Walk n Roll in Orange County

San Clemente State Beach

2009-08-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

San Clemente State Beach appears to be geared towards beach camping and picnicking. There are ample camp sites and summer camp programs for the family as well as covered picnic tables along the bluffs with ocean views and breezes. Getting to the beach from the parking lot is a steep climb down. The experienced beach goers roll their gear along in wagons or loaded down strollers.

Today I got in touch with my “hobo” side. There is a trail that starts along Calafia Beach (San Clemente) and follows the railroad tracks into Trestles Beach in San Diego county (north of San Onofre and Camp Pendleton). I parked at San Clemente State Beach which is in the middle of the trail, mainly because I still have a few days on my state beach park pass, and headed south. I can now say that I have walked to San Diego (county).

The trail is sand and gravel and is about 4 feet from the train tracks. On the other side of the tracks are beautiful beaches. The track crossings are well-marked and one can get back and forth pretty easily (depending on how tired one is from walking in the sand). I estimate that the walk from the state beach to Trestles was about a mile one-way. Going north, it seemed possible to follow the tracks up to the San Clemente Pier and then to end the walk with a bucked of assorted fried sea creatures and cold bubbly beverages.

Metamorphosis

2009-07-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, a large number of black spiky caterpillars came out of the community open space, climbed up the house and formed their chrysalides. I have been watching them closely and, on Friday, the butterflies started to emerge. While this weekend was more about relaxing on the patio with a G and T instead of exploring new trails, it was an incredible experience to be able to sit in the yard and watch the butterflies.

This was my first experience with emerging butterflies. I learned several things: (1) it takes about 30 seconds for them to break out of the shell (leaving little time for removing a lens cap or the flash to recharge), (2) it takes several hours of hanging upside down for the wings to unfold and ‘fill’ before flying and (3) the butterfly ‘drips’ bright red ‘stain’ while unfolding, leaving the patio looking like a horror movie set, post-axe murderer.

If you want to see the entire life cycle of the mourning cloak in Orange County, check out Peter Bryant’s website. He has managed to capture the cycle from egg to butterfly and the mob of caterpillars is hysterical (at the very bottom of the web page).

Jeronimo Open Space, Mission Viejo CA

2009-07-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Jeronimo Open Space parallels Jeronimo Parkway between Olympiad and Arbolitos (the next major cross road is Marguerite Pkwy). There are 2 paved trails, an upper trail and lower trail, that straddle Oso Creek and are each about 1 mile one-way. The trail is well-used by the locals for strolling, dog walking, running and casual biking. If you are driving in, there is street parking at Pavion and Jeronimo, along Pavion Park. If you are bringing kids, Pavion Park has nice playground and grassy areas for running down little kid ‘batteries’.

The open space runs through established neighborhoods and there is a lot of human and dog traffic. I have not seen many ‘beasts’ along this trail but there has been some recent habitat restoration activities. Hopefully, wildlife will follow!

Sienna Botanica

2009-06-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

“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

2009-06-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

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.

Laguna Niguel Regional Park

2009-05-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Now that I am back from vacation, I decided to ‘ease’ back into my exercise routine and spend this morning roaming around Laguna Niguel Regional Park. I have never been there before and my expectations were surprisingly exceeded. The park is nestled between La Paz and Alicia Parkway in Laguna Niguel and consists of paved and dirt trails suitable for relaxed walking and biking, a stocked fishing lake, grassy picnic areas, several wildlife preserve and habitat restoration project areas, tennis and volleyball courts and playgrounds. The park entrance is on La Paz and Aliso Creek and day parking is $5.00. For the fisher-people on your list, there are rental boats available in addition to shore fishing picnic areas. Fishing day permits are available but seem a bit pricey for a family day.

Santa Rosa Plateau

2009-04-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

This week I was able to get out to Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve for an afternoon hike. While it is not located in Orange County, it is close by and definitely worth the trip! During my last visit to the reserve, I overheard a docent telling a group of children that, on warm spring days, the vernal pools boil with activity as the garter snakes hunt pollywogs. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that this was the primary reason I went there this week. I lucked out and saw 2 snakes in the pools in addition to wildflowers, dragonflies and lizards.

The Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve is on 39400 Clinton Keith Road and is located at the southern end of the Santa Ana Mountains (off the I-15) between Temecula and Lake Elsinore. The Reserve consists of 8,300 acres and protects unique ecosystems like Engelmann oak woodlands, riparian wetlands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, bunchgrass prairie and vernal pools. Day use is $2.00 per person.

There are many trails to choose from however biking and horseback riding is limited to the Sylvan Meadows Multi-Use Area. I have only been on a few trails on the reserve and they were well-maintained and mildly hilly. I also recommend stopping at the Nature Center that is staffed by knowledgeable docents. There also great exhibits and good bathrooms (which is a huge plus for me!).

