You’re standing in the shadow of Knott’s Berry Farm, maybe smelling the faint scent of boysenberry pie or hearing the distant scream of someone dropping 250 feet on Supreme Scream. You need to get to LA. It looks close on a map. It’s basically just a straight shot up the 5 freeway, right?
Wrong.
The trek from Buena Park CA to Los Angeles is a psychological gauntlet that defies the laws of space and time. Twenty miles should take twenty minutes. In Southern California, twenty miles can take eighty minutes if a ladder falls off a truck near the Citadel Outlets or if it sprinkles for three seconds. I’ve done this drive more times than I care to admit, and honestly, the "best" way to do it changes depending on whether you’re chasing a 9:00 AM meeting or a 7:00 PM concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
The Reality of the 5 Freeway
The Interstate 5 is the main artery connecting Orange County to the heart of LA. It’s also a construction zone that has seemingly been under renovation since the Mesozoic Era. When you pull out of Buena Park, you’re hitting a bottleneck almost immediately.
Traffic usually bunches up where the 91 and the 5 meet. It’s a mess. If you’re driving during "rush hour"—which in SoCal is basically 6:00 AM to 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM to 8:00 PM—expect to crawl. You’ll pass the Commerce Casino and the giant Assyrian-walled Citadel Outlets. If the sun is hitting those gold walls just right, it’s beautiful. If you’re stuck behind a semi-truck, it’s a nightmare.
One thing people get wrong is thinking the carpool lane (HOV) is a magic carpet. It isn't. Sometimes the HOV lane on the 5 moves slower than the general lanes because everyone with a passenger piles into it, creating a "conga line" effect. If you have a Clean Air Vehicle sticker or a FasTrak Flex transponder, you might get some relief, but don't count on it.
Taking the Train: The Metrolink Secret
If you hate driving, the Buena Park Metrolink Station on Dale St. is your best friend. Seriously.
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The Orange County Line runs directly into Union Station in Downtown LA. It’s about a 35 to 45-minute ride. You get Wi-Fi (sorta), you can drink coffee, and you don't have to look at brake lights. The catch? The schedule is built for commuters. If you miss that last train back in the evening, you’re looking at a very expensive Uber or a complicated bus route.
- Check the Metrolink app before you leave.
- Buy a round-trip ticket to save time at the kiosk.
- Union Station is beautiful, but it’s a hub. You’ll likely need to hop on the Metro B Line (Red) or D Line (Purple) to get to places like Hollywood or Koreatown.
Side Streets and Secret Portals
Sometimes the 5 is just dead. Red lines all over Google Maps. When that happens, people start looking for "the back way."
You could take Beach Blvd (Highway 39) north, but that’s just a stoplight-heavy grind. A better bet is often hopping over to the 605 North and taking it to the 60 West. It adds miles, but it can shave off fifteen minutes of pure idling. Or, if you’re heading to the Westside (Santa Monica, Venice), you might want to skip the 5 entirely and take the 91 West to the 110 North.
Just be warned: the 110 through South LA has those narrow, terrifying lanes with no shoulders. If your car breaks down there, you’re basically a permanent part of the infrastructure.
What to Do Once You Get There
Los Angeles isn't a city; it's a collection of suburbs in a trench coat. Where you end up matters.
If you’re doing the Buena Park CA to Los Angeles trip for tourism, you’re likely headed to the Arts District or Olvera Street. Both are close to Union Station. If you’re going to Griffith Observatory, add another thirty minutes to your transit time just for the hill climb and parking. Parking in LA is its own circle of hell. Expect to pay $20-$40 in a garage or spend forty minutes hunting for a street spot only to realize you’re in a "Permit Only" zone after 6:00 PM.
Costs You Haven't Considered
Gas is the obvious one. California prices aren't friendly. But the hidden cost of this trip is often the tolls if you stray toward the 10 or 110 ExpressLanes, or the sheer wear and tear on your brakes. Stop-and-go traffic is brutal on a vehicle.
- Gas: Roughly 1-2 gallons depending on your MPG and idle time.
- Parking: $15 minimum for anything central.
- Stress: Immeasurable.
The Sunday Exception
Sunday morning is the only time the drive from Buena Park to LA feels like the movies. You can zip up the 5, see the skyline emerge over the horizon, and be parked in DTLA in twenty-five minutes. It’s glorious. It’s also a lie, because by 2:00 PM on Sunday, everyone is heading back from the beaches or the mountains, and the gridlock returns.
Final Logistics Check
Check your tire pressure. Southern California heat expands the air in your tires, and a blowout on the Santa Ana Freeway is a legitimate disaster.
Download your podcasts or audiobooks before you leave Buena Park. There are weird cell service dead zones near the rail yards in Vernon that will kill your Spotify stream right when the story gets good.
Next Steps for Your Trip:
- Check the "Commute" tab on Google Maps at the exact time you plan to leave to see the historical average.
- If you're using Metrolink, download the SoCal Explorer app to earn points on your trips.
- Map out a secondary route using Rosemead Blvd or Atlantic Blvd just in case a major accident shuts down the 5.