Laguna Coast Wilderness Park is the Orange County of the 19th century, a lovely diversity of landscapes highlighted by woodlands, grasslands and scenic ridgelines with handsome sandstone outcroppings. The 6,500-acre park also contains Orange County’s only natural lakes, which provide habitat for fish as well as for such waterfowl as geese, grebes, coots, cormorants and kingfishers.

James Irvine and his partners purchased the one-time Rancho San Joaquin in 1865 and the company grazed cattle on it for more than a century. Now, with the Irvine Company’s cooperation, substantial acreage in and around Laguna Canyon is becoming parkland under the stewardship of the Orange County Parks Department.