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Sandstone cave at Willow Canyon Staging Area

trip 4.1 Nix Loop

Distance 4.4 miles (loop)

Hiking Time 2½ hours

Elevation Gain 800’

Difficulty Moderate

Trail Use Hiking only

Best Times October–May

Agency OC Parks: LCWP

Permit OC Parks parking fee required

DIRECTIONS Park at the Nix Nature Center on the west side of Laguna Canyon Road (Highway 133), 1.1 miles north of the 73 Toll Road.

Starting at the James and Rosemary Nix Nature Center, this loop tours sage scrub slopes and a ridgeline offering far-reaching views. The center is the headquarters for the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park; visit ocparks.com for a schedule of interpretive events.

Many trails radiate from the parking area. Be sure to start up Little Sycamore Canyon from the trailhead to the right of the center. Promptly cross Marys Trail (an interpretive nature trail), then cross it again before making a steep ascent into the canyon. The sycamores on the canyon floor are stunted, perhaps by the sandstone bedrock that lays just beneath the soil. Your path leads through tall laurel sumac shrubs and through other coastal sage scrub, including black and white sage, California sagebrush, bush sunflower, and California everlasting. The hill to the north is pockmarked with small caves once used by the Tongva tribe of Native Americans.