Ladera Ranch

History

Ladera Ranch is a planned community, bordered by the cities of Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano to the west and the city of Rancho Santa Margarita to the north. Located along Antonio Parkway and Crown Valley Parkway, construction of the community began in 1999 on portions of the O'Neill, Avery, & Moiso families' Rancho Mission Viejo cattle ranch, which was the largest remaining working ranch in Orange County. In 2026, the California Department of Public Health issued an FAQ, "Cancer Concerns in the Ladera Ranch Community. Several residents reported a high rate of pediatric cancer diagnoses in the Ladera Ranch community. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 200 children and young adults in the United States are diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma a year. Ladera Ranch children represent a disproportionate number of Ewing sarcoma cases.

Geography

Ladera Ranch is located in the foothills of the Orange County Saddleback. It is bordered by Rancho Mission Viejo to the south, Las Flores to the north, and the city of Mission Viejo to the west. The Ladera Ranch development is divided into nine "villages". Within each village, individual builders develop an area called a neighborhood. There are ten or more neighborhoods per village. The villages are: * Oak Knoll Village * Bridgepark * Flintridge Village * Township * Wycliffe Village * Echo Ridge Village * Avendale Villages * Terramor Village * Covenant Hills Four of the nine villages have clubhouses themed on a particular architecture style that is emphasized within that village. There are also parks, pools, playgrounds and open areas within each village. The Covenant Hills village is a gated community which is closed to the general public, but accessible to all card-carrying residents of Ladera Ranch. There are no other gated villages in the community. In addition to the various clubhouses, the community has a private water park and skate park, 18 community parks, a dog park, six smaller neighborhood pools, many pocket parks and green belts, shopping districts called Mercantile East and Mercantile West Shopping Centers, and miles of hiking/biking trails that connect to Doheny Beach.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  66,203
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  60,404
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  51,499
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  47,092
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  41,764
• Allen's Hummingbird

  Selasphorus sasin (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  41,370
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  40,785
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  40,090

Most recent

• M 2.63 — 2026-09-23
  9 km WNW of Anza, CA
• M 2.94 — 2026-09-17
  4 km SSE of Compton, CA
• M 2.65 — 2026-09-12
  4 km E of Lennox, CA
• M 3.31 — 2026-09-12
  26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
• M 2.95 — 2026-09-12
  26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
• M 2.54 — 2026-09-12
  26 km ESE of Avalon, CA