Overview
About Sycamore Creek
Sycamore Creek covers 37.1 acres and holds 240 homes on fifteen streets, with a median lot of 5,413 square feet. Sundowner Park, 0.8 city acres, sits inside the boundary, the Aliso Creek Trail runs through it, and the city's land use layer records five separate categories inside the line, from 1.6 acres of low density residential down to a third of an acre of open space.
The city's pool layer counts 30 backyard pools inside the boundary, fifteen spas, thirteen solar installations and a playground, and no shared pool. El Toro Water District supplies the water, street sweeping runs Wednesday in the small hours, and children go to Lake Forest Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High.
View available homes in Sycamore CreekHistory
How Sycamore Creek was built
Sycamore Creek is the English of the oldest name on this ground. Aliso is Spanish for alder or sycamore, and Rancho Canada de los Alisos, the 10,668 acre grant Governor Alvarado made to Jose Antonio Serrano in 1842, took its name from the trees along the creek that runs through this part of the valley. Aliso Creek itself starts on Loma Ridge above Portola Hills and runs almost twenty miles to the ocean at Laguna Beach, and the Aliso Creek Trail crosses this community.
Serrano ran cattle on the rancho until the drought that began in 1863 killed the herds and forced foreclosure to a Los Angeles banker. Dwight Whiting bought most of it in 1884, planted olives, grape vines and roughly 400 acres of eucalyptus near Serrano Creek as a lumber crop for a village he wanted to call Aliso City, and failed. The eucalyptus survived him, grew dense, and became the forest Occidental Petroleum built houses among in the late 1960s while digging two artificial lakes, which is how the city got its name in 1991. The build year layer puts Sycamore Creek itself in the 1970s.
By the Numbers
Sycamore Creek by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Sycamore Creek lifestyle
Sundowner Park sits inside the community on 1 acres. Aliso Creek 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 Sycamore Creek
The City of Lake Forest property record names Lake Forest Elementary for all 247 addresses in Sycamore Creek, 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 · 640 students
FAQs
Common questions about Sycamore Creek
How big is Sycamore Creek?
The community covers 37.1 acres on the city's published boundary, twenty-second largest of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site, and holds 240 homes on 247 parcels across fifteen streets.
When was Sycamore Creek laid out?
One map covers the whole community. Tract 9731 was recorded on June 14, 1977 by Madole and Associates Inc. under licensed surveyor J.M. Madole. The city's build year layer places 32.8 acres of building footprint in the 1971 to 1980 band.
Which schools serve Sycamore Creek?
The city's property record names Lake Forest Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High for all 247 addresses inside the boundary, with no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
What is inside the boundary?
Sundowner Park, 0.8 city acres, sits inside the community, and the Aliso Creek Trail runs through it. The city also holds two other lots inside the boundary, one of them along Destry Lane.
Is there a community pool?
No. The city's pool layer records 30 pools inside the boundary and every one is a private backyard pool, alongside fifteen spas, thirteen solar installations and one playground.