Find yourself in the
Foothill Ranch/Lake Forest area with 90 minutes to kill? Do this 7-miler in
Whiting Ranch, guaranteed to burn legs. Not many people seem to run it, since it goes away from the park's main trail network. I hadn't, until this past weekend.
Run up the familiar and well-traveled
Borrego Trail, but instead of turning right at
Mustard Road, which the majority of folks do, go left (also Mustard). You will be rewarded with two tough uphills over two miles on very runnable fireroad, with a nice tree-canopied section where there is a creek, and at the top of your hills panoramic views of the
Saddleback Valley.
This west portion of Mustard Road ends at a gate at
Limestone Canyon, which is closed to the public. Turn around and go back to your car. It'll feel like a longer run, trust me.
For added hill work, go up the
Vista Lookout trail on your way back down Mustard (see map). This will add another 1.5 miles (total) to your short but sweet run, for a total of 8.5 miles or so.
A lot of seasoned trail runners seem to blow off Whiting, thinking it's all easy. It's not. Try this one on for size.
Run up the familiar and well-traveled Borrego Trail, but instead of turning right at Mustard Road, which the majority of folks do, go left (also Mustard). You will be rewarded with two tough uphills over two miles on very runnable fireroad, with a nice tree-canopied section where there is a creek, and at the top of your hills panoramic views of the Saddleback Valley.
This west portion of Mustard Road ends at a gate at Limestone Canyon, which is closed to the public. Turn around and go back to your car. It'll feel like a longer run, trust me.
For added hill work, go up the Vista Lookout trail on your way back down Mustard (see map). This will add another 1.5 miles (total) to your short but sweet run, for a total of 8.5 miles or so.
A lot of seasoned trail runners seem to blow off Whiting, thinking it's all easy. It's not. Try this one on for size.