Hiking Trail Guide: Peters Canyon Regional Park

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Peters Canyon Regional Park

Distance
5.5 miles

Elevation
500 feet gain

Difficulty
3/10

City
Orange ,CA (92862) 32.87 miles from you Weather Map

Trailhead
From Interstate Five, take the Jamboree Road exit. Head northeast on Jamboree for approximately five miles to Canyon View Avenue. Turn left. The park entrance is about a quarter mile down the road on your left.

From California 91. Take the 241 tollway south to Santiago Canyon Road. Turn right onto Santiago Road/Chapman. At Jamboree, make a left. Turn right on Canyon View Avenue. The park entrance is about a quarter mile down the road on your left.

Description

Peters Canyon is a favorite of the local jogging and health walking set. The centerpiece of the park is a reservoir constructed by the Irvine Company in 1931. Bird watchers enjoy sightings of more than one hundred different species -- mostly waterfowl and riparian species such as tri-colored blackbirds.

The longest route through the park takes you around the lake and along the barren East Ridge with vistas of nearby bougeosis housing tracts. An invasive eucalyptus forest shades the south end of the ridge route and much of the Peters Canyon Trail which you take on your return to the lakeside pathway. A short side loop takes you through marshy creekside habitat.

For wilderness feel, there are better areas in Orange County, but for exercise, bird watching, and a taste of the grasslands that used to cover this area, Peters Canyon suffices.

Map / Directions: