Sienna Botanica

“No Dumping, Drains to Ocean”, “Make a Splash, Curb Urban Run-Off” are the messages found in our South Orange County neighborhoods. Run-off water from our homes is full of nutrients from landscaping, pet waste, oil and other urban contaminants that drain directly into the creeks and then to our beaches. Every year, beaches are routinely closed due to the high levels of pollution caused by urban run-off.

Wetlands serve to act as a natural biofiltration system to protect the ocean however most of the wetlands have been destroyed by being ‘tamed’ into cement riverbeds for flood control or dredged for marinas. Several communities have been successful in recreating marsh-like systems for capturing run-off to naturally filter and clean the water before it is released into the watershed. Today, we rode along Sienna Botanica, a smaller man-made natural biofiltration ‘riverine’ that uses plants and soil to filter urban run-off in Ladera Ranch community.

A great walking/running/casual bike riding trail runs along the riverine on Sienna Parkway. My favorite part of the trail was the ‘frog park’. In tribute to the many frogs that live along the stream, dozens of frog statues were placed around the park and trail. I have also attached a picture of one of my favorite native California flowers: the matilija poppy.

Santiago Oaks Regional Park

The Historic Dam Trail (above)

The Historic Dam (do you see the turtle?)

This is a bit late in posting due to the fact that the trails left me a bit traumatized (and sort of angry and not wanting to relive the day). This was possibly the most difficult 5 miles in my mountain biking life and I can now add another trail name that I will avoid moving forward: Mountain Goat Trail.

Santiago Oaks is a wilderness park that is part of Orange County Regional Parks. Admission is $5.00. The park has a nice picnic area with grills and a newly opened nature center. The trails are hike/bike/horse and I think that I would prefer hiking around this park. The steep trails, erosion (deep ruts and cracks) and deep powdery dirt made riding really difficult. I ended up pushing, carrying and pulling my bike at least 4.5 of the 5 miles up and down pretty steep hills. I would have also been happy to see a trail that had been updated with the closed trails (not that I am bitter or anything...).

Wildlife spottings: Anise Swallowtail, Mariposa Lily and possibly the grim reaper

Ladera Ranch Trail

Today we rode on a ‘new patch of dirt’ in Ladera Ranch. Park at Wagsdale Park located at Cecil Pasture and O’Neill. It seemed that the “public” restrooms were only accessible with a Ladera Ranch key card. The trail itself is about 2.5 miles one-way and is a series of hills (be prepared to pant) that ends up with a great view of San Juan Capistrano and the ocean. The trail is crushed granite, separate from the road and runs through the Ladera Ranch neighborhoods. At the top of the mountain there are some additional trail options. On this trip, we turned south and took the trail back to Antonio Parkway on the back side of Covenant Hills. The first public street along Antonio is O’Neill and, if you take it, you can get back to the park. This made a great loop.

After the ride, I would also recommend stopping at Taco Mesa at Crown Valley and O’Neill for chips and homemade guacamole on the outside patio.

Other than disturbing a large group of turkey vultures, there wasn’t too much in the way of interesting wildlife spottings. The association had recently mowed the hills for fire prevention so I am thinking that the snakes and ground birds moved out to the surrounding mountains.