The Start
Parking up at the Pacific Ridge Trailhead is fairly easy. There are ample free spots along the road and the nearby school/park. Now Pac Ridge is the starting point for a lot of hikers, runners and mountain bikers looking to explore Crystal Cove and El Moro Canyon, so it’s best to get there early to get a good spot.
This run starts down Pacific Ridge Trail melding into Bommer Ridge. The ground is firm and slightly bumpy, but the trail is wide and easy. About a mile down, turn left onto :
Lizard Trail
A narrow, technical single track that drops down into the canyon at a good decline. This IMO is the best part of the route. Hop down from stone to stone, and swerve around the tight corners. Once toward the bottom, the trail levels out a bit – though still at a nice pleasant decline – as it ends and you take a slight left, then right to merge with:
Laurel Canyon Trail
And you continue on running through the brush, with trees curving above you, providing shade and a beautiful setting.
So much of OC Trail Running is on top of ridges, which give great views, sure, but it is really nice to get to run down in the canyons with plants and trees and greenery around, not just dirt and scrub brush.
Following Laurel Canyon around to the right will take you to the Willow Staging Area. This is a small parking lot off the 133 Highway, that also has port-a-potties. And a few chairs if you need a small break before continuing on.
It’s difficult to see, but go straight across the parking lot and through a small opening in the wooden barrier to the west and you’ll come out on a fire road that follows along the 133 for 1.5 miles. This is a nice, easy run with soft packed dirt and a wider trail. Pass through another small parking area and resist the urge to turn up Big Bend. Keep going to:
Laguna Ridge
Take a right and start heading up. And up. And up. Straight up a rocky single-track for nearly a mile. It’s a great workout for your legs and technical climbing skills. At the top, turn right onto:
Bommer Ridge
Where things even out and you get to take a nice, firm wide and well-trafficked road for the 3.7 miles all the way back to the start. This is the main thoroughfare, so to speak, so expect to pass and be passed by all the hikers, runners and mountain bikers in the area.
Final Thoughts
This run was a fun one. I started as close to dawn as possible in order to beat the crowds, and mostly the mountain bikers. The nice thing about running down in Laurel canyon early, is that the parking lots down there don’t open until 8:30am, so the trails are fairly empty before then.
The Lizard and Laurel spans were my favorite, both for scenery and for the descending elevation :). It might be worth starting the route at the Willow Staging Parking – which would allow a nice even 1 mile warm up before the tough climb – but then the last half of the route would be downhill and shady. But potentially far more crowded, so you do have to factor that in, especially for the single tracks.