When you think of fall colors, you probably think of New England, Michigan's upper peninsula, or the aspen groves of the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. We do have our own version in our local mountains. Fall color in the chaparral is, of course, a bit more subtle than that of other areas. Rather than bright red leaves of maple trees (although there are some maples in the Santa Ana Mountains), our fall colors come primarily from sycamores and chaparral plants such as deerweed and buckwheat. One of the better hikes for fall colors in the Santa Ana Mountains is the Trabuco Canyon Trail which starts at the end of Trabuco Creek Road deep in Trabuco Canyon. Foliage is most saturated when wet from recent rain or heavy mist, and it is best to avoid the harsh mid-day light.

To reach the trailhead, you will need to drive over 5 bumpy miles down Trabuco Creek Road. You won't need 4 wheel drive, but youwill want to drive a high-clearance vehicle. Since it crosses Trabuco Creek several times, avoid this road after heavy rains. The trailhead is easy to find since there are no major sideroads off of Trabuco Creek Road. After about 3.5 miles, you will see several cabins and the Holy Jim firehouse on your left. A short distance later you will see a parking area for the Holy Jim Trailhead on the left. Continue straight ahead for one more mile where the road ends at the Trabuco Canyon Trailhead. There is parking for four or five cars and it is rarely full.

The trailhead elevation is about 2,000 feet, with a relatively unnoticeable elevation gain of about 800 feet over the 1.6 miles where the trail reaches the confluence of the West Horsethief Trail. The trail starts adjacent to Trabuco Creek and alternates between riparian and chaparral plant communities for most of the hike. There are dense areas of alders, coast live oaks, California bay laurel and sycamores near the creek, and sagebrush, buckwheat, toyon, laurel sumac and other chaparral plants as the trail runs between the the creek and the south-facing slope of the canyon. The green leaves of the evergreen oaks contrast with the yellow leaves of the sycamores in the fall. The deerweed turns a reddish bronze, and the buckwheat changes to a reddish brown and dark bronze. This is also a nice hike for spring wildflowers. You will see paintbrush, Catalina mariposa lilly, lupines, Matilija poppy, as well as Yerba Santa and ceonothus, both with with purple flowers when in bloom.

Poison oak is abundant adjacent to much of the trail, so if you are unable to identify it, stay on the trail. Be careful during fall and winter hikes because the poison oak is often without leaves, yet the branches are still potent from the rash-causing chemical urushiol. Although I have learned (for the most part) to stay away from poison oak, I did get some on my arms recently which I suspect is a result of picking up Sierra and putting her in the jeep after the hike. Although dogs aren't affected by poison oak, they have a tendency to get the urushiol on their coat and you can get it from indirect contact. Sierra does like to venture off trail occasionally, even though she will remain on the retractable leash while she is a puppy.

A short while after leaving the trail head, you will see the old, bullet-ridden car to the right of the trail and wonder how the heck it got that far. You will continue along riparian stretches of the trail and along brief stretches of chaparral plant communities. The trail continues to the east, and then takes a jag to the northeast, and then across a normally dry creek. Between this creek crossing and the next crossing only a few hundred feet ahead, you may see Humbolt lilly flowers in bloom in the late spring. Shortly after the second (again normally dry) creek crossing you'll see a scree slope on your left. Immediately past the slope, there is an old horizontal mine shaft (adit), a remnant of the canyon's mining history. More recently, during the '60s and '70s, this area was frequented by hippies and motorcycle gangs as described in Kenneth Croker's book Santa Ana Mountains Trail Guide. If you look at the north-facing hillside to the right (south), you will be looking toward Yaeger Mesa, a private land in holding surrounded by the national forest.

As you continue, the trail climbs above the creek level forested with alders, live oak and sycamores to your right. After a short while, the view opens up and you'll see the Trabuco drainage approximately 100 feet below and your first good view of the conifer forest of Douglas firs and Coulter pine on the hillsides to the south. Another good view is about a quarter mile ahead as the trail turns sharply to the left. Instead, head to the right (west) where you will reach an overlook in less than 100 feet. Back on the main trail, you will reach the intersection of Trabuco Canyon Trail and West Horsethief Trail which is marked with a forest service trail sign. This is where the easy hiking trail ends. You can make this a half day or longer hike by continuing on either trail up to Main Divide Road and back, or make it a full loop hike since Main Divide intersects with both trails.

You are likely to see other hikers on a typical weekend afternoon, as well as an occasional mountain biker, but a weekday hike will usually give you some solitude. As with the entire santa Ana Mountain range, I don't recommend hiking mid day in the summer. It is just too hot and the bugs will make the hike unpleasant. The chaparral may, like coffee, be an acquired taste. I think more people would enjoy it if they follow these guidelines: Hike in the early morning or late afternoon. Leave mid day summer hikes for the Eastern Sierra. Hike during or immediately after a rain. Hike in the fog. And mostly, take the time to see.