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Mariposa Trail Loop in Laguna Beach |
In May this year, my husband and I went to Laguna Beach to
enjoy hiking on Mariposa Trail Loop. We found this trail in the book, 50 Hikes in Orange County, which I purchased to enjoy Orange County hikes.
Tips for Walking on Mariposa Trail Loop.
・Apply sunscreen on entire body.
・Wear sunglasses and hat with high UPF.
・Drink water often.
・You cannot bring your dog.
・It's moderately easy trail.
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My Mariposa Trail Loop Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App) |
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My Mariposa Trail Loop Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App) |
When I go hiking, I use
Under Armour MapMyWalk App to track my walk. π
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My Mariposa Trail Loop Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App) |
Parking (James Dilley Preserve Parking Lot)
There is the James Dilley Preserve parking lot at Laguna Coast Wilderness
Park. It opens 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and parking fee is $3 per vehicle a day.
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James Dilley Preserve Parking Lot |
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James Dilley Preserve Parking Lot |
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James Dilley Preserve Parking Lot |
Trail Hour
7:00 a.m. to Sunset
Parking Lot Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park |
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Laguna Coast Wilderness Park |
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Laguna Coast Wilderness Park |
In Orange County, mountain lions can be found in many cities. For
instance, in May this year, a mountain lion was spotted roaming a residential
neighborhood in Newport Beach, and it was also spotted on Laguna Beach
streets. In March, it was spotted roaming throughout a shopping center
in Irvine. Therefore you should know what to do if you encounter a
mountain lion before you go hiking in the mountains.
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What To Do If You Encounter A Mountain Lion |
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Laguna Coast Wilderness Park |
After we parked our car at the parking lot, we headed toward the trailhead of Canyon Trail.
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James Dilley Preserve |
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James Dilley Preserve |
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Laguna Coast Wilderness Park |
Canyon Trail (Moderate Trail)
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Canyon Trail and Lake Trail
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We began to walk on Canyon Trail.
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Canyon Trail |
It was a beautiful sunny day. This trail was nice and quiet, and we saw only several groups of people enjoying hiking there.
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Canyon Trail |
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Canyon Trail and Blackjack Trail
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This is the junction of Canyon Trail and Blackjack Trail. We kept walking on Canyon Trail.
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Canyon Trail |
There were many beautiful wildflowers blooming around this trail.
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Canyon Trail |
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Canyon Trail |
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Canyon Trail |
While walking on this trail, you will often find scat on the ground. As this park rule, you cannot bring any dog. Thus, the scat is probably from wild animals such as coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions and so on.
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Canyon Trail |
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Prickly Pear Cactus on Canyon Trail |
There are many prickly pear cactus around the trail, and you will hike up the hill.
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Prickly Pear Cactus on Canyon Trail |
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Canyon Trail |
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Prickly Pear Cactus on Canyon Trail |
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Prickly Pear Cactus on Canyon Trail |
You reach a flat open circle atop the hill.
We went down the stairs to the Ridgetop Trail.
Ridgetop Trail (Easy Trail)
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Ridgetop Trail |
This marked intersection (58) with Ringertop Trail, Canyon Trail and Mariposa Trail confused me a lot. At first, I was going to go Gravel Road (I should have turned left here!), but I ended up going to Ridgetop Trail.
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Ridgetop Trail |
This is flat, wide and easy trail. The view from the Ridgetop Trail is great.
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Ridgetop Trail |
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The View from Ridgetop Trail |
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Ridgetop Trail and Woods End Trail
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When we reached to junction of Ridgetop Trail and Woods End Trail, we noticed that we were walking on the wrong trail, so we went back from here. At that time, I started having heat exhaustion for my first time even though I wore a wide brim hat and
UPF40 Uniqlo AIRism hoodie. I should have wore a better hat such as high UPF one and drunk a lot of water.
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It was very hot that day.
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Gravel Trail (Moderate Trail)
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Gravel Trail |
We finally found Gravel Trail and walked down the hill.
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Gravel Trail |
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Gravel Trail |
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Gravel Trail |
Edison Trail (Moderate Trail)
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Edison Trail |
We turned right at Post 35 and headed toward Barbara's Lake.
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Edison Trail |
This shade of trees saved me from the heat exhaustion.
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Edison Trail |
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Barbara's Lake
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We finally reached at Barbara's Lake! According to the book,
50 Hikes in Orange County, in 1978, a hippopotamus escaped from Lion Country Safari, a wild animal park, and stayed in the Bubbles Pond, which was part of Barbara's Lake, for 19 days until she was shot with tranquilizer darts.
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Edison Trail |
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Edison Trail |
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Barbara's Lake
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After seeing Barbara's Lake, we walked up the hill on the Edison Trail.
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Edison Trail |
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Edison Trail |
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Barbara's Lake
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When the trail ends, you can still see the Barbara's Lake.
Mariposa Trail (Moderate Trail)
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Ridgertop Trail and Canyon/Mariposa Trail
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We turned right at Post 58 and headed toward Mariposa Trail.
We were back to a flat open circle atop the hill.
Then, we started walking on Mariposa Trail.
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Mariposa Trail |
It's a narrow ridgeline trail but the view from the trail was beautiful.
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Mariposa Trail |
Sunflower Trail (Moderate Trail)
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Mariposa Trail and Sunflower Trail |
We reached to junction of Mariposa Trail and Sunflower Trail. We decided to hike on Sunflower Trail.
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Sunflower Trail |
The Lake Trail (Easy Trail)
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Sunflower Trail and Lake Trail
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We reached to junction of Sunflower Trail and Lake Trail, and we turned left and headed toward the parking lot.
We were finally back to the parking lot, which closes at 5 p.m. I was glad that I could make it in time since I had heat exhaustion during this hike. After this hike, I bought
a hat which has an UPF 50+ to protect myself from heat and harmful UV rays.
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Mariposa Trail Loop
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We enjoyed hiking these trails. I liked that we were able to see a lot of beautiful prickly pear cactus, and we eventually reached to Barbara's Lake. If I hadn't hiked there that day, I wouldn't have known the hippo's story related to this lake.
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Barbara's Lake
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I thought this book was great and am looking forward to trying more hikes. These are my entries related to hikes we have tried from the book.
1. San Gabriel River to Turtle Overlook
2. Dana Point Headlands
3. Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
4. Bayview Trail
5. Crystal Cove Tide Pools
6. Aliso Peak
7.
Pecten Reef Loop 8. Bommer Canyon
9. Laurel Loop
10. Mariposa Trail Loop
11. Little Sycamore Canyon Loop
12. San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary
These are my entries you might like.
■Walking Along Shoreline in Long Beach, Los Angeles CA (October 2019)
■Dana Point Headlands - Dana Point, CA (September 2019)
■Green Sea Turtles in San Gabriel River - Seal Beach / Long Beach (August 2019)
■Quail Hill Loop Trail in Irvine, CA (April 2019)
■La Jolla Cove in San Diego (March 2019)
■San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine (February 2019)
■Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach (January 2019)
■Swimming with Wild Dolphins (Big Island, Hawaii, January 2015)
■Dolphin Watching in Dana Point (July 2017)
■Our Whale Watching Trip (Dana Point, August 2013)
■San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine (March 2017)
■La Jolla Cove - Beautiful Spring Wildflowers and Wild Animals (2018)
My entries related to wild animals can be seen here.
My entries related to Orange County Hikes can be seen here.
My entries related to sunset can be seen here.
My entries related to hiking and walking can be seen here.