Overview
About Portola Hills I
Portola Hills I covers 172.5 acres and holds 914 homes on 32 streets, fourth largest of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site by acreage and fifth by home count. Three named trails cross it on the city's trail map, the Cactus Hill Trail, the Sage Scrub Trail and the Whiting Access, and 15.3 acres inside the boundary carry an open space designation with 5.5 more as regional park and open space.
The city's pool layer counts 116 backyard pools inside the boundary, 105 solar installations, 58 spas, three playgrounds, three tennis courts and two basketball courts, and no shared pool. This is the Portola Hills side of the city, with a 92679 ZIP code and OCFA Station 42 on Ridgeline Road, and children go to Portola Hills Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High.
View available homes in Portola Hills IHistory
How Portola Hills I was built
Portola Hills takes its name from Gaspar de Portola, the first Spanish explorer to cross California by land, whose expedition passed through in 1769. The community was developed between the late 1980s and early 1990s, was still its own census designated place at the 2000 census, and was annexed into Lake Forest before the 2010 count, in the same vote that brought in Foothill Ranch.
This is the high edge of the old Rancho Canada de los Alisos, granted to Jose Antonio Serrano in 1842 and broken up after the drought that began in 1863 killed his cattle. Dwight Whiting of Boston bought most of the rancho in 1884 and planted about 400 acres of eucalyptus near Serrano Creek as a lumber crop that never sold, along with olives and grape vines that never took. His name is on the 2,500 acre wilderness park immediately above this community, and Aliso Creek, which carries the rancho's name, rises on Loma Ridge just past it.
By the Numbers
Portola Hills I by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Portola Hills I lifestyle
Cactus Hill Trail runs through the community on the city's trail map.
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 Portola Hills I
The City of Lake Forest property record names Portola Hills Elementary for all 930 addresses in Portola Hills I, with Serrano Intermediate for middle school and El Toro High for high school. There is no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
9-12 · 1,902 students
7-8 · 868 students
K-6 · 809 students
FAQs
Common questions about Portola Hills I
How big is Portola Hills I?
The community covers 172.5 acres on the city's published boundary and holds 914 homes on 930 parcels across 32 named streets. It ranks fourth by acreage and fifth by home count of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site, and the median parcel measures 5,889 square feet.
When was Portola Hills I laid out?
Eighteen subdivision maps were recorded inside the boundary between October 25, 1985 and 1993, eleven signed by Tom R. McGannon and six by J.P. Kapp. The city's build year layer places 91.9 acres of building footprint in the 1981 to 1990 band and 39.9 acres in 1991 to 2000.
Which schools serve Portola Hills I?
The city's property record names Portola Hills Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High for all 930 addresses inside the boundary, with no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
What is there to do outdoors?
Three named trails cross the community on the city's trail map: the Cactus Hill Trail, the Sage Scrub Trail and the Whiting Access. The last leads toward Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, 1,575 acres of county open space against the north edge of the city.
Is there a community pool?
No. The city's pool layer records 116 pools inside the boundary and every one is a private backyard pool, alongside 58 spas, 105 solar installations, three playgrounds, three tennis courts and two basketball courts.