O’Neill Regional Park

I came here to hike around and check out a camping spot. The hikes were nice, the trails were well maintained but pretty crowded even in the middle of the week. You have to pay to enter but it’s only a few bucks. We decided to not camp because the campgrounds are right next to the road and traffic. There is a biker bar down the street and we heard the roar of the motorcycles all day long. I couldn’t imagine trying to relax in a camp spot feet from that sound. Sadly, i doubt we will be back.

This park is absolutely fabulous! It’s walking distance from my house, and it has a dozen or more trails for walking, riding bikes or riding horses! You can camp there or just get a day pass and take advantage of their barbecues! I’ve had lunch their with my family and then walked into the nature center right by the park for the little ones and the nature center is really cool! You can do arts and crafts and learn all kinds of really cool stuff about the park and nature and animals. Definitely check out the nature center if you go to the park! I totally recommend it!

O’neill. We have camped here quite a few times and now we travel from AZ to camp here. It’s s perfect location for us as my sister lives right around the corner in suburbia while this makes you feel like your miles away from it all. Super convenient place to camp. Campsites are spacious, bathrooms have hot showers and there are spigots that you can you use to hook s hose to to refill your trailer or motor homes holding tank unless your tent camping then that doesn’t apply. There aren’t any hook-​ups so bring a generator if you can especially if it’s during winter and a cold snap comes through SoCal, which does happen.
If there is a negative, we noticed this last camping trip, there were a lot more what appeared to be as tramp camps or ‘homeless’ people «camping» which kind of made it a little more uncomfortable to say the least. Hopefully Oneill can get a handle on that.
All in all a quaint campground tucked away for pure enjoyment!
Happy Trails/​Camping

Today I went out to O’Neill Park just for a walk with my dog and to see what was out there. It was such a happy surprise to see lots of families camping, kids on bikes, horses heading out on trails and lots of beautiful inland California landscape. The Live Oaks and Sycamores had plenty of birds to hear and see. It was a morning adventure for us.

Great campground for all types of campers. Very close to civilization, so if you’re looking for something far from town or very rugged, this is not it.
At O’Neill, you’re just miles from markets, gas stations, etc. as an avid camper myself and one who typically loves remote and rugged camping, I still find O’Neill very enjoyable, especially for my young family.
It’s clean, safe, and local. There are showers, hot water, and plenty of RVers. At the same time, there is plenty of wildlife, hiking, grass, and trees.
I’ve camped at O’Neill about 10 – 15 times over the past 10 years and I look forward to it every time.

Lies, lies, lies! I picked this place becuse of the the good reviews and the web site made it sound peaceful. I didn’t come having high expectations to begin with, but cleanliess and common courtesy are a must for me. First off, i was lead to believe that it would be a quiet peaceful evening. Nope! Threre is a busy road just across the way and we heard 1 near accident and 1 car hit an animal. Not to mention continual road noise. The park rules say quiet time is at 10 pm, not enforced. There are adults yelling, with bright lights on their traliors and children running and screaming as I write this at 1145 pm. Our campsite had food cans under the table and trash in the fire pit. Aren’t they supposed to keep the sites clean? DO NOT CAMP HERE if you enjoy sleeping at night! Obviously the rangers that supposedly patrol don’t care about enforcing quiet hours either. Just booked a hotel room so we can get out of here tomorrow. Bummer, I was really looking forward to camping but this place is TERRIBLE!!! Never coming back!

Very nice park, with great facilities and trails! We this is our 5^th time here and always is great. Only down side to this park is the attitude of some of the staff. Particularly Mr. W. Holt. Every time we have been here there has been nothing but bad attitude and problems with this guy. Hopefully someone in upper management will see this and have a talk with him. For working with the public he sure does have a shitty attitude towards patrons.

