Limestone Canyon Regional Park is a public
regional park in southern
Orange County,
California under the management of
OC Parks. The 4,000 acre park
is a part of the
Irvine Ranch Open Space, a designation of preserved natural landmarks in Southern California.
The premises is near
Santiago Canyon and at the foothills of the
Santa Ana Mountains, making it a neighbor to the
Cleveland National Forest. The park is just outside of the cities of
Lake Forest and
Irvine Irvine may refer to:
Places On Earth Antarctica
*Irvine Glacier
*Mount Irvine (Antarctica)
Australia
*Irvine Island
*Mount Irvine, New South Wales
Canada
*Irvine, Alberta
* Irvine Inlet, Nunavut
United Kingdom
*Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
and is accessible via
County Route S18. Limestone Canyon borders
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, another regional park in the area. The region was privately owned by
The Irvine Company until it was donated to the county in June of 2010, along with 20,000 acres of what was Irvine Ranch.
As its name suggests, Limestone Canyon Regional Park is known for its
limestone cliffs and
oak woodland environment that fills the canyon floor. Locally known as "The Sinks", the landform has been heralded as a "mini
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
". The site is commonly utilized by
hikers and
mountain bikers.
Frank R. Bowerman Landfill
The Frank R. Bowerman Landfill is a landfill in the western Santa Ana Mountains, in Orange County, California. It opened in 1990. The landfill is located between Limestone Canyon Regional Park and State Route 241.
It is one of the largest landfi ...
, a
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
opened in 1990, sits directly adjacent to the Loma Ridge trail of the park. The 725-acre facility is the ninth-largest landfill in the United States and primarily serves the cities of Irvine and Lake Forest. Taking in approximately 8,500 tons of waste per day, experts expect that the landfill will be in use until 2053. Despite being close to Limestone Canyon's boundaries and being separated from the rest of Irvine by the
241
Year 241 ( CCXLI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gordianus and Pompeianus by the Romans (or, less frequently, year ...
and
133 133 may refer to:
*133 (number)
* AD 133
*133 BC
*133 (song)
*133 (New Jersey bus) 133 may refer to:
*133 (number)
* AD 133
*133 BC
*133 (song) 133 may refer to:
*133 (number)
*AD 133
*133 BC
*133 (song)
*133 (New Jersey bus) 133 may refer to:
* ...
highways, the landfill is not associated with the park and is listed as being in Irvine.
Parts of Limestone Canyon as well as neighboring
Agua Chinon Creek in a 6.1-acre designation were part of a 5-year project that saw the removal of
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
and a full restoration to the area's native environment. Not long after the project's completion, sections of vegetation in the area were burned by the
Silverado Fire
The Silverado Fire was a wildfire that burned in October and November 2020 in southern Orange County, California northeast of Irvine. The fire started on October 26 around 6:47 AM near Orange County Route S-18 (Santiago Canyon Road) and Silve ...
. A "checkerboard pattern" of damage was left as some vegetation was burnt while others nearby weren't, and some cacti were even only halfway burnt.
References
{{reflist
Limestone formations of the United States
Parks in Orange County, California
Regional parks in California
Santa Ana Mountains