Aliso Summit Trail

2009-04-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Lunch Break!

Enjoying Ocean Views and Breezes

The Canyons

Thomas Guide Orange County 951 Aliso and Wood Canyon Park Map

Normally, I tend to avoid all bike trails that contain any of the following descriptors: summit, peak, ridge, view point or any references to planets or stars. Today, however, in the spirit of hoping to complete the last leg of the Mountains to Ocean ride along Aliso Creek Bikeway, I set aside my prejudices and sucked it up to tackle the Aliso Summit Trail. We ‘started’ the ride from the entrance of Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness park. There also appears to be some parking along Alicia, across from Laguna Niguel Regional Park.

The trail itself seems separate from the park although it is on the official park map. From the park, ride UP Alicia, turn Right on Highlands (more UP) and, at the ‘second’ Ridgeview, is the trailhead. Be prepared for about a 700 foot climb to get to the trail, even the “boy racers” were whining.

For most of its length, the 3 mile trail borders residential communities to the east and natural open space to the west with expansive views of the Aliso and Wood Canyons and the ocean. The trail primarily consists of natural and decomposed granite surfaces and, in two locations, the continuity of the trail is provided by sidewalk connections. A sidewalk along Talavera Drive and Pacific Island Drive connects Seaview Park with the start/end of the trail on Pacific Island Drive. Once on the trail, it is fairly level (yahoo!).

We may have been able to get to the coast but we were lame and not willing to give up any altitude. After reviewing maps post-ride, it seems as if there should be some way to link up the Aliso Summit Trail to the South Laguna Ridge Trail and get to the beach. That will have to be another day…

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park

2009-04-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Owl Clover

Trailhead and Pay Station

Enjoying the peek ocean and canyon views after the first climb

Emerald Canyon. Walking waist deep in the grass wasn't too bad until Scott shared his Jurassic Park velociraptor flashback. I started walking a bit faster.

Very fancy trail map-loop noted in pink

Blue-eyed grass in front of sticky monkey flowers

A bug gets quite friendly with the blue-eyed grass.

A lucky ladybird beetle

White lined sphinx moth

A close-up: check out his furry body!

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park is located in the San Joaquin Hills between the cities of Newport Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, and Laguna Beach off of Laguna Canyon Road. This park is a testament of how the efforts of concerned citizens and local and state governments can combine to preserve land for public use and more importantly to protect wildlife and their habitat from development. The park spans over 6200 acres and offers wooded canyons, a natural lake and incredible vistas of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding areas. Most of the area is limited to hiking and horseback riding but there are some mountain biking trails available and are clearly noted on the park map. Hours are 8 am to 4 pm and parking is $3.00.

There are 2 parking entrances off of Laguna Canyon Road. We parked in the lot closest to Laguna Beach and hiked up Big Bend Trail to the Old Emerald Falls Trail and then looped up and back along the Bommer Ridge Trail. It took about 3 hours round trip but that included lots of photo stops and a picnic in Emerald Canyon. The trails are quite steep in places and there were lots of climbs in and out of the canyon. At every peak, however, we were rewarded with ocean views and sea breezes. This is definitely a great quads and glutes work out!

Aliso Creek Bikeway (south west)

2009-04-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

In January, we rode the Aliso Creek Bikeway, starting at Muirlands and Los Alisos Blvd, heading towards Trabuco Canyon. Today we 'started' at the same point but rode towards Laguna Hills with the goal to get to Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park via the Aliso Creek Bikeway. In an effort to be “green”, we biked the extra miles from home to the Aliso Creek Bikeway instead of driving. Along with the extra miles and several unintentional hilly and off-road detours, I did not do a very good job measuring miles or jotting down good directions today.

If you are driving, park the car at El Toro Park (Jeronimo and Los Alisos Blvd) or street park along Los Alisos Blvd and Muirlands. The trail is well-marked, paved and appropriate for all ages of walkers, runners, skaters and bikers. The only ‘tricky’ parts are (1) when the path turns into a bike lane for a bit along Laguna Hills Drive and (2) that the trail marker is missing off of Laguna Hills Drive so take the off-shoot (south, under Laguna Hills Drive) to Sheep Hills Park which eventually turns back into the Aliso Creek Bikeway. The Bikeway will run to the entrance of the Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park.

I did not have any notable wildlife spottings or hitchhiking ticks today.