My husband and I have been camping at O’neill in Trabuco Canyon for about 6 years. Its one of our favorite places to be. We go at least 3 times a year, and we love that its like 30 minutes from our house. We pack to camp, drive a bit, and we are there! At O’neill, you feel like you are miles away from «the city», but its right around the corner (so if you need more hamburger buns, or you forgot ketchup, the market is right around the corner).
Here are the secrets to a perfect trip to O’neill: You need to go in advance to walk/​drive the campground to pick your perfect site. Go there. Don’t just rely on the map on the internet to pick your site. Take the time to go look. Every site is different, and has a different feel to it. Some have a lot of trees, some have none. Some have a water spigot on them, some don’t. That matters. Some are huge sites, some are tiny. We always reserve our favorite site «on-​line», because the one we like, literally gets booked months and months in advance. Thats the down side. It all depends on the time of year, of course. We tent camp, and prefer to go during the warmer months, of course. Im sure sites are easier to get in the «off» season.
The park has bathrooms/​showers on site. The showers are solar powered, so there is hot water!!! The bathrooms are cleaned a couple times a day. However, the last time I camped there, it seems the campground has hired an «outside» agency to attend the bathrooms, and it didnt seem as clean as usual. But may be a one time thing (I hope!). There are Rangers on the property, that drive though the campgrounds every 30 – 60 minutes to make sure everybody is safe, and well. They do not bother you, unless you are doing something that you shouldn’t be doing. You are not suppose to bring alcoholic beverages on the property, but lets be realistic, of course people bring booze!!! The rangers do not bother you about it, unless you, or your group is out of control. This is a NICE, calm place. Its a family place. Its NOT a place of you to bring all your buddies/​family to get «hammered» and party. Its «quiet time» after 10pm. That does NOT mean you have to go to sleep. It just means its time to settle down. Be respectful to others. We have stayed up half the night with our campfire, just talking. Nobody cares, as long as you keep your voices down. This place also has amazing hiking trails!
It really is one of our favorite places. We can just get a quick «getaway». Leave on Friday, after work, and be home Sunday afternoon. Two nights away at this place, and we feel refreshed. They also have «group» camping sites. Sites for RV’s, and regular «tent» sites. They have picnic areas, and a really nice nature center. They also have a great playground for kids. They also have camping sites (away from everybody else), for people to camp with their horses. Those sites have stalls, and water for horses. Very cool!!!
There are wild animals… this is nature. Just read the rules, and regulations around the park, and you will be fine. You might see deer. You will for sure see all kinds of different birds. There are no bears, or monsters. I promise.
OK, down the road from the campground is a very popular «biker» restaurant/​bar. So, you WILL hear motorcycles drive by on the road day/​night. It does NOT bother us at all… but I want to be honest in my review, and give people a «heads up». I recommend you get a site on the backside of the campground to cut out a lot of the sounds from the road. You can buy firewood at the campground, or you can bring your own. You MAY NOT try to walk around the park, and pick up wood from the property and burn it. Just buy or bring your own wood. Also, this isn’t all the time… but also a heads up. You get people that are… how shall I say, not very smart. They will just wonder through the middle of your campsite. Kids, they do that sometimes… thats fine. But sometimes its adults who are clueless about boundaries. You can just ask them politely to get out of your site.
The price is $ 20 a night. To me, thats a steal. We love this place, and I usually have our trips booked a year in advance. If you are a «couple», this really is a cute, little romantic getaway. We have NEVER, EVER had a bad experience. Not in six years. If it is your first time at O’Neill, go pick your site in person. Thats my biggest piece of advice.
Have a blast, its a great time.

This is a very nice regional park. The price is $ 20 a night. That’s a great deal since it’s so close to an urban area. Yet being here you would never guess that. It’s pretty packed on a summer weekday. Lots of families chillin and having a good time. It’s pet friendly and has a creek running or barely running. I’ll be back for sure.

This place is out of control, loud music, karaōke all night long with a particular group of ppl, very annoying. Some sites have no shades at all. I don’t why anyone would camp here. It is hotter than neck in the summer time here, stay away from this place between June to October, it will be HOT.

