
An alternate turnout option is to make a right on the south main divide and make an immediate left into the fire fighter memorial. From the memorial, walk down the south main divide road, to pick up the trail. A Forest Adventure Pass is needed for parking in both locations. There is also plenty of parking at both locations.
Description of Hike: The El Cariso Nature Trail hike is a short day hike Southern California as it is just over a mile in length to complete the entire loop. It is a nice trail with plenty of shade along a majority of the hike due to the abundance of pine trees in the area. The trail is a single track uneven dirt trail. Additionally, there are informational plaques along the hike with information describing the local plant and animal life found in the Southern California. The El Cariso Nature Trail hike has very little elevation gain and is not strenuous at all. Please use caution when crossing the south main divide road as it is a busy road. The trail goes through a section of the Cleveland National Forest where reforestation of pine trees has been very successful. It is amazing to walk through a pine forest in the backyard of Orange County at and elevation of about 3,000 feet. Remember to always be ready with your cameras as you could encounter wildlife at anytime while on this fun Southern California Day Hike.

Another fun fact about this fun short day hike is that much of the area along the El Cariso Nature Trail is where reforestation has occurred from past wildfires. There are informational plaques explaining the reforestation process that has occurred near the firefighter memorial. Here is a link to the Penny Pines Program to further explain the process for those that are interested to learn more about how reforestation occurs in our local Southern California Mountains.
Rating: Elevation Gain: Minimal (Easy), Distance: 1.2 Miles Roundtrip (Easy).Time to Complete Hike: 20 - 30 minutes.
MORE TRAIL WRITE-UPS ON THE EL CARISO NATURE TRAIL
May 25, 2009 (This Post)
View El Cariso Nature Trail in a larger map
I'm rather disappointed that no one who blogs about the El Cariso Nature trail remembers to insert information about the plaque with the name of Walker Richardson who fathered Penny Pines there and "blazed" the nature trail. I and my brothers included, helped him many times up there planting and watering the trees, when he was the district ranger from c.1968 to 1973. It's a shame that he has been forgotten this way.
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