Garfield Ave, Fountain Valley

Garfield Avenue in Huntington Beach is an east/west street that provides quick access from one side of the city to the other. Garfield Avenue is about 4.5 miles long in total and serves as the border between Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. On the east side of the city it begins near the Santa Ana river channel. At one time there was a plan to extend Garfield over the channel to Costa Mesa, but that has never been done. This explains why Garfield has 2 lanes in each direction and therefore is never crowded.

The neighborhoods that Garfield passes through have a characteristic seen throughout Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley – they are surrounded by brick walls. This decreases visibility as you drive into intersections, so you want to be careful and approach even signaled intersections with caution.

Garfield crosses Brookhurst and Magnolia, each of which has a wide variety of shopping centers and restaurants. It also crosses Beach Blvd, the major commercial street in Huntington Beach. West of Beach Blvd, Garfield is within two miles of the downtown beach area. A left turn on Main Street will lead right to the pier.

The area west of Beach is unusual because in the past it was filled with oil fields and oil wells. Within the past 20 years the area has been transformed and now is home to several new tracts, including some of the most expensive homes in Huntington Beach. Garfield passes by a newer school called Huntington Seacliff Elementary and ends at Seapoint Avenue with an amazing view of Long Beach, the beach and the Bolsa Chica wetlands.