Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park is just over 60 miles north of San Diego. The trailhead address is 28373 Alicia Parkway, Aliso Viejo, CA. Aliso Viejo may have gotten its name from Aliso Creek, the stream that runs from the northwestern portion of the Cleveland National Forest into Orange County cities that include Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel for which the Aliso and Wood Canyon Wilderness Park sits on.
Aliso is the Spanish term for alder trees. These trees must have been what I thought to be oak trees along the Aliso Creek. The park is both a nature preserve and a sanctuary for wildlife such as the heron in the photo.
Now known to hikers as the Cave Rock, this sandstone outcropping was created by erosion in prehistoric times. For thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, the Acjachemen who became the San Juan Capistrano Mission tribes and the Tongva who become the San Gabriel Missions lived in the area. The caves that seem to be everywhere in the park were said to be temporary encampments for the tribes during their seasonal migratory activities.
The 4,500 acre-park is part of the 1842 Rancho Niguel Mexican Land Grant deeded to one Don Juan Avila. Ownership of the land soon changed and developed into ranches, business and trading areas, residential areas among others. The park is part of the 19,000-acre Laguna Coast Greenbelt and 38,000 acre National Nature Preserve of Orange County.
The Dripping Cave which is secluded in the thick of the woods is said to be the park's largest rock shelter. As in the other caves in the park, the Dripping Cave served as temporary encampments of the Native American tribes who inhabited the area.
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