Wilderness Renewed : After Rains and Repairs, Lovers of the Outdoors Will Finally Get to Enjoyan Explosion of Greenery in the Reopened Parks

Just as Southern California weather returns to its normal blue skies and balmy temperatures, Orange County parks closed by the recent rainstorms are reopening to the delight of slightly claustrophobic outdoors lovers.

Park rangers are bracing for an onslaught of mountain bikers, fishing enthusiasts, equestrians and hikers in the county’s wilderness parks on Saturday and Sunday, the first weekend of open parks since the heavy rains soaked the ground and washed out many trails.

By Thursday, 11 of the county’s 12 wilderness parks had reopened, and some people were already venturing out.

“I was so pent-up from staying inside, I was popping wheelies in my living room,” said John Cox of Anaheim, a mountain biker who was covered with mud from his morning ride in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park at midweek. “Man, this feels good.”

Rangers fielded dozens of calls from park users about when the wilderness sites would reopen and chased away several people from the dozen parks that had been at least partly closed over the past two weeks.

“Sometimes it’s easier to keep the parks open than closed, because we have a hard time keeping people out,” said county regional parks manager Tim Miller. “People have been going stir-crazy.”

The pounding storms wreaked havoc on the county wilderness park system, causing mudslides and floods that washed out many trails. But using the strong backs of rangers and volunteers with help from a few bulldozers, the county dug its way out of the mess.

Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park near Laguna Niguel was the worst hit and is the only park that hasn’t reopened yet. An overflowing creek carved out a huge chunk of the park’s main trail, leaving a pit up to six feet deep in some places.

“The damage here was quite extensive,” said park supervisor Al Macias, “but we’ll have it ready by (today).”

Miller warned that any more wet weather could cause mudslides. “I’ve been hiking these parks and the ground is still pretty soaked,” he said. “Quite frankly, it wouldn’t take much to close them down again.”

For now, outdoors lovers are breathing deeply the scents of oaks, sycamores and wildflowers and enjoying the explosion of green that follows the rain.

“It’s so damn beautiful out here, it hurts my eyes,” said Mission Viejo resident Mike Mills, looking at the lush carpet of wild grasses covering the hills of Ronald W. Caspers Regional Park. “I always try to take a little hike right after a rainy time because it’s so nice outside.”

People planning to visit the wilderness this weekend should be careful because Mother Nature has done a make-over on county parks, Miller said.

“Everyone still needs to use caution because what used to be there might not be there now,” he said. “What used to be a 10-foot-wide trail might only be four feet wide.”

The ground can be treacherous because, although it looks dry, it is still soft in some places, according to rangers. Several trails are impassable and have been cordoned off.

“Appearances can be very deceiving out there,” Miller said. “We wouldn’t open the parks unless it was safe, but caution needs to be taken in all of them.”