On a clear winter day, the west bluff of the Randall Preserve shows snow on the mountains inland and Catalina Island past Pacific Coast Highway. That's how the Orange County Register described it after a rare tour of the property in late September. Planners want an elevated gathering spot there someday, with telescopes aimed at osprey nests and signs about the rare species in the habitat below.
For now the bluff is behind a fence. The 387 acres between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, known for decades as Banning Ranch, remain closed to the public while the oil field cleanup goes on.
The plans behind that fence matter for Costa Mesa's west side, because the Coastal Corridor Alliance pictures the preserve as the far end of one trail that starts in Fairview Park. The Westside already holds the front door, and most of the route the public will eventually walk is open today.
What the preserve becomes, and how slowly
The timeline is long, and the people running it are fine with that. Cleanup is ongoing on land that was purchased in 2022. If things go to plan, the first public visitors could tour the property by 2028. Melanie Schlotterbeck, the consultant managing the planning process for the Coastal Corridor Alliance, told the Register, "We don't care how long it takes, because we want it clean."
According to that report, access would open in stages:
- Monthly small-group tours of no more than 10 people.
- Weekend tours after that, with each step studied to measure the human footprint on the land.
- A first trail, planned as a one-mile hiking loop.
- About 5 miles of public trails in total, cut down from roughly 26 miles of packed dirt roadway left from the oil field.
- A parking area for about 100 cars off 17th Street.
The slow pace comes from what lives there. The property holds an estimated 45 rare, sensitive, threatened and endangered species. At one point it also held about 400 working oil wells.
The paperwork has kept moving this year. In August, the Register reported that the MRCA governing board had approved the preserve's property management plan. A tribal access and engagement plan was approved earlier in 2026. On October 15, the Coastal Corridor Alliance announced $2 million, credited to Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, to advance phased public access for when the preserve opens.
The plan runs through Fairview Park
The vision for the finished preserve is what puts the Westside at the center. Paul Waggoner, community engagement manager for the Coastal Corridor Alliance, told the Register the goal is "one trail system from Fairview Park, all the way down to PCH, moving between properties under different property managers, but a visitor would not know the difference."
That plan would link Randall with Sunset Ridge Park in Newport Beach and Talbert Nature Preserve in Costa Mesa, about 1,000 acres of open space in all. Planners put the connection's cost at around $350,000, and fundraising is still underway.
Compare the sizes and Fairview Park looks like the anchor rather than a side trail. The city counts 208 acres there: 195 acres of natural open space and 13 acres of landscaped park, with 7 miles of trails for walking or biking. The full plan for Randall calls for about 5 miles of public trail. Even after the preserve opens, the largest trail network in the corridor will be the one Costa Mesa already has.
Fairview is getting its own bluff work at the same time. In April 2026, the Daily Pilot reported a two-year, $533,189 design and environmental planning contract for Fairview's west bluff. The project aims to restore native vegetation and keep recreational access.
The corridor today, park by park
Each of the four properties is run by a different agency, which is why the trip across them doesn't feel like one trail yet.
| Property | Status now | Getting in | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview Park, Costa Mesa | Open | Trails connect to the Santa Ana River Trail and Talbert | 208 acres, 7 miles of trails, restored vernal pools |
| Talbert Nature Preserve, OC Parks | Open | No on-site parking | North and south of Victoria Street, between Pacific Avenue and the Santa Ana River |
| Sunset Ridge Park, Newport Beach | Open | Paid parking across Superior Avenue, reached by a pedestrian bridge | Athletic fields, play equipment, restrooms, ocean views |
| Randall Preserve | Fenced | None yet | First tours could begin by 2028 |
Fairview's ground is also the closest thing to what Randall is trying to protect. The city says more than 50 acres there have been restored, including vernal pools that support the endangered San Diego fairy shrimp. The park also holds a Nationally Registered Cultural Resource Historic Site and five distinct habitat ecosystems.
Some rules apply on the trails. Under Costa Mesa's citywide leash rule, a dog off its owner's property must be on a leash no longer than six feet. Fairview's e-bike policy keeps e-bikes and e-scooters on designated paved routes and sets speeds of 12 mph without pedestrians around and 8 mph when pedestrians are present. At Talbert, OC Parks lists leashed dogs, bike and hiking trails, picnic tables, restrooms and a scenic overlook, and says the trail network links to parks up and down the Santa Ana River.
The fall calendar in the open part of the corridor
The Randall Preserve isn't running public tours this fall, and the Coastal Corridor Alliance's posted calendar shows none through mid-November. The same organization that will someday lead those tours is working in Fairview Park now, and anyone can sign up. Here's what's ahead from this week on:
- Thursday and Friday, October 22–23, and October 29–30: Coastal Corridor Alliance habitat restoration sessions at Fairview Park. The city's volunteer page and the Alliance's own calendar list different Thursday morning hours, so check the Alliance calendar before you go.
- Saturday, October 24, 9 to 11:30 a.m.: A native bee talk and walk at Fairview Park, with a research presentation followed by a walk. Registration is required through Eventbrite.
- Saturday, October 24: The Alliance's beach and river-mouth cleanup on the same day is marked canceled.
- Saturday, November 14: Fairview Park Alliance restoration. The city lists that group's sessions on second Saturdays.
- Third full weekend of each month, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Free public rides on the Goathill Jct. Railroad, run by the Orange County Model Engineers at Fairview Park, weather permitting. Riders must be at least 31 inches tall. By that rule, the November weekend falls on the 21st and 22nd. The club's public ride schedule has the official dates.
The restoration days do the same kind of work the Randall planners describe across the fence: pulling invasive plants and bringing back native habitat.
Victoria Street ties the neighborhood end together
OC Parks places Talbert on both sides of Victoria Street. Farther inland on the same street, at Victoria and Maple, the city has just reopened a much smaller park.
Ketchum-Libolt Park held its ribbon-cutting on Monday, October 12, after a $2.5 million upgrade. The Daily Pilot describes it as a one-third-acre parcel. Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris earmarked $1.2 million toward it in the 2022 state budget. The Register reports that the park grew into an adjacent parkway and now has new playground equipment, a lawn, picnic shelters, new walkways and better lighting.
The park was dedicated in 2005 to Costa Mesa police officers James "Dave" Ketchum and John "Mike" Libolt, who died in a police helicopter crash in 1987. The new play equipment carries helicopter and law enforcement themes, and poetry contributed by community members is stamped into the concrete. Petrie-Norris is also the Assemblymember credited with the $2 million for the Randall Preserve, announced three days after the ribbon-cutting.
Victoria Street leads from that park toward Talbert. Talbert connects to Fairview, and Fairview is where planners want the Randall trail to begin. The parking lot planned off 17th Street is for visitors who will drive to the preserve. The first miles of the corridor are already open on the Westside.
Charlie Price Group follows Costa Mesa's open space calendar as closely as its listings, from the Randall Preserve's first tours to the next season of work on Fairview's bluffs. If a home within walking distance of this trail corridor is on your list, Charlie Price Group can tell you which streets put the trailheads closest. Receive Exclusive Listings to hear about them first.
