Two mile hike that has a fork in the trail that leads to Bommer trail or quail hill trail head…read more Very calm and well maintained trail. There's pickle ball courts, tennis courts, volleyball nets, a basketball hoop and playground. The park has an extension for the bike trail and a bridge with a little stream. Perfect location for a walk.

Helpful staff, beautiful area with lots of options for kids. Can't wait to explore more of the…read moretrails. Well maintained park and bathrooms and the indoor center is super cute. My kids had so much fun

This is a great wildlife refuge to visit, especially if you're looking for easy, flat walking…read moretrails. The Audubon Society is located right there, and it's worth stopping in for information. They have a small gift shop, clean restrooms, and I even saw people borrowing binoculars, so that's another option if you don't have your own. There are a few shady parking spots, which were especially nice on a very hot day, and there's also an overflow parking lot, so finding a space shouldn't be a problem. The first three large ponds are a particularly good area for birding. You can continue farther back on the trails, although there's less water and I found it a little harder to spot birds. If you're mainly looking to get some exercise and enjoy a walk, though, there are plenty of trails to explore. Overall, the refuge is kept in really good condition, and I enjoyed my visit. My only complaint is something that's unavoidable: it's close to the airport. You can hear planes flying overhead, and occasionally you can even smell aircraft fumes. That's really the only drawback I noticed.

You know, if we hadn't gotten stuck in the wrong lane on our way back to our hotel, we might not…read morehave ever discovered the San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary. Without knowing what it is, I would've guessed this was just an open green space in the middle of Irvine. Little did I know, this place is a whole lot more interesting than that...and a beautiful gem, too! While there are multiples ways in and out of the sanctuary, the main entrance and parking lot is on Riparian right off of Campus Drive (there is a second, smaller lot on the Michelson end of the same street, but the stretch in between is gated off). Regardless of which way you get in, though, among the first things you'll probably notice is how big this place is and how peaceful and tranquil it feels. Walking along the dirt paths through their 300+ acres of foliage and ponds/marshes, it doesn't take long before you start to feel far removed from all of the nearby office complexes, strip malls, and housing communities. As much as we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon walking around, it could've been so much better if we had been better prepared. For one, we parked and entered by that smaller lot, so we missed out on checking out the learning center, Audubon house, visitor center, and the Duck Club. What's more, we also missed out on the butterfly garden and didn't see many birds or wildlife. Part of that could've just been due to the time of year we were here, but it probably would've helped if we had gotten ourselves informed as to what to keep an eye out for! As awesome as the San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary obviously is, perhaps the most impressive thing about it is how it was actually built to act as a water filter, but disguised as a nature preserve. Quite an accomplishment to build something to serve an infrastructural, urban need while still benefiting nature! Even more of a reason to come back on my next trip to spend more time exploring the rest of the preserve, learning center, birds, and butterflies!

I did enjoy the cute French homes but I was expecting lots of close by eatery, bakery, and cafes…read more They didn't have any. We drove to 4th street market afterwards for food.

To my surprise we have a Historic French Park in OC!!…read more Thanks to the one and only Miguel R http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=VWmuhCSYSJyAuXRyckp1tA I learned about it He was really nice and organized and drew a map with the streets where we were supposed to see the best houses. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/8zO5dHp3SSuE8A97t_GeUA?select=aQ2biEO70qnwTt0wA1n_zw#2PUuyoNdkswVOk-MIg-IqQ http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/8zO5dHp3SSuE8A97t_GeUA?select=aQ2biEO70qnwTt0wA1n_zw#Se0fTizyT5VlKSQv2ug37g The walk was pretty nice, the weather helped a lot! But event though there are some nice colorful houses, most of them are not well preserved. Some need serious maintenance and some have been repaired without being consistent with their original style. You will also see some apartments in a not so Victorian style (sigh...) C'est la vie it's functionality vs historical preservation... The streets are quiet and is a nice walk, nothing breathtaking but nice for a spring afternoon. My next stop to continuing my Victorian education will be Carroll Avenue in Angelino Heights.

This is a great, small community park. It's cleaned pretty often, but I have on occasion seen some…read moreremnants of teenagers hanging out on the equipment, such as cans and bottles. I believe the park is meant for five years old to twelve year olds, but I usually see small toddlers there with their parents playing in the sand and on the equipment. There is just one big slide, sand, swings, and some digging equipment. It is a nice serene little spot, with a huge open grass area, and lots of trees around. There are no restrooms available here, so tends not to be super busy.

Hidden gem in Lemon Heights. Almost afraid to review it, so it doesn't get too busy. You can park…read moreon Peters Canyon Road and take a pleasant walk through the edge of Peters Canyon Park. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the lovely park with nice lawn and trees.

Possibilities are endless here at Jeffrey Open Space Trail. When they say "open space trail", they…read morereally mean it. It's a beautiful trail. Clean. Well maintained. Scenic and peaceful. And it seems to literally stretch forever. The trail is mostly pavement, with little sections of dirt trail. I used to train for a marathon out here, and I never reached the end of the trail. Mostly turned around out of fear of getting lost (and sometimes I did end up getting lost lol). But whether you are walking, biking, jogging or training for a run, this trail is the perfect trail for it all. Parking is easy, I park at the Cypress City Park. There is a bathroom right before you enter the trail, and I remember seeing another one along the trail. It is never too crowded, a perfect place to get lost in your thoughts and get some cardio in.

