Vision

The cities of Orange and Santa Ana have within their boundaries a valuable natural asset: Santiago Creek. Santiago Creek is Orange County’s largest watershed and is a major tributary of the Santa Ana River. It is a natural waterway over much of its length, a rarity in Southern California urban areas. It has the potential to provide a unique scenic and recreational greenway corridor within the two cities.

The idea for a trail and greenway along the creek was initially proposed through local planning documents in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1971, it was included in Orange County’s Santa Ana River–Santiago Creek Corridor General Plan for Recreation and Open Space. Since that time the idea has been incorporated through several county and city studies and the activities of various citizens’ groups

Along with the studies and plans, major progress has been made in the trails actual implementation. By 2005 a Class I bikeway (paved off-road bike path) had been constructed from the 5 Freeway Bridge in Santa Ana to Tustin Street in Orange providing just under 2.5 miles of Class I Trail. In December of 2011 the City of Orange completed two construction projects which extended the Class I Trail from Tustin Street to the Cannon Street Bridge. From the Cannon Street Bridge the Class I Trail connects to an existing soft surface trail (the Mabury Ranch Trail) which leads into Santiago Oaks Regional Park connecting with the trail system there. Also in 2011 the City of Santa Ana completed a Class II Bikeway Segment (on Street Bike Lane) along Memory Lane between Flower and Bristol Streets; leaving only two short segments (from the 5 Freeway to Flower Street and from Bristol Street to the Santa Ana River Trail) needed to complete the Santiago Creek Trail. The segment from Bristol to the River along Memory Lane will very likely be an on street bike lane. The segment from the 5 Freeway to Flower may be a soft surface trail to minimize impact on existing vegetation. A map of the Santiago Creek Trail as it exists in December of 2011 is shown below. The two missing trail segments in Santa Ana are indicated.

In addition to the trail, some segments of the greenway also exist, most notably in Santiago Park in Santa Ana and the restoration site east of Hart Park in Orange. Santiago Park, in particular the area east of the Santiago Avenue Bridge, provides an example of what the Santiago Creek Greenway could look like over much of its length. The photograph above is a view looking east from the Santiago Avenue Bridge after one of the rains in March of 2005. The sycamores and oaks in the photo are typical southern California native species. The existing bike path runs through the greenway on the north side of the creek and a footpath runs along the south side.

The photo here shows the restoration site east of Hart Park. The tall trees are old eucalypti. The shorter trees and shrubs are all native species which were planted between 2002 and 2006. A goal of the Greenway Alliance is to conduct similar restoration projects along the creek wherever needed and feasible.


	Santiago Creek Greenway Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization. Contributions are tax-deductible.