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Visit a surviving remnant of open space at south Orange County's Riley Wilderness Park.

Orange County's Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park -- a wilderness in name only -- spreads over 475 acres of rolling hills and oak-lined ravines and includes about five miles of trails open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. Like much of south Orange County, the area including and surrounding the park used to host many more cattle than people. A boom in housing construction during the past decade helped push Orange County's population over that of San Diego County -- and much of that construction has taken (and continues to take) place here. Increasingly, the park will assume the role of an island of open space in a sea of suburban sprawl.

Finding Riley Wilderness Park is easy. Simply take the Oso Parkway exit from Interstate 5 and drive six miles east to the park's entrance on the right. Park hours are 7 a.m. to sunset; a small fee is charged for parking your car.

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The following moderately easy trek around the park's perimeter is rewarding. From the parking lot, head north on oak-shaded Wagon Wheel Canyon Trail, which runs parallel to Oso Parkway. After 0.4 mile, turn left, cross the shallow bottom of Wagon Wheel Canyon, and double back south on Pheasant Run Trail. After a gentle rise and a fall you arrive at the Mule Deer Trail, nearly back at the starting point. Make a sharp right and start climbing again. The late winter and early spring season brings forth a good display of wildflowers on the grassy hillsides ahead: shooting stars, lupine, wild hyacinth, and monkey flower. Later in the spring, blooming mustard paints yellow patches across these slopes.

The crooked climb on the Mule Deer Trail leads toward a ridgetop trail junction. Skink Vista Point, offering a somewhat wider view of the park and its surroundings, lies on the bald ridgeline a little higher and farther north of that junction. Jog left a little and turn right, starting a short and sharp descent into a shallow valley. Proceed south down the valley past an old stock pond, noting the sign for Horned Toad Vista Point on the right. The short and steep side trip up through aromatic sage-scrub vegetation is worth it; from the top of the trail you can gaze down on the most pristine and secluded parts of the park.

Returning to the previous trail, turn right and descend toward the oak- and sycamore-dotted floor of the valley. By staying right at all subsequent junctions you will return to the parking lot, approaching it from the south.

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Orange County's Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park -- a wilderness in name only -- spreads over 475 acres of rolling hills and oak-lined ravines and includes about five miles of trails open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. Like much of south Orange County, the area including and surrounding the park used to host many more cattle than people. A boom in housing construction during the past decade helped push Orange County's population over that of San Diego County -- and much of that construction has taken (and continues to take) place here. Increasingly, the park will assume the role of an island of open space in a sea of suburban sprawl.

Finding Riley Wilderness Park is easy. Simply take the Oso Parkway exit from Interstate 5 and drive six miles east to the park's entrance on the right. Park hours are 7 a.m. to sunset; a small fee is charged for parking your car.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The following moderately easy trek around the park's perimeter is rewarding. From the parking lot, head north on oak-shaded Wagon Wheel Canyon Trail, which runs parallel to Oso Parkway. After 0.4 mile, turn left, cross the shallow bottom of Wagon Wheel Canyon, and double back south on Pheasant Run Trail. After a gentle rise and a fall you arrive at the Mule Deer Trail, nearly back at the starting point. Make a sharp right and start climbing again. The late winter and early spring season brings forth a good display of wildflowers on the grassy hillsides ahead: shooting stars, lupine, wild hyacinth, and monkey flower. Later in the spring, blooming mustard paints yellow patches across these slopes.

The crooked climb on the Mule Deer Trail leads toward a ridgetop trail junction. Skink Vista Point, offering a somewhat wider view of the park and its surroundings, lies on the bald ridgeline a little higher and farther north of that junction. Jog left a little and turn right, starting a short and sharp descent into a shallow valley. Proceed south down the valley past an old stock pond, noting the sign for Horned Toad Vista Point on the right. The short and steep side trip up through aromatic sage-scrub vegetation is worth it; from the top of the trail you can gaze down on the most pristine and secluded parts of the park.

Returning to the previous trail, turn right and descend toward the oak- and sycamore-dotted floor of the valley. By staying right at all subsequent junctions you will return to the parking lot, approaching it from the south.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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