As we age, my friends and I are finding more and more adventurous ways to celebrate our birthdays… Life is complicated and busy so we HAVE TO pre-​plan something and SO getting 20 of your friends together affordably for an all nighter… involves CAMPING.
Our birthday girl reserved 2 sites and her boyfriend reserved another 1 so we should have been able to have 24 people and 6 cars inside… this is when the problem started.
The ranger on duty was fairly corgial at first but as more of us started showing up her attitude turned horrible. Extremely disrespectful — we were playing by the rules and bought all the sites we were supposed to and many of us were even paying that stupid $ 5 fee for 4−5hrs in the park. She still made a point to give us sass about needed to book a group site next time (although very few people were spending the night) and it just left a bad taste in our mouths. Maybe because it was raining? Maybe she doesn’t have that many people who like her? Maybe she was hangry? I don’t know… what I do know is that we were there for ONE NIGHT and could do without that drama.
Day use $ 5 til 6pm but there was a special event on so they extended it until 9pm… I think this is kind of lame if I am honest. If the quiet time is 10:30pm, can’t day-​use be 10pm as well? Some people just wanted to stay for some dinner and smores but it was barely dark by 9pm and it was just unfortunate that guests had to go to save their cars from being ticketed/​towed/​locked in — whichever would have occured.
Learning center had some kind of snake exhibit on and so it was open late and we got up close with some slithering reptiles… unlike the ones we’d find in the domesticated OC ;)
SO the campground was clean with well marked directional signs, nice bathrooms and good table/​firepit/​bbq set ups and we really enjoyed a hike through the hillside on the Mesa trail the next morning. What we could do without is the day use ending at 6pm during the spring/​summer when the sun is out MUCH past that and less attitude.

This park is pretty, with a nice variation of trails so you can choose one that’s right for you regarding distance, shade/​sun, and difficulty. The grounds are clean and I noticed some beautiful flora that I haven’t seen at other locations. The staff were very friendly to us and our puppy. Dogs are only allowed on two trails which wasn’t a problem for us. There is a little nature center and a playground. There’s a 5 dollar parking fee.
The only negative part of our experience was that the place is a tad difficult to navigate. With limited time to spend there today we spent most of it wandering around and trying to figure out the map. Make sure to ask for the suggested trails list and get pointed in the right direction before you leave the entrance.

The park includes a campground and several hiking trails. The paved roads that run through it are also nice for cycling or walking with a stroller. The only thing I don’t love is that there are so many houses around. They’re building like crazy down here so come see this beautiful oak woodland while it lasts.

**This review is regarding the campground**
I had a great experience at this campground. Pretty large space with 2 parking spots, picnic bench, fire pit, and plenty of space of tents and activities. You aren’t secluded from the spots next to you, but if you go during a time that isn’t too crowded, you might not even have anyone next to you, like us. Our campground had a small trail up and then down into a ditch/​river type thing, where we had an AMAZING view of the sunset.
Ok, logistics. Keep some things in mind. If you want to bring a second card, it will cost you $ 5 extra dollars, which isn’t too bad! Also, they sell firewood here, which is super helpful.
The amenities are pretty good for a campground. Typical campground bathroom, but they were fully stocked, so no complaints here! They have water spickets all around for cleaning purposes, which was very helpful. I also saw a large grassy area and playground on our way in, but I didn’t actually check it out.
Overall, my friends and I had a great experience here, and it’s the perfect local place to camp!

The park itself and location are great! Fire pits were clean as well as bathrooms and camp grounds. However the ranger on duty the night of New Years Eve was horrible. Extremely disrespectful with her bad attitude and rude assumptions. She made myself and my group of friends (who happen to be foreigners) feel very uncomfortable from the get go. For example, we set camp up at camp 33. Shortly after being set up Diane Wallenberg — the park ranger on duty came over to inform us we were not allowed to camp there. She made us take down our tent and relocate– that would be fine — however her sour attitude and rude tone made it an issue. She continued to speak to us as if we were idiots. Completely disrespectful when asking simple questions. Later that evening more campers showed up where we were then confronted about burning the dead tree rubbish in the pit. We were unaware we were not allowed to burn it and did not continue after being informed. However after looking around us… Both other campsites were burning the same rubbish, equally as obvious as our camp. However she never said anything to anyone else.
She also accused my foreign friend of smelling like alcohol and accused him of drinking. He barely spoke English and honestly her attitude and insinuations made to our camp caused us to feel as if she was discriminating our group. Never did she bother the other campsites around us… It was very uncomfortable.
Hopefully Diane will read this comment and change her outlook and attitude when working for your beautiful park. Next time we will confirm her absence before camping again.

