Leader: Liz M
Location: Melinda Park (28951 Melinda Rd, Mission Viejo, CA 92692) intersection of Melinda Rd and Rancho Santa Margarita Pkwy
Directions: From Alicia Parkway head east towards the mountains (it’s a trail run after all) and go all the way up Alicia until it ends at Santa Margarita Pkwy and make a left. Follow Santa Margarita for ¾ of a mile, turn left on Melinda Rd.
About the Run : We’ll cross Santa Margarita Pkwy and head downhill towards O’Neill Regional Park for about 3/4 of a mile. Veer left after we pass Alicia hitting the dirt for thefirst time, head down a short hill to catch the Arroyo Trabuco Trail, hanging a left. Enjoy a flat wide trail until hitting mile 2 or so. At the end of this stretch we’ll go through anopen gate in a chain-linked fence. Bathrooms and water are straight ahead (you’ll needto go around some trees)—this will be the one water and bathroom stop until we come back around mile 8.
Take a left after we go through the fence but before we cross the street—there will be agravel area. Head towards the Live Oak Trail—when there is a fork with two dirt trailoptions, go right to stay on Live Oak Trail and now the hills begin. When the trail splits atthe top of the hill stay left to remain on Live Oak Trail. We’ll head downhill for a bit, after the trail forks two more times, both times stay left to keep following Live Oak we’ll climb up a hill that will take us up and up—channel your inner mountain lion!
We get a little downhill reprieve until the trail forks; stay left to follow Live Oak. There will be other forks but keep left until about 3.5 miles into the run and we’ll make a sharp right to go up Live Oak and we’ll climb up for less than a quarter of a mile to the Vista Point.
Once you’ve soaked in those glorious views head straight to go down the Vista Point trail and when it forks stay right. At about 4.5 miles into the run, the trail will dead-end into Hoffman Homestead Trail—make a left and go until the trail ends at about 5 miles into the run then turn around and head back the way we came.
Final Stats: 9.9 miles, 1480 feet elevation gain
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/custom-routes/copy-scrr-o-neill-trail-run-223d1f0?u=i&sh=91kbw3
Other options: Make a right on the Arroyo Trabuco Trail instead of left and you can run a fairly flat out and back.