Access to the Antelope Valley is had from Los Angeles mainly along California State Route 14, the Antelope Valley Freeway. From its beginning near Northridge, it is about a 45-minute drive to Palmdale, the southern of the Antelope Valley's two main cities. It is also possible to get to the area along California State Route 138, either from its point of origin along Interstate 5 between Santa Clarita and the Grapevine, or from where it intersects Interstate 15 in Victorville.
Once in the Antelope Valley, visitors may note that the streets proceed along an orderly grid. Avenue "A" runs east-west along the Los Angeles County-Kern County border. Avenue "B" runs parallel to it, exactly one mile south. Avenue "C" is one mile south of "B," and so on south to Avenue "T" there are other, more southerly avenues, but visitors are unlikely to encounter them. The north-south lines parallel "Division Street," an arbitrary street that runs due north-south along a path that can be projected north from Lake Avenue in Pasadena. Every mile east or west from Division Street is noted by ten "street" numbers -- one mile west of division street is 10th Street West, and one mile west of that is 20th Street West, and so on.
Local residents refer to the "east side" and "west side" of town. In Palmdale, this generally refers to something being east or west of Division Street, but in Lancaster, it often means east or west of the Antelope Valley Freeway, which runs one to two miles west of Division Street.
Historical roads in and out of the area include Sierra Highway, which runs along the former U.S. Route 6, and Lancaster and Palmdale Boulevards. Lancaster and Palmdale Boulevards are both major commercial thoroughfares.
