Touring * Slalom *

From Interstate 5 in Laguna Hills, take the El Toro exit and drive a mile and a half northeast to Jeronimo Road. Turn right at Jeronimo and after you pass the Cherry Avenue intersection, enter El Toro Community Park on the right side of Jeronimo. Free parking is available down the driveway to the left. The creek trail can be seen to the right as you enter the driveway. Map: Orange County Bikeway Map, available free by calling the County of Orange, EMA/Transportation Planning office at (714) 834-3111.

The hilly route between El Toro Community Park and Sheep Hills Park delivers such a mix of scenery that, when you look back on your trip, it is hard to believe all of those images were actually strung together within the same three-mile stretch. Start skating south through El Toro Community Park II (that's what the sign calls it), past the sporting fields at the park and the driving range of the community golf center. Emerging from behind the huge green net of the driving range, the trail meets the north side of Los Alisos Boulevard and turns south between it and an arroyo full of brush that conceals Aliso Creek. Soon you reach El Toro Community Park I, and the route passes through on a sidewalk sprinkled with leaves from the eucalyptus trees that provide shade. Skate with caution when you see warning signs suggesting that bicyclists walk down the steep underpasses. At the west end of El Toro Park I, the Aliso Creek Trail enters a concrete canyon where it curves under Los Alisos Boulevard and into the city limits of Laguna Hills. Just around the bend, the trail makes its way into a small and more natural, willow-filled canyon that continues for a mile and passes under Interstate 5 behind an otherwise quiet neighborhood. When you reach a four-way intersection in the heart of the canyon, continue straight ahead; the two side trails are access paths serving the residents of the neighborhood. At the end of the little backyard canyon, turn left to follow a landscaped asphalt trail alongside busy Paseo de Valencia, which requires a climb of nearly half a mile. At the Stockport stoplight, the trail cuts diagonally across Paseo de Valencia to follow the path on the south side of Laguna Hills Road. A forest of trees at the roadside adds a rural touch to the urban landscape as you descend to the next corner at Indian Hill Lane. Turn left and climb steeply up Indian Hill until you reach the entrance sign for Sheep Hills Park. At both ends of the Aliso Creek route you just toured, more skating awaits. If you'd like to continue heading southwest, a fast descent down the sidewalk near the Sheep Hills Park sign takes you across the grass to the Sheep Hills-to-Wood Canyon leg of the Aliso Creek Trail (see the next listing). The Aliso Creek Trail North tour begins at El Toro Community Park II (see page 386).