 West
Lane positioning matters here
Use the left lane.
Toward CA 22 West
7
8.6 mi into trip
|
~12m in
|
CA 22
Take the exit onto CA 22 toward CA 22 West: Long Beach
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
Exit 23
Toward CA 22 West: Long Beach
6
13.8 mi into trip
|
~22m in
|
Rose Avenue
Turn left onto Rose Avenue
Lane positioning matters here
Use the left lane.
Fuel & Cost
Regular Gas
$3.56 one way
$7.13 round trip
$5.84/gal
25.4 MPG avg
5 kg CO2
| Fuel Type | $/gal | One Way | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| midgrade | $6.02 | $3.67 | $7.34 |
| premium | $6.18 | $3.77 | $7.54 |
| diesel | $5.61 | $3.42 | $6.84 |
No toll roads detected on this route.
Drive Cost (one way)
Fuel
$4
Estimated CO2 emission: 5.4 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.
Driving Electric?
About $2 in charging · 0 stops · 60% less CO2
| Vehicle Type | kWh | Stops | DC Fast | Home Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV | 4.6 | 0 | $1.63 | $0.74 |
| Efficient EV | 3.9 | 0 | $1.36 | $0.62 |
| EV Truck/SUV | 6.2 | 0 | $2.17 | $0.99 |
Gas CO2
5 kg
EV CO2
2 kg (60% less)
This trip is well within single-charge range for most EVs. No charging stops needed if you start fully charged.
DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.
Travel Intel
Current conditions at both ends of the drive.
Destination
Long Beach, CA
Morning in Long Beach on Sunday
Local time
7:36 AM
PDT
Current temp
56°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Time zone
Same local time
Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.
Temperature spread
16 degrees cooler at arrival
A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.
Road read
28m on the road
Use the two city cards together: check the sky where you start, then compare it with the local time and temperature at arrival.
Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.
What kind of drive is this?
This 15.5-mile journey offers a mixed driving profile that balances suburban transitions with faster highway travel. Roughly 60% of your time will be spent on highways, providing a consistent pace as you move toward the coast. You will encounter your longest stretch of uninterrupted driving while covering 5.1 miles on the Garden Grove Freeway. As you exit the freeway system and transition onto East 7th Street, the pace shifts from a high-speed environment to a more localized flow. The contrast between these segments keeps the drive engaging without becoming overly demanding for the operator.
60% highway — fuel and pacing are the main things to plan.
15 navigation steps total — most of the decisions cluster near the start and finish.
Longest single stretch: 5.1 mi on Garden Grove Freeway.
How Hard Is This Drive?
7/10
This route mixes highway mileage with some local-road sections near the start or finish. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 0.1 miles in.
Driving Effort
7/10
Focused - busy navigation packed into a short drive
Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.
This is a short but busy drive. With 12 decision points packed into just 15.5 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 28m.
Where does it get tricky?
The main spots that need attention: at 0.1 miles: Navigation decision point; at 0.1 miles (Taft Street): Navigation decision point; at 1.5 miles: Lane positioning matters here.
Elevation Profile
Mostly flat terrain
87 ft
12 ft
Total Climb
140 ft
Total Descent
194 ft
Highest Point
87 ft
Elevation Range
75 ft
About the Cities
Starting in Garden Grove, CA
Full guide →Founded 1874
Garden Grove is a city in Orange County in Southern California.
Arriving in Long Beach, CA
Full guide →Founded 1888
Long Beach is a large port city in Los Angeles County in Southern California. Long Beach has some nice people-gathering amenities and genuine tourist attractions, such as a world-class aquarium and the Queen Mary floating museum/hotel. Special events are also held in the city like the annual Long Beach Grand Prix (a premier racing event held on city streets) and the annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride event. When compared to other areas like Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and West L.A., Long Beach may not always be at the top of someone's tourist visit to the Los Angeles area, but the city draws its fair share of visitors and has proven it can definitely hold its own.
Top landmarks
- • RMS Queen Mary — retired British ocean liner
- • Terminal Island — island in Los Angeles County, California, United States
- • Aquarium of the Pacific — public aquarium in Long Beach, California
City content from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0).
Who Is This Route For?
Weekend Trip
Doable as a same-day drive at 28m. Total distance: 15.5 miles.
Family Friendly
Moderate complexity with 0 natural rest stops along the way.
Solo Traveler
28m drive, comfortable solo distance.
EV Driver
0 DC fast chargers along the route. Coverage: unknown.
First-Time Driver
Mostly highway driving (60%). Some complex stretches to watch for.
Frequently Asked Questions
The longest stretch is about 5.1 miles on Garden Grove Freeway. The full list of main roads is in the Roads section above.
It helps. This route has a higher-than-average number of complex decision points, which get harder in the dark. If the last hour of the trip is on surface roads or mountain grades, aim to arrive at Long Beach, CA before sunset when you can. Check the Trip Plan for departure windows that land you in daylight.
Yes. At under 2 hours behind the wheel, this works well for families — plan one quick stop if you have younger kids.
The main spots that need attention: at 0.1 miles: Navigation decision point; at 0.1 miles (Taft Street): Navigation decision point; at 1.5 miles: Lane positioning matters here.
Yes. A round trip is manageable in a single day if you plan a break at Long Beach, CA before heading back.
How this page is built
Compiled by the US Trip Planner planning team at COD Solutions Oy from open government datasets — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for geometry, EIA for fuel prices, and USGS 3DEP for elevation. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.
Was this helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Your tip has been submitted. Thanks!
/500
Recent Tips
·
Explore More
Continue From Long Beach, CA
More trips to Long Beach, CA
Explore more options from Garden Grove, CA or browse trips ending in Long Beach, CA.
Looking for more statewide routes? Browse CA road trips.