This trail is peaceful, quite with beautiful sounds of wind, trees, animals, water, so forth…read more You walk across street, bridge, and pass by so many trees. You get to see some art as well. There are bathrooms and drinking fountains along the way. ***Please listen to the song I am parodying, "Star Vicino" by Salvator Rosa.*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z0G3EqjNt0&list=RD6z0G3EqjNt0&start_radio=1 While you are reading my song parody portion of my review below. I see trees flow into air above us Birds and bees fly over with such an amor See the kids and the dogs Kids and the dogs Kids and the do-o-o-o-o-ogs Play freely and more All the couples walking for their heart And us foodies with all of our weight loss goals This park is mo-o-o-o-o-o-re amore This park brings people such health and such joy This park is mo-o-o-o-o-o-re amore This park brings people such health and such joy

One of the most peaceful spots in OC. The creek is special. Support the gift shop. Enjoy the…read morehummingbirds.

Came here today on a whim after visiting the Modjeska House just down the street from this place…read more The gift shop was open and we ended up buying some soap, 2 finger puppets for the kids, and a ENC tucker magnet. The gift shop was a museum too and had lots of interactive exhibits for the kids. We saw live snakes and frogs on display as well. Across the street from the gift shop was the actual sanctuary which is a 0.25 mile loop - you can finish it within 10-15 minutes if you want fast. An amphitheater and bird viewing area is in there as well. The creek was dry when we went but did see a small pond with lots of tadpoles. Also be aware of rattlesnakes as we heard they come out in the summer time. Trail was 80% shaded so was not so hot. Found out that TUCKER was acquired by ENC of Newport Beach in 2022 so you'll see lots of ENC gear in the gift shop. There are essentially 2 ENC locations now - one here and one in Newport Beach. Pretty interesting!

Not sure how I feel about this one. North Lake Park is beautiful, that's for sure. But is it a…read morepark? Trail? Open to public? Or private property? After taking a confused stroll around, I am still unsure. I've driven by here many times and always wanted to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find more info here on Yelp, as well as All Trails. So I figured it was a public accessible trail. Many people of all ages were walking, jogging, and riding e-bikes. But there was no specific way to enter or even a specific loop. Just got to walk around a beautiful lake, then turned around because I had no idea where I was going. Regardless, beautiful and serene.

A great lake for a walk and for fishing. The only minus is…read morethat the lake is private so you need a Woodbridge ID or you can be a guest of a person who has an ID.

WOW! I'm a history buff, so this property is just PURE MAGIC to me! Such an amazing representation,…read morepreservation and staging of the home of a true Renaissance Woman, a multi-talented artisan, celebrated the world over, whom you've probably never heard of. Madame Modjeska aside, my favorite discovery pertaining to the history of this property: Theodore Payne arrived to Arden from England after his scientific studies drove the interests that would lead him to become an amazing botanist, landscape designer, seed harvest and processing expert, horticulturist and preservationist of native California flowers, trees and shrubs. The Theodore Payne Foundation is still active in teaching, stewardship, propagation and garden design throughout Los Angeles. It's main nursery is in Sun Valley! What a fantastic find that the foundation nursery where I buy my native plants started with Payne taking a job as Head Gardener at Arden in 1893! But that was just the outside! The inside of this beautiful home is so meticulously preserved and staged to really bring the observer into Helena Modjeska's life. If you pay attention, you may even realize some scandalous questions to ask the docent on site. My questions were answered, but I felt my enthusiasm for the property outpaced the docents by a very large margin. I wish there was a bit more excitement for his subject, and more of a guided storied aspect, rather than simple answers to our many questions. While this is not a living history adventure and docents are volunteers, it's great that there was someone there allowing us to tour the property, but a more engaging docent would be appreciated. I am looking forward to returning this Fall. There are tables for picnicking, restrooms and free parking. Reservations are encouraged, for a space in the small dirt parking area and the limited time the house and grounds are open. Cheers! "CC" NOTE/TIP: The directions initially took us to a property at the intersection of Santiago and Modjeska Cyn roads, which apparently the OC Parks Dept uses as parking for events at Arden House. The actual property is much further along Modjeska Cyn Road, through residential properties and before the canyon road ends at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary. If you have the same challenge, navigate to Tucker and you'll see Arden House, on the right, just before TWS.

First heard about this historic land mark from Pageant of the Masters. Decided we needed to come…read morefor a visit and see what it's all about. Call OC Parks to get a docent led tour on either Wednesday or Saturday 10am. Each tour is only 10 people to keep it small and the interior is small so we need as much space as possible. House is air conditioned on inside which was perfect for hot days. We were lucky to get a reservation for Saturday in September 2025. Our docent was Bob, he was super chill and even allowed us to see parts of the house that we missed since we arrived late to the tour. The tour lasts 90min to 2 hours, there's just lots of information to share. You get to view the interior of the home and outside guest houses, pool and storage shed. Plenty to parking spots. Bryan from OC parks mentioned this place is closed starting in October 2025 because they are doing construction on the roof of the house. Be sure to get your tours in before that occurs, since the tours will temporarily end soon. Have fun!