Day Tripping – Heritage Hill Historical Park
Woman in the Middle | November 9, 2015A couple of weeks ago (my, how time flies!) Hubby took a day off work and we went off to see Heritage Hill Historical Park. Heritage Hill is operated by the county of Orange and is located in Lake Forest, California. It has four restored and furnished historical buildings. We had a lovely time taking the docent led tour though all four!
The Serrano Adobe it original to the site and dates to about 1863. It was very cool seeing the original wood thresh holds at each door and how they were worn down through the years by many, many steps. The other three buildings were the El Toro Grammar School (1890), St. George’s Episcopal Mission (1891), and the Harvey Bennett Ranch House, (1908). Each has its own story which is unique, but also ties together to the town of El Toro. The historic town of El Toro was included into the city of Lake Forest when it incorporated in 1991.
Serrano Adobe
El Toro Grammar School
St. George’s Episcopal Mission
Heritage Hill has some tables sitting out under the trees, if you want to sit and have a snack (like we did.) It actually shares a parking lot with a shopping center that includes a Ralphs grocery store. We walked down to the store, bought a snack and some drinks, and went back and enjoyed it at Heritage Hill.
Guided tours are given Tuesday through Saturdays at 2 p.m. There is also an 11 am tour on Saturday. Entrance and the tours are free!
Heritage Hill Historical Park
25151 Serrano Road
Lake Forest, CA 92630-2534
(949)923-2230
heritagehill@ocparks.com
After visiting Heritage Hill, we went to Laguna Beach, just in time to see the sunset. Lovely!
Thank you for sharing this! I love historical sites, especially from the 1800′s.
Me too, as you probably know!
What a fascinating place and your photos are great! They make history come alive. My oldest BFF used to live in Laguna Beach and I visited her there long ago. Thanks for sharing the sunset too.
It has changed so much in that area. Lake Forest didn’t exist before the 1970s!