Overview
About Carefree El Toro
Carefree El Toro covers 16.5 acres and holds 143 homes on seven streets, all of them on two ground parcels. The city's land use layer gives 10.6 acres inside the boundary the low-medium density residential designation and 5.8 acres the low density one, while the zoning layer covers the whole 16.5 acres as multifamily dwellings.
The association runs one community pool and one tennis court, which the city's recreation layer records inside the boundary. Irvine Ranch Water District supplies the water, street sweeping runs Wednesday in the small hours, and OCFA Station 19 on El Toro Road covers the addresses. Carefree El Toro appears on the city's own Neighborhood Watch roster under its association name.
View available homes in Carefree El ToroHistory
How Carefree El Toro was built
The El Toro in the name is the older name of the whole town. The settlement here went by El Toro from about 1863, and it kept that name until Lake Forest incorporated on 20 December 1991 and changed it by referendum, a decision longtime residents took badly. Before there was a town there was Rancho Canada de los Alisos, granted to Jose Antonio Serrano in 1842 and lost to the drought of 1863.
Carefree El Toro is a small community of 143 homes on 16 acres, and its seven streets are Galaxy, Gemini, Leo, Moonstone, Polaris, Taurus and Pino, most of which look up rather than back. Taurus is the bull, which is what el toro means, so the naming closes a loop with the old town. The association runs a pool and a tennis court, and the community still appears on the city's own Neighborhood Watch roster under its association name.
By the Numbers
Carefree El Toro by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Carefree El Toro lifestyle
Lake Forest keeps 31 parks open from dawn to dusk. The Lake Forest Sports Park and Recreation Center opened in November 2014 on 86 acres, with 57 of them given over to sports fields, and the city runs the largest free skatepark in Orange County at Etnies Skatepark.
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park holds 1,575 acres of county open space against the north edge of the city, and the city's trail map carries 49 named trails.
Across the whole city the general plan sets 3,756 acres to residential use and 3,065 acres to open space and parks, which is why so much of Lake Forest reads as green from the ridgelines.
Schools
Schools serving Carefree El Toro
The City of Lake Forest property record names Montevideo Elementary for addresses inside Carefree El Toro, with Los Alisos Intermediate for middle school and El Toro High for high school. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
9-12 · 1,902 students
7-8 · 595 students
K-6 · 444 students
FAQs
Common questions about Carefree El Toro
How big is Carefree El Toro?
The community covers 16.5 acres on the city's published boundary and holds 143 homes across seven streets. By acreage it is the forty-seventh largest of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site.
What kind of housing is here?
All 143 addresses sit on two ground parcels, which is how the county records attached ownership. The city zones the whole 16.5 acres for multifamily dwellings.
When was Carefree El Toro laid out?
Tract 8076 was recorded on May 11, 1973, surveyed by Terrance K. Barry and filed at MM 322/27-29. Seven of the forty-five Lake Forest communities whose recorded map date could be established were mapped earlier.
Which schools serve Carefree El Toro?
The city's property record names Montevideo Elementary, Los Alisos Intermediate and El Toro High for addresses inside the boundary. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
Are there shared amenities?
The city's recreation layer records one community pool and one tennis court inside the boundary, both shared rather than private.