There are many O’Neill Parks. There is the camping and picnic area accessible off Live Oak Canyon Road. There is the Live Oak Trail which starts at Valley Vista in Mission Viejo. And there is the long arm that stretches down the Arroyo Trabuco. Each has its own character.
If you are looking for solitude, I recommend either the Live Oak Trail or the Arroyo Trabuco Trail. These run for several miles — the first over foothills and the second down a shady canyon bottom between Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita. Be wary of rattlesnakes and try to avoid the middle of the day in the summer. There is a bang-​up sunset visible from the Vista Point along the Live Oak Trail — you can see all the way out to Catalina and down to San Clemente Island from this point.
This is a more kid-​friendly venue than nearby Whiting Ranch, though you should keep a watchful eye anyway.

First time biking here with some friends and I was absolutely blown away by the variety this park has to offer! From dry brush to sheer jungle-​like trees you can find everything on these trails! We did a 16 mile course but you can mix and match a lot of segments. It’s mostly flat, we had more to climb on the streets on the way home really. I’ll definitely come back and explore some other parts of the park, it’s a great option for beginners bikers or hikers, but one of our guys combined some 50 miles of mtb here before, so anything goes!

The park is maintained really clean. Its also very quiet which i feel gives you more of an opportunity to feel like an explorer! The two times I’ve gone i did not see many people on the trails (i like that) other parks get really crowded. Personally I enjoy when parks are quite empty and quiet.
Parking/​entrance fee is $ 3 which is very cheap for a days worth of hiking!
Vista Trail (hardest trail) wasn’t so bad. It was a huge incline but is not as long as the other trails. During this trail we did encounter deer (they were so beautiful!) and we also saw and heard rustling in the tall grass (might have been a snake, bird, giant/​baby cat, etc.) but stayed calm, did not run and made it out alive.
The view was amazing! Really nice when you have the top to yourself. There’s a picnic table there in case you want to have a snack/​munch on food (just make sure you dispose of everything so the animals wont get sick from your leftovers.)
Mesa trail (considered one of the easiest trails) was easy (duh) but also adventurous. I think we might have gone off the trail. Or maybe that’s what they wanted us to think. Either way, we were going up and down rocks, over and under branches so it was fun. Saw lizards, birds and a spider!
Would definitely come back to check out the other trails.

I can remember back in the 1990’s, the (what is now dry) creek use to run about a foot deep in water. But as soon as they put pump stations up stream along creek to salvage the water, it never seems to get past Holy Jim anymore. Back in the day, we rented bikes here and you could ride n splash thru the creek on hot summer days and the grass areas were all green. I liked it way better then and you would’ve too. Maybe if the county would stop buying brand new county cars each year, they could restore the park… back to the way it was!!!

I’ll have to review with better tips and guides once I’ve gone back and actually paid attention to the trails I’m on, but I found myself lost in Trabuco Canyon looking for a hiking trail and came across O’Neill and Whiting Ranch and was glad I did. This will definitely be a staple in my weekend hiking.
I parked near Live Oak Canyon and started on an unnamed trail which looked like a short, civilized trail but ended up leading into some pretty narrow, legit, back country trails. I was stoked. I really just went to scope it out for another weekend since it was already later in the morning by the time I became unlost and found this place, but I ended up clocking in a few hours and around 10 miles total here so I was very pleased.
This was much less crowded than my normal Crystal Cove/​Morro Canyon hike, but also a little less challenging. After my hike I randomly spotted the Ramakrishna Monastery on the hill and spent the rest of my day there (see review for details). I highly recommend taking the time to visit this Monastery as it was a pretty epic experience for me.
As far as the trails at O’Neill…you can make your hike as short or as long as you’d like and although there aren’t spectacular views, the surrounding scenery is gorgeous.
As I always like to mention in my hike reviews, PICK UP YOUR FUCKING TRASH. I’m not above picking it up for you and chasing you down to yell at and hopefully embarrass you in front of whoever I can, including your children… but don’t ruin my nature buzz by having this happen, just be a decent human and pick up the wrapper from that Power Bar you thought was such a healthy option.
Aw, I’m grumpy.