Category: Irvine Regional Park

Hit the Trails and Connect with Nature During Restoration Activities on the Landmarks

2/2/2018

Volunteers are important to the health of the trails and surrounding habitat on the Landmarks.

Register for Trail Restoration programs on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks and give back to the local lands

The Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks consist of nearly 40,000 acres of biological and geological diverse open spaces and are home to hundreds of species of plants and wildlife. The Landmarks were designated as a Natural Landmark by both the State of California and the U.S. Department of the Interior after scientists identified the landscape as one of the world’s biodiversity “hot spots,” or an area with large concentrations of different species. Volunteers are a vital part of keeping the trails and surrounding habitat healthy for plant life, wildlife, and the enjoyment of visitors for years to come.

Enjoy Nature at Your Own Pace with Self-Guided Access Trails

1/12/2018

Visit the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks and start the New Year Outdoors

January represents a fresh start as a new year arrives, and can be a time to re-set and focus on goals to achieve in the New Year. While half the country is greeted with cold temperatures and snow in the winter months, Southern California residents have an opportunity to get outside in the sunshine and start the New Year off on the right foot. Grab a pair of hiking boots and enjoy favorable temperatures and fresh air on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. Hikers and bikers can take advantage of the warm weather and hit the trails daily for self-guided access on several of Orange County’s vast open spaces and preserves.

Explore Irvine Regional Park and Connect with the Land for Trail Restorations

6/2/2017

Enjoy the great outdoors and lend a hand by registering for the Irvine Regional Park Trail Restoration stewardship program.

Irvine Regional Park is nestled among groves of Oak and Sycamore trees, and offers visitors a wide variety of shaded areas, serene leisure activities, and is home to the OC Zoo. Rolling foothills surround the park and are home to a variety of wildlife, which greatly enhances the park’s beauty. To keep the park thriving and flourishing, monthly stewardship activities are held at Irvine Regional Park to keeps the trails and habitat healthy.

“As the weather gets warmer we encourage visitors to not only get outside and enjoy the Landmarks, but to consider registering for a stewardship program to connect with the land,” Irvine Ranch Conservancy Deputy Director, Dave Raetz said. “Irvine Regional Park is a highly attended park with a great amount of visitorship, and it’s really wonderful that this program offers nature lovers a chance to give back to the land.”

Volunteers Needed to ‘Adopt’ Local Canyons

9/4/2015

Each time you hike or ride past a hill in the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks and see a little brightly-colored flag, that’s a sign of native habitat on the rebound. Land managers develop and plan ongoing restoration and invasive plant removal projects, but long-term health of local wildlands depends on long-term support from community volunteers. If you have a favorite trail or view, consider pitching in and “adopting” that canyon. OC Parks, City of Irvine and City of Newport Beach all have opportunities to help restore habitat in the natural places you love.

To further the goal of long-term habitat health, organizations such as Irvine Ranch Conservancy organize monthly volunteer stewardship opportunities to allow members of the community to give their time in the same location over time. This rewarding habit allows volunteers to see the fruits of their efforts every time the revisit the canyon they love. The difficulty level of each activity varies, but all tools and training are provided. There are a few of these monthly activities coming up this week, and you can click here to see all of the volunteer stewardship opportunities that happen monthly.

Hitting the Trails in Summer

6/5/2015

Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks locations offer a variety of outdoor activities for adventurous families.

Sunday, June 21, is the official start of summer. As schools begin to let out, and as kids look for ways to fill their days, you can help steer them away from the television remote or video game controller and toward some healthy outdoor adventures. While there are plenty of scheduled, docent-led activities for families, it may not always be easy to plan ahead. For busy families, there are also plenty of fun destinations open daily within the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks that can help create lasting family memories.

OC Zoo Offers Up-Close View of Local Wildlife

8/10/2012

Mountain lions, bobcats, deer and more are rescued and cared for at the OC Zoo in Irvine Regional Park; many are trained for use in education programs.

Many avid hikers log hundreds of miles on trails throughout the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks and never see a mountain lion or even a bobcat. Yet with a trip to Irvine Regional Park, anyone can see these cats, along with many other species of locally-native wildlife. The OC Zoo is operated by OC Parks, and also provides educational information and programs about these often elusive creatures.

The OC Zoo offers a unique opportunity to see and learn about animals you may never come across on the trail. It also offers care and rescue to animals that are abandoned, illegally kept as pets, or are otherwise not suitable to be released into the wild. Some of the animals are trained to be education animals, and zoo staff take these special animals out into the public for information sessions throughout the day.

New Mountain Lion Cubs at the OC Zoo

3/30/2012

Two orphaned siblings will join other Southwest-native animals on exhibit.

This weekend, two mountain lion cubs will make their debut at the OC Zoo in Irvine Regional Park. Since the cubs’ arrival in December, zoo staff has been working with the cubs to prepare them for life at the zoo, including teaching them enrichment exercises and training them to make medical exams easier.

The 9-month-old sibling cubs were orphaned and rescued late last year, and could not have survived in the wild on their own. They join other rescued animals at the zoo that are native to Orange County, but are not suitable to be released into the wild.