Talbert Nature Preserve

It was my first time at this nature preserve yesterday. I ate the asphalt after falling off my skateboard at Vista Park but still made it to Talbert. The walk into the wild was pretty interesting at first until I saw the fence. Didn’t know there was an opening to the other side so I hopped it with my injured knee. Saw the huge pond and took several pictures. Walked back out and took another trail. This trail led me deeper into the «wilderness». Had to dodge the big branches and shrubs to continue on with my exploration. There I saw a BUNCH of trash laid out on the ground… which really disturbs me. I feel like there’s homeless people who camped out here not too long ago. There were these dugouts that look like trenches, had me thinking about Trench Warfare! What caught my attention was these huts made of sticks and leaves, kinda had me thinking that there were still Indians around today HAHA. I got lost after walking to the middle of the preserve. Low battery on my phone too, so I had to choose my paths wisely. In the end I had loads of fun exploring nature of this place while getting lost and finding my way back. Definitely coming back again, maybe with some friends so we can play hide and seek! lol

I didn’t think this place was that bad. Then again my dog Zulu and I only walked around the outside edges of the preserve, we didn’t take any of the trails through the middle of it. (Yet, though I plan on coming back).
Parking was pretty easy I thought. It’s right behind Fairview Park so we just parked at the lot there and then took a trail to the Talbert Nature Preserve.
There seem to be quite a few trails hear though perhaps not as nice as Fairview Park itself, but still long trails. Its all flat, and I believe you can get to the Santa Ana River Bike/​Trail from this park as well.
Overall I liked it, it’s «nature-​y» though not as interesting to look at as other parks.
We will be back again sometime.

I live near this place and let me tell you, it’s a dump. OC Parks & Rec do NOT do their job! I’ve tried and tried to get them out there to repair the fences, clean up graffiti, etc and they ignored me every single time. They only bothered to respond when I took my complaints to Facebook.
Besides the homeless people who cause wildfires all the time, the BMXers are completely destroying it with the Sheephills, which needs to be flattened out. And there are people illegally fishing in Victoria Pond! And OC Parks & Rec REFUSE to take these complaints seriously!
As someone who fishes myself it’s not the fishing that bothers me, it’s the fact it’s ILLEGAL to fish there! If fishing was legal there I’d be down there all the time. In fact, considering that so many cities charge to do any freshwater fishing in their lakes and ponds, OC Parks & Rec are losing out on a lot of money by not making fishing legal there. Yes, the pond would have to be stocked, but make the fishing free and just put in a bait & snack shop that also sells fishing licenses or charge but a LOT less than other places (like say $ 10 as opposed to the $ 27 other places charge) they could be making a lot of money. Plus the fact that this would mean a lot more people down there would drive out the homeless as they’d know the area was more heavily patrolled.
It’s becoming clear to me that the reason OC P&R doesn’t care for this area is because my neighborhood is not rich enough for them. Since they can’t do their job, they should give control and ownership of the land to Costa Mesa. If you compare TNP to Canyon Park, you’d see Costa Mesa P&R does a FAR superior job. They actually care!

Its right next to the Fairview park which makes it easy for me to get to by going right thru both parks. Quite a beautiful trail for a nice walk, jog/​run. There’s a restroom area with fountains which is nice since the park and Fairview park together are a walk.

Sometimes I’ll take my breaks here whether it be to take my lunch and enjoy the picnic area or take a nature walk for some exercise. They have random signs of what that specific area of the «preserve» is suppose to be, but they’re not.
It would be useful information if the land was setup like that but, without maintenance it’s just a mess. I did read there are homeless people there but they usually keep to themselves. Of course my visits are during the day so it’s not as scary at night.
The picnic area is pleasent. Its shaded and has tables where I am currently writing this review. You can enjoy «squirrel fight club». Those little flea infested, plague hosting bastards throw down! Who’d think such cute little rodents can be so violent? Well I knew but did you? Now you do!
I really just use this «nature preserve» as a pathway to get to the real gem: Fairview Park and Wetlands!

