Tijeras Creek / Arroyo Trabuco Loop

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.

Super Bowl Sunday: Wilderness Style

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?

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.