Saddleback Valley refers to the flat and foothill areas west-southwest of the Saddleback double peak of the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside ...

and east-northeast of the hilly

Crystal Cove State Park Crystal Cove State Park is a state park of California, United States, encompassing of Pacific coastline, inland chaparral canyons, and the Crystal Cove Historic District of beach houses. The park is located in Newport Beach, and is part of th ...

in southern

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

. The region primarily encompasses the cities of

Mission Viejo Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities e ...

, Lake Forest, and Rancho Santa Margarita, as well as the communities of

Coto de Caza Coto de Caza ( Spanish for "Hunting Reserve") is a census-designated place (CDP) and guard-gated private community in Orange County, California. The population was 14,799 at the 2017 census. The CDP is a suburban planned community of about 4, ...

and Ladera Ranch. The cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Woods,

Laguna Hills Laguna Hills (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in south Orange County, California, United States. Its name refers to its proximity to Laguna Canyon and the much older Laguna Beach. Other newer cities nearby— Laguna Niguel and L ...

, and

Laguna Niguel Laguna Niguel () is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The name Laguna Niguel is derived from the words "Laguna" (Spanish for "lagoon") and "Niguili" (the name of a Native American village once located near Aliso Creek). As of ...

, as well as some of Orange County's eastern canyon communities, partially reside within the valley. The southeastern portion of

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta *Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scot ...

also encroaches upon the area, but the two are not typically associated with each other. The cityscape within Saddleback Valley is

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

, a remote reach of the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest urban area, metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Ber ...

. The area is recently developed and on the outskirts of the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enou ...

, so wildlife sightings are more common.

Snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological ni ...

s, and

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

s have long inhabited the area. Mountain lion attacks on people have happened in the outlying wilderness parks of Saddleback Valley, but they are very rare.

Cultural impact

The identity of Saddleback Valley has proven to be of importance throughout the history of major civilizations in the area. Many businesses, schools, places, and other entities in the region have "Saddleback" or "Saddleback Valley" incorporated into their names. Saddleback Church, one of the largest megachurches in the world, is based in Lake Forest.

Saddleback College Saddleback College (Saddleback) is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in ...

is located in Mission Viejo and bears the name of the region, as well as an illustration of the Saddleback mountains as their logo. Saddleback Valley Unified School District, as its name suggests, serves much of the valley with public elementary, intermediate, and high schools. Several small businesses in the area have also included Saddleback in their names and branding.

Gallery

Saddleback From Laguna Niguel.jpg, Saddleback Valley viewed from the hills of Laguna Niguel Saddleback from RSM.JPG, Saddleback Mountain from Rancho Santa Margarita Snow on Saddleback (2008) 02.JPG, Snow on Saddleback Mountain in 2008 viewed from Mission Viejo Laguna Niguel and Saddleback.JPG, Saddleback Valley as seen from Laguna Niguel

References

{{California Valleys of Orange County, California Valleys of California