Dogs not permitted.
Trails may be closed for three days or more following rain.

Nix Nature Center Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The nature center is subject to closure on holidays and to the availability of staff and volunteers.

Parking Fee: $3 daily. Machine accepts $1 bills and credit cards. Annual passes available to purchase in the park office. Please call ahead for staff availability.

• Park Map (updated 10/22)
• Parking Map

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park lies within some of the last remaining coastal canyons in Southern California. Forty miles of trails lead the visitor through oak and sycamore woodlands and up onto ridges with expansive scenic vistas. Rocky bluffs tower above the canyon trails.

Visitors to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park can see California as it has existed for thousands of years. The Coastal Sage Scrub community covers hilltops and slopes, along with patches of Native Valley Grassland and Maritime Chaparral. In the canyons visitors can find riparian habitats lined by Willow, Oak, and Sycamore trees. After a plentiful winter rain, the ephemeral streams spring to life. In the summer, you can easily pass through the seasonally dry creek beds.

The park is part of the Natural Community Conservation Planning program, which is designed to protect rare and endangered species, from California Gnatcatcher to Orange-Throated Whiptail, by preserving large tracts of Orange County’s rapidly disappearing Coastal Sage Scrub community. Other species benefit from this preservation, including Mule Deer, Long-tailed Weasel, Bobcat, Red-tailed Hawk, and many more.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park’s 7,000 acres are part of the South Coast Wilderness area, comprised of Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, Crystal Cove State Park, The City of Irvine Open Space, and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park (totaling almost 20,000 acres).

Visit the park’s award-winning Nix Nature Center to learn more about Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and for trail information and orientation.

• Laguna Coast Wilderness Park General Development Plan (1998)
• Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Resource Management Plan (1998)

Activities

Visit Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, where you can hike, mountain bike, run trails, or ride horseback through miles of beautiful Orange County natural lands. (Bring your own shoes, bicycle or horse.) Artists, photographers and writers find plentiful inspiration on the trails.

Regularly scheduled guided tours (by foot or bicycle) are available. These tours cover a wide range of interests, from fitness to botany. Guided by volunteer naturalists and park staff, they are a wonderful way to experience the park. Many kinds of tours are offered each month and can be found listed under “Events and Programs” on the park web page.

The Nix Nature Center offers a location to explore the meaning of parkland through exhibits and wildlife viewing area portals. Here you can enjoy scavenger hunts with the family, and learn from free, fun quarterly wildlife programs featuring live animals, American Indian customs, craft projects, and more.