Sage in the City

As luxury homes claim the ridgelines and traffic clogs lowland roads, it’s nice to know that in Laguna Niguel there’s still some space you can call “wilderness” and really feel as if it will endure.

Hike the trails of Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park and you never completely get away from signs of development. Towering homes look down on the park from just about every angle.

But as you get deeper into the ravines and farther away from the streets, the sounds of civilization give way to the screech of a circling red-tailed hawk, the rustle of cottontails in the brush and the babble of rain-swollen Aliso Creek.

Ah, Wilderness

After a morning hike or a ride (the park is particularly popular with mountain bikers), stop in at the Orange County Natural History Museum near the park entrance to learn more about what you saw or to see what you might have missed. Then, assuming you’ve worked up a healthy appetite, head to a nearby health-food bistro for the freshest sandwiches and smoothies in town.

It’s a day of sampling Laguna Niguel the way it used to be. Except for the smoothies, of course. Hey, we never said all recent developments were without merit.

A Walk in the Park

The 3,500 acres that make up Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park have known many incarnations. They once were home to two American Indian tribes, with Aliso Creek dividing the Juanenos from the Gabrielenos. In 1842, the parcel was part of the Rancho Niguel Mexican land grant, and sheep and cattle grazed the hillsides.

These days, the county park offers a pastoral escape from city life. Its creeks, marshes and chaparral, along with its stands of oaks and sycamores, attract more than 90 species of birds, as well as bobcats, coyotes and deer. At its highest points are views of the Santa Ana Mountains to the east and the Pacific to the west.

Weekday visitors sometimes have trails to themselves, adding to the park’s escapist appeal. But on weekends, mountain bikers descend--and ascend, for that matter--pushing hikers to the side with their knobby-tire chases.

The most common way to begin exploring the park is via the Aliso Creek Trail, which is all but flat as it follows the creek for about three-fourths of a mile next to a paved road (for official vehicles only).

The trail soon hooks up with the Wood Canyon Trail, which takes visitors to sites such as Cave Rock and the cool shade of Dripping Cave. The latter once sheltered American Indians and later the infamous Juan Flores gang, which, legend has it, used the cave after robbing a Los Angeles-bound stage.

The cave entrance is flanked by ferns and succulents fed by rainwater dripping from the sandstone above. It’s a great resting place, especially in summer.

Thirty miles of trails crisscross the park, so thorough exploration takes more than a day, unless you’re an ambitious cyclist or equestrian. Better to take the time to stop and smell the coastal sage scrub along the way.

The park’s main entrance is at 28373 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Niguel. It’s open 7 a.m. to sunset every day, unless rain makes the trails impassable. Information: (949) 831-2790. Parking is $2. And don’t forget to bring drinking water, because there isn’t any in the park.

There’s Waldo

Don’t have time to traverse the park’s trails? A condensed experience awaits at the Orange County Natural History Museum, 28373 Alicia Parkway, (949) 831-3287.

A visit to the museum, housed in a modular unit near the park entrance, is also a must before or after a wilderness excursion. Inside, you’ll find stones the Juanenos and Gabrielenos used to grind acorns, as well as mounted versions of many of the birds and other animals you may have encountered on the trail. Plus, there are plenty of live critters you’ll probably be glad you missed in the wild, including a Western rattlesnake, a California kingsnake and a rosy boa.

Then there’s Waldo. He’s a walrus-like creature whose 8-million-year-old fossilized remains are the centerpiece of the museum’s collection. He was found in Lake Forest, but he’s a reminder that all the surrounding area was once underwater.

Sylvia Steinhardt has been a docent at the museum for nine years, which means she has stuck with it through two moves--from a different site in Laguna Niguel to San Juan Capistrano and back again.

She’s eager to show off the ammonites, to point out the albino tule elk head hanging on the back wall, even to share a piece of the fruit in her lunch with the crickets that, themselves, will be lunch for the museum’s reptiles.

“We’re in a small building, but we fit a lot in here,” Steinhardt said proudly. ‘My grandson visited from Santa Fe, [N.M.], and he said, ‘Grandma, the natural history museum in Albuquerque is in a big building, but you have more in here.’ ”

The museum is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Entry is $2 for adults, $1 for children younger than 12.

Smoothie Operators

Patrons call H.S. Dhinsa “Colonel,” but it’s certainly not because he serves anything that’s deep-fried or extra crispy. Instead, the emphasis is on fresh, low-fat foods at Health Works and Juice Bistro, 27271 La Paz Road, Suite A, Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-9777.

Dhinsa was a veterinarian and a colonel in the military in India before he immigrated to the United States in 1991. He and his wife, Amy, opened Health Works eight years ago. Dhinsa said he first learned about homeopathic medicine from his father in India. He later studied in Denmark and England and now offers advice from behind the counter of his store. Health Works carries everything from detoxifiers to aromatherapeutics, brain formulas to those that aid digestion.

Amy Dhinsa is the resident “sandwichologist” and “smoothiologist,” as the signs above the dining area say. Among the popular menu items is the Chinese Chicken Roll (chicken breast, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, hearts of broccoli, carrots, green onions, red peppers and vegetable brown rice wrapped in a tortilla) for $4.89.

Or try the Vegi Pita Caesar Club (whole wheat pita topped with Caesar salad, sprouts, guacamole, salsa and julienne strips of vegi burger) for $4.39.

Kids’ meals are a healthful alternative to burgers and fries. Half a turkey sandwich on whole-wheat focaccia bread with fresh fruit and cookies is $2.99.

Wash it down with a 12-ounce mix of carrot, celery and beet juices ($1.99) or a Bahama Mama smoothie (pineapple and papaya nectar, strawberry sorbet, banana and peaches, $3.39), and you’re re-energized to head back to the trails.

Health Works is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

* To get to Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park and the Orange County Natural History Museum: Take the Santa Ana Freeway and exit at Alicia Parkway. Go west four miles and turn right at Awma Road (a quarter-mile past Aliso Creek Road). Parking is on the left.

To get to Health Works from the park, turn left onto Alicia Parkway and then right at Avila Road. The store is in the Plaza de la Paz, at Avila and La Paz roads.

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1. Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park

28373 Alicia Parkway

(949) 831-2790

2. Orange County Natural History Museum

Near Wilderness Park entrance

(949) 831-3287

3. Health Works and Juice Bistro

27271 La Paz Road, Suite A

(949) 831-9777