Tijeras Creek / Arroyo Trabuco Loop

2009-03-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Tijeras Creek / Arroyo Trabuco Loop

Navigating around Coto de Caza (some street riding)

blue arrow=jump on the dirt trail, orange arrow=entrance into O'Neill

Tijeras Creek Trail

Coastal Indian Paintbrush along Tijeras Creek

Since we live about 2 miles from one of the entrances to the O’Neill Wilderness area, this seems to be the park that we are spending most of the time exploring since it does not require loading up the car. Today’s ride was the Tijeras Creek / Arroyo Trabuco Loop which ended up just shy of 20 miles. There are several possible places to park (no actual Park parking is available, neighborhoods/shopping mall parking); Oso/Antonio Pkwy to enter at Oso, Bienvenidos and Antonio Pkwy to enter at the Bienvenidos entrance.

Starting at the Oso entrance and take the Tijeras Creek trail behind the Las Flores apartments. It is a crushed gravel trail with great views of the canyon. At one point, the trail pops out onto Antonio Pkwy for about 100 yards and then pops back in behind more apartments. Once the trail gets into the wilderness area, there are about 10 ‘whoop di doos’ (series of hills) to navigate that end under the Foothill Transportation Corridor (FTC). The whoop di’s are a blast, the climbs out (the ‘do’s) not so much. Right now the trail is surrounded by fields of lupines and mustards. Once past the FTC, the Tijeras Creek trail meanders through meadows, along the Tijeras Creek and under canopies of oak groves. With the exception of a few rocky drops and climbs (easy to walk your bike through), this is a great beginner off-road single track trail.

The Tijeras Creek trail ends at Plano Trabuco Road. Follow Plano Trabuco Road for a few miles. When the road starts getting scary, there is an option to hop onto a dirt trail on the left side of the road-get on it. After about a mile, there will be an entrance gate into O’Neill Park, go through and turn Left. Ride towards the back of the park to the Arroyo Trabuco Trail.

March of the Caterpillars at Riley Wilderness Park

2009-03-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Today we headed to the Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park for some mountain biking and wildflower hunting. In addition to several miles of hiking/biking trails, Riley Wilderness Park has a visitor’s / nature center (1 tarantula, 2 snakes, and a kids interpretive area), and a butterfly garden (which was still dormant). You can also purchase your OC Parks annual pass here. The trails are multi-use; bikes, boots and hooves but no dogs. We rode all of the trails except for Skink (Vista Point) and Horned Toad (Vista Point) and clocked about 5 miles around the park. Not a lot of miles but the hills were challenging even though I opted out on riding up to the vistas.

The word of the day is CATERPILLARS. There were caterpillars everywhere, making 'low impact' riding a challenge. I am not terribly confident on my identification of the caterpillars but the closest I could find would be Painted Lady. If anyone knows what they are (picture above), please share. We observed some interesting human behavior today on the trail. There were several families hiking and all of the little girls were trying to catch the caterpillars, pet them and take them home to love. The little boys, on the other hand, were having contests to step on as many as possible. Fortunately for the caterpillars, there were twice as many little girls than boys out hiking today.

Wildlife sightings: caterpillars. In keeping with my nature spotting ‘luck’, after 15 miles of riding around wilderness areas, the best find was at home: a raptor hunting from my backyard fence. I think it may be a kite but am not sure since I cannot find a match in my bird book.

Wildflower Season has Arrived!!

2009-02-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

I hiked around in the Laguna Coast Wilderness today with camera in hand and barely enough water. It is official, wildflower season has arrived! I am not a very experienced wildflower indentifier but I am able to recognize the more common flowers like poppies and lupines and have learned to identify those 'fun to say' flowers like blue dicks and sticky monkey flowers. I saw a number of flowers today that, despite spending an hour searching on CalFlora, I could not identify. I am posting pictures of some of them anyway since I think they are pretty. Reminder: March 6th, the Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline goes on-line.

Wildlife sightings: I did not see any snakes today (Scott saw one and there was a rumor from another hiker about a rattlesnake ahead on the trail) but, when we got home, there was a huge alligator (I think) lizard in the garage. I am hoping he will stay and clean out some of the daddy long legs.

Santa Ana River Trail

2009-02-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

I have been looking forward to riding the Santa Ana River Trail for years. It is another one of Orange County’s Mountain to Sea Trails (San Bernardino Mountains to Huntington Beach) and is about 100 miles one-way. Saturday was the perfect distance riding day, overcast and not very windy. With lunch packed, water loaded and tires inflated, we parked at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa, hopped on the river trail and rode east.

After 8 miles of endless cement, garbage, wire (barbed, razor, power and chain-linked), uninspired graffiti, gang tags and trailer parks, I could not endure it any longer and had to turn around. The Santa Ana leg was incredibly boring and somewhat depressing (note: the trail may become more interesting once past Santa Ana). Heading back towards the coast, past Fairview Park, the trail ends at Huntington Beach and there is a northward multipurpose bike/pedestrian path. We ended up eating lunch at the beach, watching the surfers for a bit and then heading back to the car.

