page_title: Santiago Creek
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Santiago Creek / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: Lake Irvine, Orange County, California, USA
context_page_description: Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About 34 miles long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely within the county. The creek shares its name with Santiago Peak, at 5,687 ft the highest point in Orange County, on whose slopes its headwaters rise.
  The Santiago Creek watershed covers about 100.6 square miles in northern Orange County. The upper part of the creek is free-flowing, while the lower section is urbanized and includes parts of the cities of Tustin, Orange, and Santa Ana. Below the Villa Park Dam the creek is mostly channelized and flows only during heavy winter storms.
  Historically the Santiago Creek provided water for the Tongva people, whose territory extended over much of northern present-day Orange County and into the Los Angeles Basin. Native Americans have inhabited the Santiago Creek and Santa Ana River watershed for up to 12,000 years. The creek was named by the Spanish Gaspar de Portolá expedition of 1769, which crossed the Santa Ana River near where it meets the Santiago Creek.
context_section_description: Recreation along Santiago Creek, in its watershed, and at its reservoirs includes:
  Lake Irvine
  Lake Irvine was opened for fishing in 1941. A fishing license is not required to catch fish at the 700-acre (2.8 km²) reservoir. The lake was stocked with fish in the 1930s beginning with largemouth bass, catfish, and panfish. The lake is still stocked weekly with fish.
  Irvine Regional Park
  Irvine Regional Park, created in 1897, now occupies much of the lowermost Santiago Creek Canyon, between Santiago Creek Dam and Villa Park Reservoir. The park was created officially on October 5 of that year as "Orange County Park", and originally it consisted of 160 acres (0.65 km²) of woodland along the riparian course of Santiago Creek. At first, Santiago Creek flowed freely through the park, but with the completion of Santiago Dam in 1931, that was no longer possible. A boating pond constructed in 1913 then had to be filled with water piped in from Lake Irvine. The park was expanded to its current size of 477 acres (1.93 km²) in 1971, and has hiking, fishing, boating, and a small zoo.
  Cleveland National Forest
  The upper Santiago Creek watershed lies within the Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest. The Cleveland National Forest was created in 1908, and expanded to 424,000 acres (1,720 km²) by 1925. Several hiking trails run up the steep canyons in the upper Santiago Creek watershed, leading up tributaries such as Black Star Canyon and Silverado Canyon. The Joplin Trail leads up the canyon above the town of Modjeska to the summit of Modjeska Peak.
  Other recreational areas
  Other parks, nature reserves, recreational areas, and historic sites within the Santiago Creek area include:
  
  
   
  Santiago Oaks Regional Park — City of Orange.
  Barham Ranch — 509-acre addition to Santiago Oaks Regional Park; Villa Park and City of Orange.
  Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary — Modjeska Canyon.
  'Arden'—Helena Modjeska estate — Modjeska Canyon.
  Irvine Ranch Open Space — operated by OC Parks, programs by Irvine Ranch Conservancy.
  Irvine Ranch Land Reserve  — The Nature Conservancy.
   
  El Modena Open Space — City of Orange.
  El Modena High School Nature Center, Southern California Heritage Garden
  Black Star Canyon, Limestone Canyon, Baker Canyon, Fremont Canyon, and Irvine Mesa.
  Hidden Ranch — Upper Black Star Canyon; The Wildlands Conservancy
  Santa Ana River Trail
   
  Yorba Regional Park — Anaheim.
  Grijalva Park at Santiago Creek — City of Orange.
  Wo Hart Memorial Park — City of Orange.
  Santiago Park Nature Reserve  — Santa Ana. Santiago Park Nature Reserve
caption: Lake Irvine looking northwest towards the dam
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