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OC Parks Newsroom
 | | Mountain bikers stream into the Borrego entrance at Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park just after its official reopening. |
Limestone-Whiting Park Now Open
Ranger-led hike is scheduled for July 20.
by Marisa O'Neil, Public Affairs Specialist on 7/13/2008
UPDATE - Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, which has been closed since October’s Santiago Fire, reopened at 9 a.m. July 12.
Hundreds of mountain bikers and hikers eagerly awaited the ribbon-cutting Saturday morning and streamed in once the park officially reopened.
The arson-set Santiago Fire, which charred more than 28,000 acres, burned 90% of the park, one of Orange County’s most popular hiking and mountain biking spots. OC Parks staff and other crews have been hard at work over the past eight months to make the park safe for visitors and help the land recover.
OC Parks staff, along with the Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County Conservation Corps, worked to regrade roads and trails, clear brush and fallen trees to ready the park for reopening.
 | | OC Parks Director Mark Denny and Senior Park Ranger Vicky Malton cut the ribbon, officially reopening Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park. |
New signs, trail markers, bulletin boards and fencing were installed to replace those that burned in the fire.
The rainy season brought major erosion damage to many of the trails. But it also helped usher in spectacular wildflowers in the spring and helped spawn new growth on damaged trees.
Fire damage to the park included:
-4,000 acres of land burned
-Hundreds of mature oak and sycamore trees burned
-12 kiosks burned
-Two bridges destroyed, three damaged
-More 200 trail signs burned
-11/2 Miles of barbed-wire fencing burned
-100 linear feet of split-rail fencing burned
 | | A burned cactus contrasts with new growth along Vulture View Road in Limestone Canyon. |
Some work that crews are doing or have done:
-Orange County Fire Authority grading of more than 10 miles of fire roads
-Replacing trail signs
-Replacing 75 water bars and trail steps
-Installing 100 feet of split-rail fencing
-Clearing and regarding 10 miles of single-track trails
-Removing non-native vegetation
A Ranger-led hike will be offered at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 20 up Red Rock Trail. The Ranger-led portion of the hike will be an approximately 1-mile round-trip hike.
Please meet at Mustard Road and Red Rock Trail. PLEASE NOTE: The staging area is approximately 1.5 miles from the Borrego entrance, making for a 4-mile total hike. This is a moderate hike, but not recommended for small children. Please make sure to bring plenty of water, sunscreen, appropriate attire and footwear, as well as a hat.
Also, check back for upcoming volunteer opportunities at the park.
For more information on volunteering at this or other County parks, contact Adopt-a-Park at (714) 973-6871. A One Time or General Volunteer Application process is needed.
If there are any questions regarding details of a document, or to obtain a hard copy of other alternate formats of the original document, or to have a document read to you, please contact RDMD offices, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm PST, at 300 N. Flower Street, Santa Ana, Ca. 92703, by email at ocparks@rdmd.ocgov.com, or by phone at (714) 973-6855.
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