Touring * Street *

From State Highway 99, take the V street off-ramp and turn northeast onto V Street. Cross the railroad tracks and turn left onto 16th Street, which soon veers right to become the Snelling Highway, or State Highway 59. Go up half a mile, turn right onto West Olive Avenue, and turn left to park at the southwest corner of the Merced Mall. The wide sidewalk trail borders Olive Avenue, heading east.

If you like to go mall-hopping on wheels, West Olive Avenue is your kind of skate, with wide concrete sidewalks extending for ten blocks between R and G Streets. This is your standard strip--a busy street where residents tend to the busy-ness of living. Unlike other Central Valley towns, though, Merced has only one such strip, so the community still has a friendly, small-town feeling. West Olive Avenue may lack the beauty of Merced's creekside trails, but it's become a favorite in-line commute route for younger residents, connecting North Merced High to the Merced Mall, and linking comfortably wide R, M, and G Streets with the dedicated bike lanes of the North Merced neighborhoods.