Came here yesterday afternoon and, not sure if I just picked a crappy day to come, but I thought it was just ok. A week after rains, and the trails were still really muddy — not good for my small dogs or my 3 year old.
In the middle of the «preserve» they have a designated area, where the sand has been formed to create like a skate park. Honestly, I am not quite sure what this is doing in the middle of a nature preserve? Saw a bunch of kids hanging out here, surrounded by tall grasses, no supervision. Seems like an invitation to trouble and trash — which we saw evidence of throughout the trails.
Pros:
Trails are dog friendly (from the entrance I came in, I saw no baggies– bring your own).
Trails are flat, which make this easy for kids, everyone (but not after the rain, of course).
Assuming its been dry, I can see a stroller coming through here with no problem.
Cons:
Trails are really muddy for extended periods of time after it rains.
I didn’t see any trail maps, or clear signs. The OC parks links aren’t working right now either.
While I didn’t see much dog poop, we did encounter plenty of litter on the trails.
Things to note:
I didn’t see any bathrooms here.
I came in from the entrance at Victoria St, which means we parked on the street off of Valley Rd and walked down. There seems to be street parking on the southern end of the preserve, off of Balboa Blvd, that looks like a better alternative.
Eh, I dunno if it was the muddy trails or the roudy skate kids, but this place just has potential. I’d much rather go down the street to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, even if I can’t bring my pups. For the kids, Vista Park up the street is a small but great park– they have a playground, bathrooms, and picnic benches at the west side of the park to check out the sunset before heading home.

For the section south of Victoria St.:
This place is kinda whack… and is kinda scary.
There are obvious signs of homeless people living here. It’s scary as you walk on the trails there because you become walled off due to the tall shrubs. Some homeless or gangster can come out of nowhere and well… this place looks like a good place to get assaulted.
There’s this one area with little hills made out of sand: (
) and (
). I assume this is for bikes to do stunts on? It was kinda in the middle of nowhere…
I would not come here to walk/​jog alone, especially if I were a female.

I assume someone was looking to to earn their «first to check in» badge when trying to reveal this little gem. Fun bike trail, nice hidden peaceful park, great hill on a bike when going to Fairview park to hit the bluffs. For the bike riders that get tired of the pedestrians on the beach path or the people that have long leashes and refuse to reel their dog in, this is a nice change of scenery. The more popular this place the more those people will show up so lets not tell too many people about here.
Directions seem to be lacking so hopefully i can add to what others have.
There are two entrances to the park from the wash — either 50 yards north of Victoria or about 150 yards south of Adams. The park is on the south (or east depending on how you view the world) side of the wash.
If you can only be on the north side of the wash there is an awesome bridge (reminds me of an old wooden roller coaster) that can connect you to the southside half way between Adams and Victoria. If you cross over the bridge just go north about 20 yards and make a U turn and that lower path leads to a small opening to the park (it’s currently fenced on both sides but it’s open).
If you’re trying to get here by the beach path off PCH you need to think of the wash as an intersection and the entrance is on the Northeast corner.
I am giving this place a 1 star because hopefully no one comes here and makes it all busy. There are already some inconsiderate owners that leave their dog poop around (even though there are bags) I would hate to add more! Leave this place to those that want to keep it peaceful and enjoyable! :)

Like most people said, this place was hard to find. I ended up parking at Victoria Vista Park, then walked down the Victoria St. hill a bit until I got to the opening for the river trail and took that to the other side of the street. You then have to walk back up to the street to find a small path that leads in the preserve. You COULD also just jaywalk across. ;)
This is a good place to take a nice walk, but wait a few days after it rains. The paths get extremely slimy and muddy.
I can’t wait to see what this place looks like during the spring!

Don’t come here. I don’t want more people in «my» nice preserve.

When I was looking for Talbert I totally passed it the first time. It looked just like a bike trail next to a long, dried canal (the Santa Ana river). I was slightly disappointed after hearing it was a 91.5 acre reserve with 6 zones of differing wildlife. I parked in a the small park’s parking lot (where Victoria St and Pacific Ave intersected) and walked downhill towards the canal onto the bike path.
After walking 5 minutes up the canal path, I took the walking /​biking /​equestrian riding detour to the right and the sound of cars started fading away and it started looking more and more pretty. There are 6 different zones (i.e. wetlands, sand dunes, woodlands), which was quite nice to see (though the contrast wasn’t that great). Following the path there were lush bushes, grasses and trees behind a roped pathway (weird, but I guess for plant reservation). After walking for a mile off a smaller pathway, I started hearing only the chirping of birds, the constant breeze, the rustling leaves from lizards and the occasional biker. Rabbits, birds, lizards and squirrels were common as there weren’t many people around.
I’d rank Talbert slightly above average. It was a pretty and peaceful respite right close to home.