OC Parks facts for kids
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| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1922 |
| Jurisdiction | Orange County |
| Headquarters | 13042 Old Myford Rd Irvine, California 92602 33°26′05″N 117°28′14″W / 33.4348°N 117.4705°W |
| Employees | 200 (2020) |
| Annual budget | US$90,018,793 (2015-16) |
| Department executive |
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Orange County Parks, more commonly abbreviated to OC Parks, is a government agency that maintains and oversees the public parks of Orange County, California. The agency operates both natural and manmade parks of the region. OC Parks is responsible for 60,000 acres (24,000 ha) of inland and coastal open space that collectively receives millions of visitors every year.
Operations
Wilderness parks
OC Parks manages several wilderness parks:
- Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, Aliso Viejo
- Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, San Juan Capistrano
- Featherly Regional Park, Santa Ana
- Irvine Lake
- Irvine Ranch Open Space (a category of parks)
- Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Laguna Beach
- Limestone Canyon Regional Park
- O'Neill Regional Park
- Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park, Coto De Caza
- Peters Canyon Regional Park, Orange
- Santiago Oaks Regional Park, Orange
- Talbert Regional Park, Costa Mesa
- Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park
- Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach
Urban parks
OC Parks is in charge of many manmade or partially manmade parks in urban settings:
- Carbon Canyon Regional Park, Brea
- Ralph B. Clark Regional Park, Buena Park
- Ted Craig Regional Park, Fullerton
- Irvine Regional Park, Orange
- Laguna Niguel Regional Park
- William R. Mason Regional Park, Irvine
- Mile Square Regional Park, Fountain Valley
- Tri-City Regional Park, Placentia
- Harriett M. Wieder Regional Park, Huntington Beach
- Yorba Regional Park, Anaheim
Other operations
OC Parks closed many of their parks to vehicular traffic in March 2020 due to COVID-19 safety concerns. Pedestrians and horseback riders were still permitted to enter the parks. In December 2020, OC Parks was permitted to use sand cubes and boulders to temporarily prevent erosion in Capistrano Beach while looking for a permanent solution.
Public works
OC Parks hosted a virtual Halloween event as well as a series of drive-in movie nights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
