Aliso Creek Bikeway

The past few days have been gray, cold and wet but today there was a break between storms so we packed up our windbreakers and headed to the Aliso Creek Bikeway. This is a completely paved, fairly flat, multi-use trail. The final west part of the bikeway has not been completed yet but the plan is for the last section to end in Laguna Beach to create a “mountains to sea” bike path for Orange County.

We parked at El Toro Park (Muirlands and Los Alisos in Lake Forest) and rode east towards the mountains. The entire section we rode was about 8.5 miles one-way. The bike path ends at Cook’s Corner, a very hopping biker bar. Although the bar did advertise being kid friendly, the intersection was not very cyclist friendly and I was the recipient of “the bird” from, get this, a Prius.

The bike path follows Aliso Creek through neighborhoods and along busy roads that are not ever completely disguised by the groves of eucalyptus, sycamores and willows. Closer to the mountains, the marks of ‘civilization’ lessen and the landscape changed to sages, clumps of prickly pear and red-tailed hawks.

Today was cold and windy and the ride was uphill and against the wind but I really enjoyed riding this path.

O'Neill Regional Park

Right before Christmas, I got “lost” on my way to Target and found myself at the end of Antonio Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita. At the end of the road is a wonderful paved bike path that appears to loop into a possible wilderness area. Today was the first opportunity to take my bike out to see where the path went.

After riding about 0.5 miles on the paved path, I found a walk-through entrance into O’Neill Regional Park. The highlight of the trip was biking down a single-track path through the live oaks into Trabuco Canyon. Granted, the switchbacks were more fun going down than up!

I went through the Nature Center and, if you are a fan of dioramas, the center has several in situ ‘scenes’ complete with a rather threadbare opossum and a lively nature soundtrack. There is also a touch center where you can feel rattlesnake skin and a bird’s wing. Tot’s Trail is behind the center and is dotted with interpretive plaques to teach about the wildlife you may run across in the park as well as recognizing their prints and scat.

In addition to the paved trails winding beneath the canopies of the oak trees, I noticed that there is a number of biking and hiking trails in the park that I will need to explore. It was a gorgeous day to be out and about! I can’t wait to come back although next time I am hoping to have about 3 more gears on my bike to take the mountains.

Crystal Cove State Park: Photographs

Crystal Cove State Beach

Today was red-flag warning, hot dry (pollen-filled) winds with speeds up to 50 mph, so I went to the beach. Crystal Cove State Park is located between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. The $10 park fee and the climb down the steep stairs to the beach seem to discourage a lot of beach goers. There is an pleasant walking/biking paved path on the cliffs as well as a long stretch of flat shoreline to walk/run. Crystal Cove is also a designated underwater preserve and is supposed to be great for diving/snorkeling.

My goal today was to walk the entire length of the cliffs and the shore. I started on the shoreline. Unfortunately, the tide was pretty low which meant that there were lots of tide pools to poke around in and shore birds to watch which distracted me from my primary objective. I did walk pretty far (heading north) along the shoreline and ran across the Historic Crystal Cove area. I was surprised to find the Beachcomber Restaurant (on the sand!) and a row of fenced-off ramshackle sea cottages.

On my next trip to the park, I will need to bring food, and either my bike or someone to keep me on task. I did, however, have a wonderful day and only fell into the tide pools about three times.

Directions to Parking for the Ladera Ranch Trails

Here are the driving /parking directions ('borrowed' from google maps)

Ladera Ranch: Bluff Top and Arroyo Trabuco Trail

Ladera Ranch offers access into the south end of O’Neill Regional Park via two pleasant walking/biking trails, the lower end of the Arroyo Trabuco trail and the Bluff Top trail. Each trail is about a mile and a quarter long one-way, is fairly level and generally well-maintained.

The Bluff Top Trail starts at the Cox Sport Park parking lot and winds around the neighborhood park areas and has both paved and graveled segments. There are benches along the trail at various view spots as well as a native California plant garden with interpretive signs. The community has planted fresh water marsh and riparian scrub habitat to capture and filter urban run-off before it flows into the Trabuco Creek and then to the ocean.

The Arroyo Trabuco trail is one of my favorite quick walks after work. The path is accessed from the Bluff Top Trail. There is a black top ‘drive way’ at the approximate intersection of Winfield and O’Neill Drive. It is a fun ride down to the pump house and then one can either ride north towards Oso (across the creek is the official O’Neill Regional Park) or south towards Crown Valley Parkway. From Oso to Crown Valley, the trail is flat and graveled. It appears to be a maintenance road.

Today was a beautiful day to be outside. Once down in the canyon, it was easy to forget I was in the middle of a city. The houses on both sides of the trail are hidden by oaks and sycamores, and the air was thick with sage scent and the trees were loud with scrub jays, hawks, crows and finches. The toyons were bursting with bright red berries and the eucelia were just starting to bloom again. The only drawback was the swarms of gnats. The gnatcatchers must still be on vacation.