Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

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

English garden gone wild in Anaheim

Discover Orange County's Oak Canyon Nature Center and try out its short trail system

Oak Canyon Nature Center, a 60-acre natural park tucked amid the hilly housing tracts of eastern Anaheim, offers small kids (and their interested parents) plenty of room to roam on its tightly nested five miles' worth of hiking trails. It's pretty hard for the little ones to get seriously lost, and the price is right -- free. For adults, this is a park to savor slowly. Habitats include a trickling stream shaded by coast live oaks and hillsides coated with chaparral and sage-scrub vegetation. On the heels of wet weather (as Anaheim has had of late), wildflower displays can be spectacular here. Through April and May, the most prolific bloomer will likely be sticky monkeyflower, which paints the slopes a brilliant yellow.

Environmental education is Oak Canyon Nature Center's primary mission. A slew of workshops and hikes for families and individuals (primarily Anaheim residents) are offered year round. On certain summer evenings, "Nature Nights" -- a twilight walk followed by a presentation in the center's outdoor amphitheater -- is offered. Normal hours for the center are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No bikes, picnicking, or pets are allowed on the trails.

Sponsored
Sponsored

To reach Oak Canyon Nature Center from the Riverside Freeway (Highway 91), exit at Imperial Highway, and drive one mile south to Nohl Ranch Road. Turn left there and go east two miles to Walnut Canyon Road. Turn left and continue to the end of the road. A few steps from the parking lot will take you to a beautiful new interpretive center, nestled under spreading oaks, where you can view some exhibits and pick up a detailed trail map.

In the park itself, numerous short trails diverge from the "Main Road," which is a wide path paralleling a small stream in the bottom of Oak Canyon. The Stream Trail meanders through the thick of the riparian and oak woodland habitats, while the Roadrunner Ridge and Bluebird trails ascend onto the steep slopes overlooking the ravine bottom. During most of the year you'll find less of interest high on the shadeless, scrub-covered slopes than down amid the oaks. Right now, though, with the area at its vernal and floral peak, you'll want to gravitate toward the slopes on the south side, where blooming native plants stand shoulder to shoulder as in an English garden gone wild.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

Oak Canyon Nature Center, a 60-acre natural park tucked amid the hilly housing tracts of eastern Anaheim, offers small kids (and their interested parents) plenty of room to roam on its tightly nested five miles' worth of hiking trails. It's pretty hard for the little ones to get seriously lost, and the price is right -- free. For adults, this is a park to savor slowly. Habitats include a trickling stream shaded by coast live oaks and hillsides coated with chaparral and sage-scrub vegetation. On the heels of wet weather (as Anaheim has had of late), wildflower displays can be spectacular here. Through April and May, the most prolific bloomer will likely be sticky monkeyflower, which paints the slopes a brilliant yellow.

Environmental education is Oak Canyon Nature Center's primary mission. A slew of workshops and hikes for families and individuals (primarily Anaheim residents) are offered year round. On certain summer evenings, "Nature Nights" -- a twilight walk followed by a presentation in the center's outdoor amphitheater -- is offered. Normal hours for the center are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No bikes, picnicking, or pets are allowed on the trails.

Sponsored
Sponsored

To reach Oak Canyon Nature Center from the Riverside Freeway (Highway 91), exit at Imperial Highway, and drive one mile south to Nohl Ranch Road. Turn left there and go east two miles to Walnut Canyon Road. Turn left and continue to the end of the road. A few steps from the parking lot will take you to a beautiful new interpretive center, nestled under spreading oaks, where you can view some exhibits and pick up a detailed trail map.

In the park itself, numerous short trails diverge from the "Main Road," which is a wide path paralleling a small stream in the bottom of Oak Canyon. The Stream Trail meanders through the thick of the riparian and oak woodland habitats, while the Roadrunner Ridge and Bluebird trails ascend onto the steep slopes overlooking the ravine bottom. During most of the year you'll find less of interest high on the shadeless, scrub-covered slopes than down amid the oaks. Right now, though, with the area at its vernal and floral peak, you'll want to gravitate toward the slopes on the south side, where blooming native plants stand shoulder to shoulder as in an English garden gone wild.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
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
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.