500 Acres of Sweeping Views in the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness

Located connected the outskirts of Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda, lies 500-acres of Gypsum Canyon Wilderness located wrong the OC Parks’ Irvine Ranch Open Space. 

After being opened to the nationalist successful November 2023, astir 2,000 radical person visited Gypsum Canyon Wilderness. There are 7 trails successful full ranging from casual to mean successful trouble allowing options for varying levels of mobility and outdoor experience.

Benjie and Arlene Garcia from Ontario, Calif. said Gypsum Canyon Park is 1 of their favourite trails to hike, amongst different hikes astatine the Irvine Ranch Open Space similar Red Rock Wilderness and Limestone Canyon Nature Reserve. 

Arlene and Benjie Garcia (left to right) walk their Saturday greeting hiking done the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness trails successful September 2024. Credit: Fashion Castillo

“I similar it personally due to the fact that [the hike is] astir 5 and a fractional miles truthful with my acquisition of hiking, it’s doable,” said Arlene Garcia. “It’s not clip consuming wherever you person to walk a afloat time oregon fractional a time hiking.”

Lisa Roxas from Irvine, Calif. besides enjoys hiking astatine OC Parks with Gypsum Canyon owed to the little crowded trails, particularly successful examination to Crystal Cove. 

“There’s a batch much to spot here,” said Roxas. “There’s much vegetation and there’s a batch of antithetic trails that you tin get connected that are not arsenic crowded.”

Roxas hikes astatine slightest doubly a week and was drawn exploring the caller abstraction owed to the Wilderness Access Day lawsuit done the Let’s Go Outside website. 

Featuring stone formations believed to person formed betwixt 16 to 20 cardinal years ago, Gypsum Canyon Wilderness is location to galore plants and animals; including seashore unrecorded oak, occidental sycamore, mule deer, red-tailed hawks and California gnatcatchers.

Along the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness trails, visitors tin halt astatine lookout points to presumption the surrounding scenery and stone formations. Credit: Fashion Castillo

With 6 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding, visitors tin instrumentality successful the expansive views of the surrounding scenery and colorful stone formations from 2 scenic overlooks.

Maps amusement the designated trails and levels of trouble successful 500-acres of onshore astatine the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness. Credit: Fashion Castillo

Gypsum Canyon Wilderness is accessible done scheduled guided and self-guided activities and programs including Wilderness Access Days and scheduled aboriginal greeting hikes. While registration for Wilderness Access Day is not required, entree is archetypal come, archetypal served until parking capableness is reached. 

There are astir 100 parking spaces wrong the parking lot, which includes abstraction for equine trailer parking. OC Parks besides provides picnic tables and portable restrooms that are accessible to visitors. 

Visit ocparks.com/events for a afloat database of upcoming activities and programs.

Gypsum Canyon Wilderness provides 6 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. Credit: Fashion Castillo

CJ Stumpf-Barton, Nick Martinico and Roxanne Bradley (left to right) greet and reply questions of visitors to the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness connected September 14, 2024. Credit: Fashion Castillo

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