Overview
About Bear Brand Ridge
Bear Brand Ridge covers 59.7 acres and holds 266 addresses on 269 parcels, at a median lot of 0.154 acres. Fourteen named streets run 2.06 miles inside the boundary, with Fairlane Road carrying 0.77 miles of that, and the rest looking outward: Ocean Ridge, Pacific Crest, Whitecliff, Palisades, Cameo Crest, Sun Terrace, Westwind and Eastbourne Bay. The city's zoning layer gives the entire residential ground here, 45.9 acres, to Single Family District 3, with no open space zoning inside the boundary at all.
The city's HOA zoning lookup records Bear Brand Ridge as gated with private streets. The ridge in the name is real: the parcel layer splits the boundary almost exactly between two watersheds, 136 parcels draining to Salt Creek and 133 to San Juan Creek. The ground runs from 378 feet to 550 feet. The 2025 fire hazard layer rates 37.4 acres NonWildland, 16.4 acres Moderate and 5.9 acres High, and 1.39 miles of the Long View Park Trail run inside the boundary.
View available homes in Bear Brand RidgeHistory
How Bear Brand Ridge was built
The ridge in the name is real and measurable. The city's record splits this boundary almost exactly down the middle between two watersheds, 135 parcels draining to Salt Creek and 132 to San Juan Creek, so the houses sit astride a genuine divide. The streets look outward from it: Ocean Ridge, Pacific Crest, Whitecliff, Palisades, Cameo Crest, Sun Terrace, Westwind and Eastbourne Bay, with Fairlane Road running the spine.
Bear Brand is a master planned community of eight sub communities on the coastal side of the city, and a good share of its housing was built by JM Peters in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That matches the record here: the city's homes carry years built from 1987 to 2000 with a median of 1989, and 80 of them fall in 1989 alone. All of it sits on what was Rancho Niguel, 13,316 acres granted to Juan Avila in 1842 and named for the Acjachemen village Niguili.
By the Numbers
Bear Brand Ridge by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Bear Brand Ridge lifestyle
Schools
Schools serving Bear Brand Ridge
Capistrano Unified serves Bear Brand Ridge. The district's locator was probed at five addresses inside the boundary and returned George White Elementary, Niguel Hills Middle and Dana Hills High at every one. The city's own elementary boundary layer agrees, placing the whole 59.7 acres in the George White attendance area.
9-12 · 1,725 students
6-8 · 693 students
K-5 · 378 students
FAQs
Common questions about Bear Brand Ridge
How big is Bear Brand Ridge?
Measured against the boundary the City of Laguna Niguel publishes, Bear Brand Ridge covers 59.7 acres. The city's address layer records 266 addresses inside it and the parcel layer 269 parcels, at a median lot of 0.154 acres.
Is Bear Brand Ridge gated?
Yes. The city's HOA zoning lookup records Bear Brand Ridge Community Association as gated with private streets, and lists 266 units.
When was Bear Brand Ridge built?
Two of its three tract maps were recorded in October 1987 and the third in July 1990, straddling the city's incorporation. The city's parcel layer dates 265 parcels here between 1987 and 2000, with 162 in the 1980s and 1989 the busiest year at 80.
Is there trail access from Bear Brand Ridge?
The city's trail layer runs 1.39 miles of the Long View Park Trail inside the boundary, the longest single named trail run inside any community boundary in Laguna Niguel.
Which schools serve Bear Brand Ridge?
Capistrano Unified, through George White Elementary, Niguel Hills Middle and Dana Hills High. All five locator probes inside the boundary returned the same three campuses.