Silverado Canyon is a roughly 2,500-foot-deep (760 m) gorge in the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside c ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The small stream it is associated with, Silverado Creek, rises on the north slope of

Modjeska Peak Modjeska Peak is the northern mountain of the Saddleback landform in Orange County California. It is the second-highest peak of the Santa Ana Mountains, after Santiago Peak, whose summit is less than to the northwest. Modjeska lies within Clev ...

at the elevation of and flows north and west, past the town of Silverado to join

Santiago Creek Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely with ...

at after a journey of just under . The main branch, Ladd Canyon, is just over long. Its stream arises on the east flank of Pleasants Peak at about and flows southwest into the main stem at about near Silverado. They are part of the Santa Ana River watershed. A hiking trail/fire road runs the entire length of the canyon.

Background

The town of Silverado is situated in the canyon, with most of its buildings between the point where the canyon opens out into a valley and a U.S. Forest Service gate where the valley road enters the

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 ...

. The town is mostly residential; there are, however, also a few stores, mostly in the east side.

, part of Saddleback, rises to the south; Bald Peak forms the head of the gorge to the east, and Bedford Peak towers to the north. Silverado Creek runs year round, reaching its highest flow in winter and early spring, while diminishing to a trickle for most of the rest of the year. For its first few miles through the upper reaches of the gorge, its flow is perennial, although it has been known to dry up at the low-water crossing directly upstream of the Forest Service gate. By the time it reaches the downstream end of Silverado, it is usually dry. Most of its tributaries, including Ladd Canyon Creek, are also seasonal. Several trails run out of the canyon. One of the most popular is the Silverado Motorway, which was originally a

fire road A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebre ...

but now is overgrown with plants, forming a single-track trail. The trail climbs out of the canyon toward the northeast and eventually intersects the Main Divide Road, which runs along the canyon rim to the north and east. The canyon is so named because silver mines originally operated in the area. Tailings from the Blue Light Mine milling operation on the south side of the canyon still leak toxic waste into the creek and surrounding soil, and cleanup is underway by the Forest Service. In 2002, two people exploring the mine drowned in one of the flooded lower passageways.

References

{{Coord, 33.747644, -117.583231, type:landmark_dim:10km_region:US-CA, format=dms, display=title Canyons and gorges of California Landforms of Orange County, California Orange County, California articles needing infoboxes Rivers of Orange County, California Tributaries of the Santa Ana River Rivers of Southern California