I really love living in California. From top to bottom, the whole state is filled with beauty. But I’m always a little surprised when I discover some of the most beautiful places are right here in Orange County!
This happened on our last visit to the Discovery Cube when we went on the Helicopter Tour. In this exhibit, you soar over Orange County in a virtual helicopter and fly from the mountains to the sea, over the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. The whole tour, I was thinking how I wanted to visit and hike the featured locations. And what do you know, there is a whole page on Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks’ site which shows the “flight path” and dates when you can visit the locations!
We went on a hike in Round Canyon which is an OC Parks proper and part of the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks – on the flight path, it’s between Orchard Hills and Limestone Canyon. It’s a state and national natural landmark!
We chose a sunset family friendly hike. I can’t even begin to tell you how many amazing programs the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks offer for the community. There is literally something everyday! You can see the full schedule on Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks’ Let’s Go Outside site. (Click here.)
You can search by date or area and each activity has all the information you need to plan your day. I recommend clicking the “Family Friendly” box in the search as well. And always check the minimum age for the hike (sometimes it’s 12 y/o and it would stink to get there with your 7 y/o and have to leave). The example below is for a Wilderness Access Day on December 5th. I’ve pointed out the important bits for the family thing.
This hike was completely led by Irvine Ranch Conservancy volunteer naturalists.
Volunteers people!!
And they were amazing!
We started our Round Canyon hike with a little safety lesson and our guide handed out a fun scavenger hunt so the kids could look for plants and animals along the way.
(Print your own here!)
We found 36 stink bugs…
And there was so much beauty…
Especially watching the sunset and walking in the twilight. It felt like we were miles away from a city.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many amazing programs the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks offer for the community. Check their full schedule here. I think a great New Year’s resolution would be to take a hike every month! Small Things make the biggest difference in our families.
My kids still talk about all the fun they had on this hike. Taking time out of our busy schedules isn’t always easy, but it’s so worth it!
(Blurry photo… don’t care.)
Don’t forget to print out the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks’ Scavenger hunt for your next hike!
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Patil says
Hi there, just had to stop by and say I love your photos of this place! I was rensrachieg a little on it to see if the hubby and I should check it out next weekend and I think we definitely will Looking forward to bringing my camera! Your shots (and blog as well) are lovely