Chino Hills State Park

Chino Hills State Park The Chino Hills State park is located in Chino Hills, California .Ranging from 430 feet to 1,781 feet in elevation, the park straddles the north end of the Santa Ana Mountains and the southeast portion of the Puente-Chino Hills, which together form the northern end of the Peninsular Ranges in Southern California. Because of its great variety of habitats and microclimates, Chino Hills State Park is an ideal location for observing many wildlife species native to southern California. There is a huge variety of wildlife species ranging from red-tailed hawks to turkey vultures that take over the skies and coyotes to bobcats are residents of Chino Hills State park. More than 200 species of birds and mammals, numerous reptiles and amphibians, and thousands of types of insects and other invertebrates live in the park. Diversity is the most important feature of the vegetation found within Chino Hills State Park. Also the park has several different kinds of vegetation in each of its major habitats. In the park’s creek zones, cattail stands provide habitat for a variety of wildlife, among them red-winged blackbirds. Over the centuries many people have made use of the open spaces and plentiful water, plant and animal resources of the Chino Hills. Prior to European contact, the Gabrielino Indians, who lived along the Santa Ana River basin, set up temporary camps for gathering acorns, elderberries, walnuts and other seeds. After the Spanish founded Mission San Gabriel in 1771, the Chino Hills were used extensively for grazing by mission cattle. During the Mexican Republic era, the hills were used as spillover grazing from such surrounding Mexican ranchos as Santa Ana del Chino and La Sierra Yorba. After Mexico ceded California to the United States in 1848, the land was still used primarily for grazing. In 1984 the State Park and Recreation Commission officially declared the area a unit of the State Park