Wildlife spottings: a stray pit bull, American Crow, pigeons, vultures, finches and sea gulls. Closer to Huntington, the river is soft-bottom and there were some waders; blue herons, great egrets, godwits and avocets. I did not stop and bird watch since the water treatment plant is on the other side of the trail and sort of stunk. On the bright side, I have now ridden the Santa Ana River Trail through Santa Ana, have seen what it has to offer and will never need to ride this section again.

Irvine Regional Trail to the Back Bay Loop

2009-02-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

Upper Newport Bay

Kestrel

White-Faced Ibis

Egyptian Goose

Bermuda Buttercups

Irvine Regional Park to Upper Newport Bay is another Mountain-to-Sea Trail in Orange County that I think is worth exploring. The last time I tried to ride it (awhile ago), there were too many trail closures to finish the ride. From what I have been able to research, the trail has completely opened and a one-way trip is 22 miles.

After parking in a business park around Laguna Canyon Road and Barranca, we followed the creek downstream on bikes. With the exception of a few well-marked road crossings, the paved trail is separate from the street and is appropriate for walkers, runners, bikers and even bikers on training wheels. Fellow bikers range from road racers in full biking attire to beach cruisers and flip flops. Once we arrived at the Back Bay, we rode the Back Bay Loop trail and then back to the car. Based on my odometer, the entire trip was a long but mostly flat 30 miles.

Wildlife spottings: The Back Bay was teeming with shore birds today but my favorite finds of the day were a kestrel, a white-faced ibis and Egyptian geese. I was able to easily identify the kestrel and the white-faced ibis from Orange County birding sites but the Egyptian geese were a challenge. From a Yahoo! discussion site, a flock of Egyptian geese escaped from a now defunct Wildlife Safari Park in Orange County and are occasionally spotted in the area still. I cannot confirm the story but I like it.

The next ride on this trail will need to start from Irvine Regional Park (mountains). Per the trail kiosk in Newport Beach, I rode right past the trail turn-off to the mountains and then, on the trip back, I missed it again. I guess as long as you remember how to get back to the car, it isn’t too bad.

San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine CA

2009-02-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

There was a brief break between the storms today and the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine was the perfect place to take a quick walk, do a little birding and take some pictures. The Sanctuary used to be part of the Duck Club, ponds where migrating ducks could rest and possibly be hunted, but it has been replanted with native plants to ‘clean’ urban run-off water before flowing into the ocean and to provide a refuge for wildlife. There are crushed gravel trails around the ponds, benches placed in view areas and a wonderful butterfly garden. Sea and Sage Audubon has a small gift shop in the parking area that is staffed with knowledgeable birders that also lead interpretive nature walks. If you forget your binoculars, check with them, they may have loaners available.

I was really hoping to get some great bird pictures today but, because of all of the rain this week, this afternoon must have been the birds’ first chance to eat. About 90% of my photographs today were of bird butts poking out of the ponds. I did get a treat, however. For the first time I observed White Pelicans ‘herding fish’ (I had no idea that they did that). I also watched a snowy egret wiggle his golden toes in the mud to attract fish and then I saw him actually spear one (picture above).

The "comments" section of this blog have been unlocked. Anyone should be able to comment, now.

Super Bowl Sunday: Wilderness Style

2009-02-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

What started out as a quick ride before the Super Bowl, turned into a slightly longer than anticipated trek due to the perfect weather and the “let’s just see where this goes” curiosity. We were able to string together a few of our favorite trails starting from home, and, after 1 gallon of water, 2 trips down into the canyon, 2 climbs out of the canyon, 3 creek crossings, 4 miles of sand and rock trail, we ended up in Live Oak Canyon 10 miles later. This is officially the new ‘favorite’ bike ride.

There were only about 10 people on the trails today, giving us the chance to really enjoy being out in nature. I have decided that I am absolutely addicted to oak trees. They are usually hidden by the sycamores but, because the sycamores’ leaves are still gone, the oak trees cannot be missed. The spring grasses and hints of wildflowers are starting to come up. I also believe I saw new ‘leaves of three’ so I let them be.

The ride: At Oso and Antonio Parkway, get on the dirt path behind the Las Flores apartments, head down into the Tijeras Creek Wilderness area, at the “T”, turn east on Arroyo Trabuco Creek trail, stay on the main trail and, when you can, get off the pavement trail and onto the dirt trail. The dirt trail will take you under Santa Margarita Parkway and the 241, into O’Neill Park.

Did I mention my legs are going to be sore tomorrow?

Aliso Creek Bikeway

2009-01-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-18T16:40:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-11T18:46:00.001-08:00

Crystal Cove State Beach

2009-01-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-01T17:38:00.001-08:00

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

Ladera Ranch: Bluff Top and Arroyo Trabuco Trail

2009-01-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

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.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-29T19:56:00.001-08:00

In progress... First posting to start January 2009! Comments and suggestions are welcome.