Right next to Fullerton Fire Station No. 6 on Rosecrans is the entrance to a little-known outdoor route called the Castlewood Trail, which is listed on the City of Fullerton Parks & Recreation Department’s website as a 1.33-mile connector trail. Offering fantastic views of Orange County, the Castlewood Trail is primarily used by bikers, horseback riders, and local hikers to travel between Rosecrans Avenue and the corner of Castlewood Drive and Gilbert. On an overcast morning in early June, I had a chance to explore this mile-long connector trail and take a look at a closed-off portion of Coyote Hills hidden behind a barbed wire fence.
According to a May 6, 2001 Los Angeles Times story by Jerry Hicks, the surrounding Coyote Hills area “just north of Rosecrans Avenue between Euclid Avenue and Beach Boulevard,” which borders the Castlewood Trail, was once an “oil field, dating back to 1890. But the wells have been capped for years. All that’s left is an old maintenance road and a radio tower.” Both of which I saw while out hiking.
Parking at the far end of an asphalt lot on the outskirts of a baseball field across from Ralph B. Clark Regional Park, I walked along the sidewalk on the north side of Rosecrans until I reached Fullerton Fire Station No. 6 and the adjacent Castlewood Trail entrance. If you do plan on parking by the baseball field, please note the hours. Along the stretch of natural open space between the flat parking lot and fire station, I spotted cacti, a lot of dry vegetation, and a closed-off fire road that led into the rugged terrain of a blocked-off portion of the nature preserve.
The entrance to the Castlewood Trail is marked by a sign with an arrow pointing to two wooden posts. This pathway, lined by trees, turns left, while the Rosecrans Trail continues straight, following the road. One of the Castlewood Trail’s only trash cans can be found here at the beginning, so make use of it. Before starting on this trail, remember to bring a large water bottle with you while hiking because it’s important to stay hydrated while out on Fullerton hiking trails. Open space is on the left side of the trail behind a chain-link fence and neighborhoods are on the right.
Coastal Sage Scrub is the plant community that largely makes up this biodiverse natural space. This means that you’ll encounter a lot of California sagebrush and buckwheat, among other types of vegetation on this trail. According to the Friends of Coyote Hills webpage titled “A Critical Habitat and Biodiversity Hotspot,” the natural rolling terrain on the other side of the fence “is home to 15 sensitive, rare, and endangered species and is home to some of the last remaining Coastal Sage Scrub plant community found only in California and northern Baja. More than 90% of the world’s Coastal Sage Scrub has been lost to urbanization.”…