Santiago Oak Regional Park is located in Orange of Orange County in Southern California. It is a popular place for mountain bike riders since it got many hills for people to go up and down. At the same time, it is also a popular place for horse riders and hikers. The park is very close to any city within Orange County. At most, it is just 30 minutes of drive away from people, but it does offer a quiet place for people to escape from busy city life.
The park opens at 7AM and we got there around 8AM. There were probably only around 5 cars in total in the parking lot, but many people rode their bike to the park. There is a park entrance fee of $5 for people driving their car, but it isn't bad. When we got there, we found out many hiking trails were closed due to the forest fire earlier and it is under recovery. However, the best trails are still open for people to hike on.
We took the Peralta Hills Trail to go up the hills and it was a gorgeous view over the park from the top. The foot hills were so green due to the rain in the past few weeks and the trails running over the foot hills were just gorgeous. We could also hear many bird chirping and felt like we were far away from the city, although we still could see the highway from where we were.
After getting to the top of Peralta Hills Trail, we took the turn and went down Grasshopper Trail. Grasshopper Trail seems to be a more difficult trail and more steep. We did not encounter any bikers on this trail due to its steepness. We also had to walk slowly on this trail. Oak Trail may be a better option for many people since it is less steep.
We got down to the hill and ran into many horse riders with their lovely dogs. It was a very gorgeous scene that we saw in the movies. Dogs running on the side of the horse with the master sitting on the top of the horse.
Overall, this is an amazing park to visit. There were also many orange trees at the parking lot when we got there. One thing to note is that there were many bikers on the trail. Just make sure you keep your eyes out and hike carefully.
EmoticonEmoticon