One of the hidden gems of hiking in southern OC is Red Rock Canyon, located inside of Whiting Ranch Regional Park. We’ve hiked this a few times, and we actually discovered this trail on accident. We love hiking inside Whiting Ranch. In fact, one of the main reasons we moved to the area was to be closer to the park. One day, we decided to see how far we could hike in a few hours, and took Borrego Canyon Trail to Mustard Road, which is a little under 5mi one-way. At the end of Borrego Canyon Trail, there’s a 4-way junction, and as we started Mustard Road, we saw a little bench off the path. It reminded me of something I’d see in Lord of the Rings, and I had to capture it. I used a narrower depth-of-field to make the background slightly blurry, to give it an ethereal look.
After checking out the bench, we turned and discovered the Red Rock Canyon trailhead. Intrigued, we decided to save it for another day, since we already had plans to explore Mustard Road. Fast forward a few months, and Minhan was out of town. I really itched for a hike, and decided to explore it, so that I could show Minhan the way later. Compared to the stereotypical scenery in Whiting Ranch, the rock formations in Red Rock Canyon were so unique! I was really excited to bring Minhan. She loved it too, and we’ve done the same hike at least 4 times now. Here’s an example of some of the rock formations:
Red Rock Canyon Trail
Once we got to the trailhead, the hike itself isn’t too hard, and it’s only ~0.5mi. Not a lot of people visit this trail. In fact, it used to be a lot of sand, with just a sign at the end of the trail marking “End of Trail”. Here’s a shot of the formerly sandy trail.
We could climb the rocks and just explore the area. However, in the last couple of months, the trail has added features like guideposts and more explicit trail markings. Now the rocks are roped off, and climbing the rocks is prohibited. Probably for the best, since the park is still recovering from the 2007 Santiago Fire. The trail itself is teeming with life. We’ve seen snakes, woodpeckers, deer, etc. Here’s a shot of the canyon sandwiched between the cacti in the foreground and the beautiful sky in the background.
End of the Trail
At the end of Red Rock Canyon trail, there are so many beautiful rock formations. There’s even a small slot area off the path. Here’s a shot of Minhan before climbing became banned. I shot this during golden hour, and I love how the setting sun makes the rocks an even deeper red. Putting the trail and the canyon on the right allows the image to breath a bit, and I like the transition from red to green, then to the orange sunset.
Of course, we had to bring Booker here! This is him on his very first hike. Although he slept through the hike to get there, he woke up just long enough to look at the canyons before falling asleep and having us carry him all the way back to the entrance. Such a cushy life.
A Bit of History of Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park
In 1842, the Serrano family inherited over 10,000 acres of land. They used the land to grow corn, beans, and watermelon for selling. Their major source of income was through raising cattle, but the drought from 1863-64 killed the herd. After that, the ranch was foreclosed to Los Angeles banker J.S. Slauson and Associates.
Slauson divided the land into 10 parcels, then sold the land to Dwight Whiting in 1885, who tried to develop the land agriculturally. That failed because of the climate and poor soil. Now, Whiting Ranch is natural wilderness.
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park is huge at over 2,500 acres. Although there are three main streams in the park, I haven’t seen too much water in them except after a good rain. Apparently, there are still remnants of the cattle ranchers in the park itself. I’ll have to keep my eye out for those!
About 90% of the park burned in the 2007 Santiago Fire, and the park is still in its recovery phase.
Fun fact: we hiked all the way here just a couple of weeks ago to get a book shot of The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic against the Red Rock Canyon backdrop!
As always, comments, questions, and feedback are welcome below!
Gorgeous! And great phone photography 🙂
Thank you!