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Fern grotto in El Moro Canyon

At one point along the ridge, most of the near and far suburban landscapes are temporarily veiled from sight by intervening ridges; for a moment, you can picture southern Orange County as it was about a century ago. On clear days, Mount San Antonio (Old Baldy) pokes up behind a nearby ridge to the north, and Santa Catalina Island seems to float out at sea like a mountain range cast adrift from the mainland.

Up a little farther, join the Redtail Ridge fire road, and you can look down upon Deer Canyon trail camp nestled in a grove of sycamores in the shallow canyon to your left. Still farther up the ridgeline, a gate across the road marks the boundary between the state park and the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. Shy of this gate, however, you pick up the narrow Fenceline Trail on the right leading southeast toward El Moro Canyon, parallel to the boundary fence. After 0.4 mile on this trail, you join a road coming in from the left. Keep straight momentarily, and turn left at the next junction to take the more scenic “Elevator Trail” east-side descent into upper El Moro Canyon, rather than the less scenic west-side descent called Slow ’n Easy Trail.