Carbon Canyon Regional Park

Carbon Canyon Regional Park
Carbon Canyon Park
The lake that is found in the center of the park.
Location of the park on a map of Southern California.
Location	Brea, California, United States
Coordinates	33°55′12″N 117°50′13″W / 33.920°N 117.837°W / 33.920; -117.837
Area	124 acres
Opening	c. 1975 (1975)
Owned by	Orange County Parks
Open	Fall–Winter: 7AM–6PM Spring–Summer: 7AM–9PM
Terrain	Hilly
Water	1 lake
Website	ocparks.com

Carbon Canyon Regional Park (or simply Carbon Canyon Park) is a regional park in Brea, California, that was created after the Carbon Canyon Creek was dammed. It links up with Chino Hills State Park on the east side. The park also is home to a small forest of Redwood trees, which have been struggling to survive since the start of the 2010 California drought.

The park area used to be the town of Olinda just before the 1880s. When a dam on Carbon Canyon Creek was built to prevent flooding, the area became a park.^[1]

The lake in the center of the park was rebuilt in 2014 due to reduced water quality and capacity, which resulted in OC Parks not being able to stock the lake with fish.^[2] Demolition of the existing lake began on July 14, 2014. The lake had to be drained completely in order for heavy equipment to be used to remove approximately 9,500 cubic yards of silt. The silt had accumulated under the lake over the course of 17 years from runoff and wildfires. Removal of the silt was started in August 2014.^[2] Removal was completed in October 2014 and the process of refilling the lake started. Fish were stocked approximately a month after the refilling was completed.^[2]

A three-acre grove (1.2 ha) of Coastal Sequoia redwood trees reside within the park's boundaries and is host to various species of birds, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and fauna.^[3] The grove was threatened in 2008 by the Triangle Fire and by the California drought from 2010 to 2016.^[4]

The staff at Carbon Canyon Park have met with specialists from UC Irvine and Disneyland in order to put a new system in place to sustain the grove through drought.^[5] One tree was cut down in 2015 due to it being sick and near death.^[6]

Carbon Canyon Regional Park has the following facilities:

The park is used by people who want to have picnics or to celebrate holidays. The hiking trail to the Redwood forest also attracts hikers.^[7] It is also a frequent training and competitive area for various cross country teams.^{[8][9][10][11]}

The lake in the park is often used to fill fire fighting helicopters when responding to fires in the area.^[12]

It was used during the Triangle Fire in 2008 as the fire was threatening the eastern side of the city of Brea; including the Hollydale, Olinda Village, and Olinda Ranch communities, alongside Carbon Canyon Regional Park.^[13]