Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park is a public

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

in southern

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Whiting Ranch features

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, and

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

environments throughout various canyons and hillscapes. The 2,500 acre park mostly encompasses unincorporated land just outside of Lake Forest. The park is home to over 17 miles of trail spread out over 23 different paths, making the location a popular destination for mountain bikers,

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Hist ...

, and horseback riders. The park is close to

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by th ...

. Mountain lions frequent the park, searching for deer and small animals. While attacks on people are rare, they do occur and visitors are warned to be alert and not approach the animals.

History

Whiting Ranch was first part of a 10,000 acre

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

named Rancho Canada de Los Alisos that was granted to Jose Serrano in 1842. Following a period of cattle and crop farming, Serrano had to foreclose the property in 1864 due to a

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. Dwight Whiting bought most of the land in 1885 after it was divided up by land developer J. S. Slauson. Whiting developed a large portion of the property into the city of El Toro, now known as Lake Forest. Whiting Ranch was left mostly untouched until a 1959 sale of the area to V.P. Baker and Associates, who have since built homes near the site.

Amenities

Trails

Whiting Ranch is home to 23 trails:

Borrego Canyon

Borrego Canyon is a portion of the park that features an entrance point at Portola Parkway and the Borrego Canyon Trail. The lower portion of Borrego Canyon is tightly situated between two Foothill Ranch housing tracts and is covered with a swath of oak trees. Snakes, deer, and birds can be found living in this area.

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon is an area at the north end of the park that has become a popular location for visitors. The red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

cliffs are unique to the area and thus have become one of the most notable features of the park. Due to the gradual erosion of the canyon,

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

have been discovered there. In 2020, the canyon was inaccessible due to damages from the Silverado Fire.

Serrano Creek

The 7.5 mile long

Serrano Creek Serrano Creek is a roughly tributary of San Diego Creek in the U.S. state of California. The creek starts in the Santa Ana Mountains in a canyon in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, near the boundary of the Cleveland National Forest Cleveland Natio ...

travels through Whiting Ranch.

Vista Lookout

Vista Lookout stands as the highest point in the vicinity of the park. At 1,500 feet, visitors seek out the spot for panoramic views of the landscape as well as the suburban cityscape of Orange County. In 2020, the point was inaccessible due to the Silverado Fire.

Wildfires

Due to the dry climate in much of the park, Whiting Ranch has been subject to numerous

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s. The 2007

Santiago Fire The Santiago Fire was a wildfire located near Santiago Canyon in Orange County, California, U.S., and one of thirty California wildfires of October 2007. The fire was intentionally started. The Fire The blaze originated near Santiago Canyon ...

devastated the area, burning 90% of the property and leaving a lasting effect over a decade later. 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 ...

, which took place in October 2020, burned a similar path to the Santiago Fire and burned through much of the park. The

Bond Fire The Bond Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Santiago Canyon area of Orange County, California in December 2020. The fire caused evacuations of 25,000 residents and injured 2 firefighters. The fire was very close to the burn scar of the Silv ...

, another wildfire that took place in the same vicinity in December 2020, did not cause much further damage to the park. According to the

Orange County Fire Authority The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for unincorporated areas of Orange County, California as well as 25 cities within the county that contract OCFA's services. There ...

, the forward progress of the Bond Fire was largely hampered by the Silverado Fire burn scar, much of which covers Whiting Ranch.

Wildlife

The park is home to various species of wildlife that are found throughout Southern California.

Mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, the only species of deer found in Orange County, are common in the park. They are preyed upon by an estimated 30

mountain lions The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

that move throughout the Santa Ana mountain range and its foothills. Mountain lion sightings are uncommon but have prompted park closures on multiple occasions. The park is home to various

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s, including the common

western fence lizard The western fence lizard (''Sceloporus occidentalis'') is a common lizard of Arizona, New Mexico, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, Northern Mexico, and the surrounding area. As the ventral abdomen of an ad ...

and the

southern alligator lizard The southern alligator lizard (''Elgaria multicarinata'') is a common species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Anguidae. The species is native to the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges from Baja California to the state of Washingt ...

Pacific gopher snake The Pacific gopher snake (''Pituophis catenifer catenifer'') is a subspecies of large non-venomous colubrid snake native to the western coast of North America. Description Pacific gopher snake adults range in size from 3–7 feet (91–213 ...

s, Red diamond rattlesnakes, Southern Pacific rattlesnakes, and other species of snakes inhabit the area.

Red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

s and

red-shouldered hawk The red-shouldered hawk (''Buteo lineatus'') is a medium-sized buteo. Its breeding range spans eastern North America and along the coast of California and northern to northeastern-central Mexico. It is a permanent resident throughout most of its ...

s can be seen flying throughout the park's boundaries. Both

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extrem ...

s and

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...

s are known to be present in the area. Whiting Ranch is also home to several small bird species, including the

cactus wren The cactus wren (''Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus'') is a species of wren endemic to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. It is the state bird of Arizona, and the largest wren in the United States. ...

and the endangered

California gnatcatcher The California gnatcatcher (''Polioptila californica'') is a small long insectivorous bird which frequents dense coastal sage scrub growth. This species was recently split from the similar black-tailed gnatcatcher of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan ...

Mountain lion attacks

On January 9, 2004, a 35-year-old cyclist named Mark Reynolds was attacked and killed by a mountain lion at Whiting Ranch. That same day, it attacked another biker in its defense of Reynolds's body. Authorities located and killed the mountain lion responsible and stated that they would also kill any other mountain lions they spotted for an indefinite period. Investigators later announced that they believed Reynolds was attacked and killed while crouching down to fix his bike after its chain broke. The attack was only the 22nd in California since 1890 and only the sixth time a person had been killed by a mountain lion in the state's recorded history. As a result of this incident, the Mark J. Reynolds Memorial Bike Fund was created to offer bikes to underprivileged children.

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=https://www.ocregister.com/2012/07/11/whiting-ranch-offers-family-mystery/ , title=Whiting: Ranch offers family mystery – Orange County Register , newspaper=The Orange County Register , date=July 11, 2012 , author=David Whiting , accessdate= December 31, 2020 Parks in Orange County, California Regional parks in California Santa Ana Mountains