By This hike is located in Santiago Oaks Regional Park in Orange, CA. These trails are enjoyed by hikers, mountain bikes, and trail runners year-round. There is a small entrance fee to the park per vehicle.
To begin the hike, you can take any trail from the parking lot. They all take you to Historic Dam Trail. From there, we hiked the loop counterclockwise via Santiago Creek Trail.
From Santiago Creek Trail, we took Oak Trail then took these steps up to meet up with Sage Ridge. Although the trails are well-marked and well-maintained, there are many trail options in the park. Having a map will be useful.
If you want to skip these steps, stay on Santiago Creek Trail and you will eventually meet Mountain Goat Trail.
Sun’s out. Don’t forget your eye protection! Check out cute affordable sunglasses at REI!
From Sage Ridge, hop on Bobcat Meadow Trail, then turn left on Santiago Creek Trail.
When you are about to take on the trail named after your nickname, you pose with it.
Stay on Mountain Goat Trail until you reach Barham Ridge Trail.
But first, we walked over to the scenic lookout on the opposite side to check out the view.
Now, follow Barham Ridge Trail to this location. There are many points on this hike where you can stop and enjoy the surrounding views.
Shortly after the flag, Barham Ridge Trail splits. Take Anaheim Hills Trail on your left toward Robbers Roost.
Taking in the view from Robber’s Roost
After Robbers Roost, we got back on Anaheim Hills Trail then took Oak Trail.
You can stay on Oak Trail until you reach Santiago Creek Trail and take that back to the trailhead.
That’s not what we did, though. I like side trails, so I added more trails to our loop. From Oak Trail, we took Grasshopper Trail, then Bumblebee, then Oak again. After that, Wilderness (R), Sour Grass (L), Rinker Grove (R), Towhee (R), Arizona Crossing (R), Lady Bug (L), finally back to Santiago Creek (L) and completed the loop. As I said, there are many trail options here.
Big hiking smiles from Bumblebee Trail
We went on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowds, but the park still had plenty of visitors on a weekday. After hiking, we enjoyed our lunch at one of the picnic tables near the trailhead.
Good to Know:
- Hike Date: 2.3.21
- Distance: 4.5 miles RT
- Elevation Gain: 820 ft.
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Fee/Permit: $3/vehicle (M-F), $5/vehicle (weekends)
- Trailhead/Parking: Santiago Oaks Regional Park
- Notable: exposed, view, heavily trafficked, picnic area with restrooms, hiking, mountain biking, trail running
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Happy Hiking!
Hiking Girl with Dog 
I didn’t realize how close you were to civilization. I was wondering how far you had to drive to get there and then “boom” houses. That is awesome.
Ha! This is in regional park so it’s closed to civilization unlike our usual hikes in the national forest. Lately we’ve been doing more this of hikes to scope out locations for guided hikes. 🐾💞
Looks beautiful! 🙂
It’s even prettier now with wildflowers! 🌸🌼