One Wrong Turn

In this Post: Hiking, Crystal Cove State Park, Perimeter of the Park Trail, Brooks running shoes, Keen hiking boots 
Map 
Weather 


A little over a year ago, AR, Kathy, Janet and I (Alan) hiked the Perimeter of the Park Trail in Crystal Cove State Park on a warm summer day. Today we decided to drive down to Orange County and see what this 11 mile trail through coastal hills looks like in the fall.

 A wrong turn took us into Moro Canyon

Except for all the intersections, the Perimeter Trail is a pretty straight forward hike on a combination of dirt roads and single track trails. Traveling clockwise, the trail leaves the parking lot ($15 parking fee) at 100’ above sea level, takes an up and down route to reach 900’ above sea level around the midway point and then follows Moro Ridge back down to the start. Since there are lots of possibilities for shorter loop trips that only follow a portion of the Perimeter Trail, we encounter quite a few hikers, runners, walkers and mountain bikers on this beautiful fall day. Most of them seemed to be familiar with the trails, but anyone who isn't (like us) will need a map.

We printed a map from the Park's website and picked up a free "El Moro Canyon Backcountry Map" at the Ranger Station. The website map is easier to read and use, but even with two different maps and AR's allegedly infallible memory, we managed to make a wrong turn today and ended up in Moro Canyon instead of on Moro Ridge.

The canyon was nice and we can now claim to have hiked 14 of the Park's 21 miles of trails. Just the same, I think the views from Moro Ridge are the highlight of the Park, so I was a bit bummed about missing them after putting all the uphill part of the trail behind us.

Gear Report

Brooks Adrenaline ASR 7 running shoes: Today I wore a new pair to of Adrenaline ASR 7  running shoes that the folks at Runners High recommended for trail running.  Didn't do any running today, but the shoes were a great fit (thanks to Runners High staff), gripped well and didn't give me any problems.


Keen Voyageur hiking boots:  In spite of hiking, backpacking and mountaineering for more than 3 decades, Janet is a tender foot.  Over the years, Janet's tried a lot of boots and these Keens are the first ones that don't give her blisters.

HR Fitness Stats

Elevation: 100' to 900'

Comments: There were some moderately steep uphill and downhill sections, but this was mostly easy hiking at low elevation.

Challenge: There are 21 miles of trail in the Park and we've (accidentally) hiked 14 of 'em in just two visits. Most of the remaining 7 miles are fairly steep and somewhat disconnected from each other, so I don't think we can cover them all in less than 2 more visits. Our challenge: hike all 21 miles of trails in 4 visits.