Portola Hills is a district in the city of Lake Forest, California in Orange County, United States. It was formerly an unincorporated community and census-designated place before it was annexed into Lake Forest in 2000. The population was 6,391 at the 2000 census. Portola Hills lies near Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park and Cleveland National Forest. Foothill Ranch is to the west, Rancho Santa Margarita in the southeast, Mission Viejo in the south, and the unincorporated regions of Silverado and Santiago Canyon to the north and northeast.
Rancho Santa Margarita is a city in Orange County, California, United States. One of Orange County's youngest cities, Rancho Santa Margarita is a master-planned community. The population was 47,853 at the 2010 census, up from 47,214 at the 2000 census. Although it is named for Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, which was in San Diego County, the city limits fall within the borders of Rancho Mission Viejo. At 20 characters long, it is the longest city name in California.
The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 61 miles (98 km) southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside counties.
Rancho Mission Viejo is an active 23,000 acres (9,300 ha) ranch and farm, habitat reserve, residential community, and census-designated place in South Orange County, California. Rancho Mission Viejo originated as a series of land grants to John Forster in 1845. The remaining part of Rancho Mission Viejo consists of a nearly 17,000-acre (6,900 ha) nature reserve and multiple residential communities slated to open in phases between 2010 and 2030. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,378.
Silverado is an unincorporated community in Silverado Canyon, which is located in the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California. Portions of the town sit on a former Mexican land grant Rancho Lomas de Santiago. Silverado is located at the boundaries of Cleveland National Forest. The site is a California Historical Landmark, and is located near the village site of Puhú.
California's 40th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, encompassing Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties. The district is currently represented by Republican Young Kim. It was one of 18 districts that would have voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Republican in 2022.
San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a 29-mile (47 km) long stream in Orange and Riverside Counties, draining a watershed of 133.9 square miles (347 km2). Its mainstem begins in the southern Santa Ana Mountains in the Cleveland National Forest. It winds west and south through San Juan Canyon, and is joined by Arroyo Trabuco as it passes through San Juan Capistrano. It flows into the Pacific Ocean at Doheny State Beach. State Route 74, the Ortega Highway, crosses the Santa Ana Mountains via San Juan Canyon.
Santiago Canyon is a canyon and unincorporated community in South Orange County, California. According to the 2000 census, Santiago Canyon has several hundred residents living within its borders. Trabuco Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Modjeska Canyon and Williams Canyon are tributaries of Santiago Canyon. Santiago Creek flows northwest from the canyon, then west into the Santa Ana River. Neighborhoods in Santiago Canyon include Santiago Canyon Estates and Falcon View Estates. The landmark Cook's Corner motorcycle restaurant is also located within Santiago Canyon.
Cook's Corner is an Orange County, California bar built in 1884 that is popular with motorcyclists. It is located between the city of Lake Forest and the unincorporated community of Silverado. Cook's Corner is situated in Trabuco Canyon, California at the intersection of Santiago Canyon Road and Live Oak Canyon Road.
The Santiago Fire was a wildfire located near Santiago Canyon in Orange County, California, U.S., and one of thirty California wildfires of October 2007. The fire was intentionally started.
Arroyo Trabuco is a 22-mile (35 km)-long stream in coastal southern California in the United States. Rising in a rugged canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County, the creek flows west and southwest before emptying into San Juan Creek in the city of San Juan Capistrano. Arroyo Trabuco's watershed drains 54 square miles (140 km2) of hilly, semi-arid land and lies mostly in Orange County, with a small portion extending northward into Riverside County. The lower section of the creek flows through three incorporated cities and is moderately polluted by urban and agricultural runoff.
Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About 34 miles (55 km) long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely within the county. The creek shares its name with Santiago Peak, at 5,687 ft (1,733 m) the highest point in Orange County, on whose slopes its headwaters rise.
Bell Canyon is a major drainage of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County, California in the United States. Bell Creek flows about 14.4 miles (23.2 km) in a southerly direction to its confluence with San Juan Creek. The Bell Canyon drainage is located to the east and parallel to Cañada Gobernadora, and to the south of Trabuco Creek. After Trabuco Creek, it is the second largest tributary of San Juan Creek in terms of length and its watershed area of 26 square miles (67 km2).
O'Neil Regional Park is a major regional park and greenway in eastern Orange County, California, United States, located along Trabuco Creek and Live Oak Canyon. The park encompasses 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) of canyon and riparian zone habitat, and includes campgrounds and trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding.
Rancho Trabuco was a 22,184-acre (89.78 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Orange County, California. The five square league grant consisted of two square leagues given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Santiago Argüello plus three square leagues given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to John Forster. The name "trabuco" means "blunderbuss" in Spanish. The grant extended along Trabuco Creek and Trabuco Canyon, and encompassed present-day Coto de Caza. The grant was bordered by Rancho Cañada de los Alisos on the west, and by Rancho Mission Viejo on the east.
Trabuco Peak is a 4,607-foot (1,404 m) summit in the Santa Ana Mountains on the border of Orange and Riverside Counties, California, about halfway between Rancho Santa Margarita and Lake Elsinore. The mountain sits on the divide between Arroyo Trabuco on the west and the Temescal Creek valley on the east. Situated in the Cleveland National Forest, it is the highest summit in the Santa Anas south of Santiago Peak.
Los Pinos Peak is a 4,455-foot (1,358 m) summit in the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County, California, about 8 miles (13 km) east of Rancho Santa Margarita. Los Pinos is the southernmost peak above 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in the Santa Anas, and provides extensive views south towards San Diego and the Pacific Ocean as well as views of the San Jacinto Mountains and San Bernardino Mountains in the east. The summit rises rather prominently above the main crest of the Santa Anas and is conspicuously visible from much of southern Orange County, although its actual topographic prominence is only about 610 feet (186 m).
The Municipal Water District of Orange County, commonly known by the acronym MWDOC, is a wholesale water provider, water resource development and planning agency., water-centric information, education, emergency planning, and conservation resource hub for nearly 3.2 millionOrange County, California residents, and businesses. Local water supply sources meet only about half of the region's total water needs. To fulfill the remaining demand, MWDOC buys imported water from the California State Water Project in northern California and the Colorado River through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan). MWDOC delivers water to its 27 member agencies - made up of both water districts and city water departments - who then, in turn, provide retail water service to the public.
Alume was a large Acjachemen village located between Trabuco Creek and Tijeras Creek at Rancho Santa Margarita, California. The village was also recorded as Alaugna and as El Trabuco in San Juan Capistrano mission records, and is also referred to as Alauna, Aluna, and Alona.
On August 23, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at the Cook's Corner bar in Trabuco Canyon, California, United States. Three people were killed and six others wounded before the gunman, 59-year-old ex-Ventura police officer John Snowling, was shot and killed by responding police officers.
