Coto de Caza is a census-designated place (CDP) and guard-gated private community in Orange County, California. The population was 13,057 at the 2000 census. While some residents believe that "Coto de Caza" means "Preserve of the Hunt" in Portuguese, this is erroneous. Actually, "Coto de Caza" is Spanish for "Hunt Reserve" and implies that the reserve is private.
Most students in Coto de Caza reside in the Capistrano Unified School District and attend Wagon Wheel Elementary, Tijeras Creek Elementary, Las Flores Middle School, Tesoro High School, and Santa Margarita Catholic High School (not part of Capistrano Unified).
Coto is a suburban planned community of about 4,000 homes, and one of Orange County's oldest and most expensive master planned communities. The project began in 1968 when it was envisioned as only a hunting lodge. The community was completed in 2003. Around the development there are still undeveloped lots available for purchase as well as two 18-hole golf courses. Coto de Caza contains commercial endeavors, Lodge at Coto de Caza, The Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club, & The Coto de Caza General Store. Residents shop seven minutes away in Rancho Santa Margarita, ten minutes away in Mission Viejo, two minutes away in Las Flores, or four minutes away in Ladera Ranch.

Dove Canyon is a private residential community located in eastern Rancho Santa Margarita. It is a small enclave of approximately 1,200 homes and 5,000 residents. Included within the guard-gated entry is a Jack Nicklaus signature golf club, pool, tennis courts, a small child's park, a wide field, a shopping center, and a reservoir.
The majority of its residents are upper middle class residents of Orange County, and all of the homes in Dove Canyon are single-family residences. It is located in the Southeasternmost foothills of Orange County. Major roads include Dove Canyon/Bell Canyon and Sycamore Canyon. A horse trail starts at the waterfalls outside of the community and continues until the end of Sycamore Canyon. From there, hikers, horse riders, bikers, etc. can continue into Dove Canyon's neighbor community, Coto de Caza.

Foothill Ranch (FHR) was a census-designated place in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 10,899 at the 2000 census. Foothill Ranch was annexed into Lake Forest, California in 2000.
Foothill Ranch is notable for such company headquarters as Oakley, Inc., Wet Seal, Kaiser Aluminum, RISA Technologies and Saddleback Church.

Ladera Ranch is an unincorporated planned community located in south Orange County, California just outside the city limits of San Juan Capistrano, Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo.[1]
The community has several features that differentiate it from most others. For example, many traffic speed-reducing measures were put into use. Roundabouts, for example, are commonplace on smaller intersections. Narrow street widths are characteristics of Ladera Ranch's small residential streets. Landscaped street medians are common, even on two-lane collector streets like O'Neill and Sienna Parkways.
In Ladera Ranch, there are two different types of areas: villages and neighborhoods. Individual builders produce an area that is called a neighborhood. There are ten or more neighborhoods per village, and there are nine villages. Five of the nine villages have clubhouses themed on a particular architecture style that is emphasized within that village. There are also parks, pools, playgrounds and open areas within each village. The Covenant Hills village is a gated community which is closed to the general public, but accessible to all card-carrying residents of Ladera Ranch. Covenant Hills is ranked #1 for Highest-income places in the United States. There are no other gated villages in the community.
In addition to the various clubhouses, the community has key-accessed private water park and skate park, 18 community parks, a dog park, six "plunges" (smaller neighborhood pools not connected to a clubhouse), countless "pocket parks"/ green belts and miles of hiking trails that go all the way to Dohini Beach from its main starting point at the prestigious 'Vista Toscana' estate in East Covenant, in the Covenant Hills village.

Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 78,344 as of January 1, 2009. [1] With 6,282 inhabitants per square mile (2,425 /km2), it is currently the most densely populated city in South Orange County.
Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Since being incorporated, it has expanded its limits to include the communities of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills. Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills are master planned developments that brought new homes and commercial centers to the Eastern boundary of Lake Forest throughout the 1990s. Lake Forest (along with its neighboring cities Mission Viejo and Irvine) is ranked as one of the safest cities in the country. The private research firm Morgan Quitno ranked Lake Forest as the 15th safest city and another firm later ranked Lake Forest 10th in 2007 in the United States.
The city has two lakes from which the city gets its name. The lakes are man-made, and condominiums and custom homes ranging from large to small line their shores. The Lake Forest Beach and Tennis Club and Sun and Sail Club feature tennis courts, gyms, basketball courts, barbecue pits, volleyball courts, multiple swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs and club houses for social events. The "forest" for which the city is also named lies in the area between Ridge Route, Jeronimo, Lake Forest and Serrano roads, and consists mostly of Eucalyptus trees. It began in the 1900s when a local landowner, Dwight Whiting, planted 400 acres of Eucalyptus groves in the vicinity of Serrano Creek as part of a lumber operation. In the late 1960s, the Occidental Petroleum company developed a residential community in and around the Eucalyptus groves which had long since expanded and grown much more dense

Las Flores is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Orange County, California, United States, located adjacent to the City of Rancho Santa Margarita, California. The population was 5,625 at the 2000 census. Las Flores doesn't have its own zip code and is served by Rancho Santa Margarita's zip code instead. The Rancho Santa Margarita dog/skate park is located in the CDP and is served by the Orange County Sheriff's Dept. and Orange County Fire Authority.

Melinda Heights

Mission Viejo is a city located in southern Orange County, California in the Saddleback Valley and has been named the safest city in the US according to a 2007 Morgan Quitno crime statistic survey (compiled from FBI data). Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States, and is rivaled only by Highlands Ranch, Colorado in its size. As of the January 1, 2009, the city had a total population of 100,242.
The city's name is a reference to Rancho Mission Viejo, a large Spanish land grant from which the community was founded. There is no Spanish mission in Mission Viejo, and the name is an ungrammatical use of a masculine adjective with a feminine noun. The correct Spanish term meaning "old mission" is "misión vieja."
Recreational activities abound; the city has numerous recreational areas such as the newly remodeled Norman P. Murry Community and Senior Center there are about two parks per square mile. The city has three golf courses, The Mission Viejo Country Club, Casta del Sol Golf Course, and the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club. At the center of the city is a man-made lake, Lake Mission Viejo, a private association for Mission Viejo residents with custom waterfront homes, condominiums, boat rentals,and swim beaches

Portola Hills was a census-designated place in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 6,391 at the 2000 census. It was incorporated into the city of Lake Forest, California as of the year 2000. The tracts were developed in the late 1980s through the early 1990s. The development was named after Gaspar de Portola, California's first terrestrial Spanish explorer, who passed through the vicinity in 1769. (Nearby Trabuco Canyon is named for a blunderbuss which was lost by expedition members.)

Rancho Santa Margarita (RSM) is a city in Orange County, California, United States. One of Orange County's youngest cities, Rancho Santa Margarita is a master planned community set upon rolling hills. Most neighborhoods in Rancho Santa Margarita are within various homeowners associations. The population was 47,214 at the 2000 census. Although it is named for Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, which was in San Diego County, the city limits fall within the borders of Rancho Mission Viejo. The city seal has the brands of Rancho Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita and Las Flores on the border, with artwork containing Santiago Peak in the background. The tower in the foreground symbolizes the Rancho Santa Margarita Lake Tower.

Trabuco Canyon is a small unincorporated community located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California, north of Rancho Santa Margarita. It lies partly within the Cleveland National Forest. Plano Trabuco Road leads from the top of the Canyon, south, to the city of Rancho Santa Margarita.

Fourth of July features an old-fashioned parade of locals riding horses and pulling home-made floats to the cheers of observers - who are small in number but large in enthusiasm. A landmark is the Trabuco Oaks Steak House, a favorite restaurant of President Richard Nixon. A monastery of the Vedanta Society is also in the canyon, as well as the Trabuco Canyon Community Church.

Wagon Wheel is a residential master planned community located in the city of Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County, California. It houses a golf course, and is primarily newer development constructed in the early 1990s. It is served by the Capistrano Unified School District, and has one elementary school (Wagon Wheel Elementary School) in its boundaries. It is known for its private setting wrapped around a world class golf course. It is home to about 2,000 homes and 5,500 residents. There are many townhomes in the community, as well as single family homes. There are no apartment complexes or mansions in Wagon Wheel. It is nestled within the steep foothills between Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo, which gives it a secluded feel.