Overview
About The Woods
The Woods covers 94.4 acres and holds 383 homes on 39 streets, ninth largest of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site. The median lot measures 7,484 square feet, fourth largest in the city, and the whole boundary sits in FEMA flood zone X.
The city's pool layer records only seven backyard pools inside the boundary against sixteen solar installations and one spa, and no shared pool. Addresses split between two elementary schools, 244 to La Madera and 154 to Santiago, and every home goes to Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High. Irvine Ranch Water District supplies the water and street sweeping runs Wednesday afternoons.
View available homes in The WoodsHistory
How The Woods was built
The woods in question were planted on purpose and failed as a business. Dwight Whiting, a Bostonian who bought most of Rancho Canada de los Alisos in 1884, put in roughly 400 acres of eucalyptus near Serrano Creek as a lumber operation intended to draw development to a village he called Aliso City. The lumber never sold, the olives and grape vines he planted alongside it did not take either, and the ground defeated him. The trees kept growing.
The Woods is one of the Lake Forest II neighborhoods, part of the master association established in 1970 that covers 3,436 homes and runs the Sun and Sail Club. It holds 383 homes on 94 acres and 39 streets, with a median lot of 7,484 square feet, and the build year layer places nearly all of it in the 1970s.
By the Numbers
The Woods by the numbers
Lifestyle
The The Woods 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 The Woods
The Woods is split between two elementary schools. The city's property record assigns 244 addresses to La Madera Elementary and 154 to Santiago Elementary. Every address goes to Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High. All four campuses are Saddleback Valley Unified.
9-12 · 1,902 students
7-8 · 868 students
K-6 · 554 students
K-6 · 517 students
FAQs
Common questions about The Woods
How big is the Woods?
The community covers 94.4 acres on the city's published boundary, ninth largest of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site, and holds 383 homes on 398 parcels across 39 named streets.
What size are the lots?
The median parcel measures 7,484 square feet, fourth largest of the thirty-three Lake Forest communities on this site where a parcel median describes a detached lot rather than shared ground.
Which schools serve the Woods?
It depends on the address. The city's property record assigns 244 addresses to La Madera Elementary and 154 to Santiago Elementary. Every address goes to Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High. All four campuses are Saddleback Valley Unified.
When was the Woods laid out?
Eight subdivision maps were recorded between April 30, 1975 and January 17, 1977, every one surveyed by Ronald W. Martin. The city's build year layer places 69.1 acres of building footprint in the 1971 to 1980 band.
Is there a community pool?
No. The city's pool layer records seven pools inside the boundary and every one is a private backyard pool, alongside one spa and sixteen solar installations. Of the ten Lake Forest communities on this site holding more than 350 homes on their own lots, only the Lake Forest Keys, with three, records fewer.