Come join your fellow Badger Families & Friends for some beautiful Saturday morning hikes around Orange County! See 2011 Hike Schedule below. Hikes begin at 10 AM, so please be on-time and bring comfortable shoes, sunscreen, and water. Kids are welcome, and all hikes are between 1 and 3 miles and easy, with a few hikes with slight to moderate elevation gains. Most trails are unpaved. RSVP's are requested the day before each scheduled hike to Emily Sauter. Only RSVP's will receive cancellation emails due to poor weather/trail conditions.
Saturday, March 3rd at 10 AM
- Irvine Regional Park Hike (Orange): This park is a classic: stately groves of oak and sycamore, lovely picnic areas and a boat pond ringed with handsome stonework. Add to that heart of the park dating from the nineteenth century, plenty of ball fields and playgrounds, as well as the Orange County Zoo and the Irvine Park Railroad. This hike is particularly kid friendly! Distance 2.5 miles roundtrip, elevation 100 ft (easy).
- Google Map: Click Here!
- Directions: From the Newport Freeway (55), exit on Chapman Avenue (East) and head east 5 miles to Jamboree. Turn left and proceed north a quarter mile to the park entry road and turn right. At a fork you’ll need to bear left to pay admission at the park entry station, but note that the right fork (a dead-end road) is where you’ll find the start of this hike.
- Parking: $5 Parking Fee, free street parking nearby
- After Hike Lunch Options: John’s Place, Wiseguys Pizzeria, Fish House Market & Grill
- Dog Friendly, $2 admission to Orange County Zoo
Saturday, April 14th at 10 AM
- O'Neill Park Hike (Laguna Canyon): The park encompasses 3,000 acres of woodland and brushy hills, taking in Trabuco Canyon and neighboring Live Oak Canyon. This hike leaves the wooded canyon behind and ascends to Ocean Vista Point. The vistas include nearby peaks, canyons, and the promised Pacific. Distance 3.2 miles roundtrip, elevation 700 ft. (moderate).
- Google Map: Click Here!
- Directions: From the San Diego Freeway (5) in Lake Forest, exit on El Toro Road and head 7.5 miles east to the junction known as Cooks Corner. Santiago Canyon Road angles left (north) but you veer right on Live Oak Canyon Road (S19) and follow Live Oak Canyon Road east then south 3 miles to the O’Neill Regional Park entrance on the right. Past the park entry station, make a right to reach the parking area and signed Live Oak Trail and Spaulding Nature Trail trailhead in a quarter mile.
- Parking: $5 Parking Fee, parking on Chisholm Rd. is free
- After Hike Lunch Options: Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill, Tutto Fresco
- Dog Friendly
Summer 2012: Date TBD
- Crystal Cove State Park Hike (Laguna Beach): Crystal Cove State Park has 3.2 miles of beach and 2,400 acres of undeveloped woodland, which is popular for hiking and horseback riding. The offshore waters are designated as an underwater park. Crystal Cove is used by mountain bikers inland and scuba and skin divers underwater. The beach is popular with swimmers and surfers. Visitors can explore tidepools and sandy coves. Distance 2 miles, slight elevation gain (easy), some rocky terrain.
- Directions: Crystal Cove State Park is situated halfway between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach on Pacific Coast Highway. Driving South on PCH from Corona del Mar look for Cameo Shores Road, which is shortly before the park on the right. Turn right on Cameo Shores Road and take immediate right on Hamden Road.
- Parking: Free parking is on the right.
- After Hike Lunch Options: To refuel, group will pick from a number of nearby beach restaurant options, like the Crystal Cove Shake Shack.
- Dogs welcome on paved trails, but not permitted on beach.
