Facts are indeed stubborn things. So is the Rose Parade route.
Every year, you’re pretty much guaranteed that the Pasadena floral extravaganza will roll through the same route, and that’s quite OK with the thousands who gather in Pasadena’s downtown each year to see the beloved showcase first-hand.
It’s still 5.5 miles beginning to end. Still, there’s a certain freshness to it every year, with new crowds, new grand marshals, new floats converge on Colorado Boulevard every year.
Rose Parade 2025: Your guide to every float, band and equestrian unit, in order
This Jan. 1, that’ll happen once again – for the 136th time — starting at 8 a.m.
Here’s the plan:
The Rose Parade route begins at the corner of Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena.
It travels north on Orange Grove at a 2 1/2-miles-per-hour pace and then turns east onto Colorado, where the bulk of the parade viewing takes place moving east on Colorado passing all your favorite businesses in Old Town.
Near the end of the route, the parade turns north onto Sierra Madre Boulevard and concludes at Villa Street.
The Pasadena Police Department, supported by the Tournament of Roses Association and city officials, will close the Rose Parade route early to vehicular traffic to enhance public safety measures.
But if you’re up for a brisk early jog on what is normally a busy Colorado, you can catch one before it’s shut down to all traffic.
Officials noted that Colorado Boulevard will close to motor vehicles earlier than in prior years for parade staging. Colorado will close beginning at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, and will remain closed through the clean-up following the parade.
Overnight camping is permitted along the route only on the night of Tuesday, Dec. 31.
You can maintain a position on the sidewalk along the parade route beginning at noon, Tuesday, Dec. 31. All persons and property, such as blankets, chairs and personal items, must remain on the curb until 11 p.m.
At that time, spectators may move out to the so-called blue “Honor Line” but not past it, according to public safety officials.
Remember, something new the last couple of years, before the parade, is the New Year’s Lululemon 5K, which happens on a stretch of Colorado Boulevard in Old Town. The race begins at midnight to ring in the new year.
If you plan to host a New Year’s Eve event — and your property’s access is via Colorado Boulevard — let your guests and vendors know that they must arrive before 10 p.m. or park in areas without restricted parking and walk in, officials said.
The route will be transformed back into a regular street for vehicle traffic by 2 p.m. Jan. 1.
And life will go back to four-wheeled vehicles not adorned with roses.
