A great day to spend in one of California’s fine state parks!
Water Canyon Trail in Chino Hills State Park
The weekend of June 20th was Save Our Parks Weekend (as blogged about here). To mark the important occasion and spread the word about California’s park system, I visited Chino Hills State Park. The 14,102 acre land is found at the north end of the Santa Ana Mountains in the Los Angeles Basin. It consists of mainly rolling hills and canyons, the highest spot at 1,781 feet in elevation above sea level (the lowest is 430 ft). The park is fairly new, created in 1984 thanks in part by a local citizen group called Hills for Everyone. Over the years, the park has grown in size with land acquisitions from various landowners.
This hiking trip would mark my first trip to the park and it definitely wouldn’t be my last (see hike #20!) The weather was perfect for hiking: cool, overcast and a slight breeze. At some points, it seemed the dark clouds would break, but it never rained. I was hoping to find more people at the park, but I’m afraid the ominous clouds and lack of cover kept them away. Unless you hike along the stream beds, most of the park consists of rolling hills of golden grass.
I fell in love with the park immediately. It is so different in ecology than the other wilderness areas of Southern California. The fine oaks standing proudly on rolling hills of grass and the wooded dells reminded me a lot of my years living in Fair Oaks, California when I was a pre-teen. The wildlife kept me from hiking too long, too fast for I was stopping every few minutes to study a butterfly, frog, or lizard. Although I was hoping for many people to come out and enjoy the state park on this SOS Weekend, I didn’t mind the seclusion on the trails. I saw only two other souls along the Upper Alyso Canyon Trail and Water Canyon Trail.
Thoughts about the hike:
- A non-native mustard grass has overrun the area. So much so, volunteers have come in and removed patches of them and planted native foliage in their place.
- According to a ranger, this park is a part of a wilderness corridor that extends all the way down to Mexico.
- If you want to do your part in saving our state parks from budgetary cuts, please go here to sign the petition. Thank you!
Resources:
Hike #19 Trip GPS Stats:
- Date of hike: June 20th, 2009
- Location: Chino Hills State Park – Chino Hills, California
- Length: 3.3 miles
- Duration: 3 hours, 17 minutes
- Average speed: ±1.0 mph
- Altitude at start: 716 feet
- Altitude min.max: 655/760 feet
This map was made with the data my GPS captured on the hike.
For a more detailed trip report map, check this out.
Photos:
Banie Canyon
A small frog calls Aliso Canyon home.
Simple beauty
Definitely not a through trail (watch the video)
Governor Schwarzenegger: Please don't shut down this park!
Should have work pants and gaiters! It took me 20 minutes to remove all the burrs in my socks and boots after this hike!
#1 by Bob Randall on July 9, 2009 - 10:18 am
Hey Kolby,
Stumbled across one of your comments that led me to your 100Hikes.com!
Glad to know you're a fellow hiker. I hike every week with my Nikon around my neck and post everything in photoblogs on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/rgrandall
Hope we can hike together sometime!
Bob Randall
626-641-7337
#2 by Angela on July 9, 2009 - 6:22 pm
Just came across your blog through Best Hikes. Good for you- great goal!
I love to hike and California has some of the best hiking in the world.
My husband and I hiked La Jolla Canyon in Malibu last week. It's about a five mile loop. I don't know which is more fun- the three hour hike or peel 'n eat shrimp, fried calamari and a beer at Neptune's Net afterward.
Would love to join you in the starting around November. I get crabby in the heat so generally stop hiking around now.
Good luck!
#3 by Kolby on July 9, 2009 - 6:32 pm
Hey Bob! Nice to see you here! Small world! I'd love to have you join me on a hike. Since I'm hiking an average of three hikes a week, you let me know when a good weekday morning or weekend day is good for you and we'll try to plan something. Take a look at my hiking calendar on the right side of my main blog page for an idea of when I'm free. If I'm in town, I can move things around to go for a hike with you.
I just added the Rancho Palo Verdes sea coves hike onto my list! Great inspirational photos!
send me an e-mail: kahunna@gmail.com
#4 by Kolby on July 9, 2009 - 6:34 pm
I can't think of a better way to celebrate a hike than to eat seafood on the beach! Thanks for the suggestion. You're welcome to join me anytime. Don't remind me of the heat! I need to get creative in order to keep up my 3-hikes-a-week pace.
#5 by Angela on July 9, 2009 - 6:40 pm
Yes- seafood and beer after a hike is the best! It's actually the only time I drink beer (not that I don't drink, just that I usually drink wine).
Re: the heat- you seem to have the right idea- Portland, Chino, the Sierras- that's the way to go. I'm going to keep track of your calendar and definitely join you. I'll let you in on my favorite hike in So Cal which is Mishe Mokwe (sp?) loop – it's off Yerba Buena road, again- right by Neptune's Net! Do you know that hike?
#6 by Kolby on July 9, 2009 - 7:31 pm
Yes, ten days of hiking in Oregon coming up should be a nice change of temp! (I won't be in Portland though but based in Bend.)
Yes, I've done Miche Mokwa, but not the full loop (see hike #6). I love that trail! I'm pretty sure I'll be doing the full loop on one of my 100 hikes.
#7 by Bob Randall on July 9, 2009 - 10:30 pm
After a hike around the Miche Mokwa Trail to Sandstone Peak, a GREAT two-fer is to make the short drive to Circle X Ranch and take the short hike (1-2 miles) down to The Grotto — it's a small underground cavern with a falls and a river running through it …. here's some photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/rgrandall/Sandstone...
Bob
#8 by Angela on July 10, 2009 - 12:11 am
Yes! The grotto is fantastic! Some days it's hard to choose between those two hikes- the Miche Mokwa is more than enough for one day for me. But the grotto is another favorite- good call.
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