Site History

Project Map of Former Trabuco Bombing Range

The Trabuco Bombing Range (referenced in some documents as the "Plano Trabuco Target Area" or "Temecula Bombing Range") in southern Orange County, California, initially comprised an area of approximately 1,800 acres. From 1944 through 1956, all or part of the area which is now identified as the Trabuco Bombing Range Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) project area was used by the US Navy and Marine Corps as a practice bombing/target range in conjunction with Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro.

The range originally was acquired by the Secretary of the Navy on 21 February 1944 by condemnation for military purposes. Lease agreements were later negotiated with the landowner (the O'Neill family). The lease apparently was modified in 1949 to reduce the leased area to 503 acres. This agreement continued until 1956, when the rest of the range was released to the owners and the land was returned to its former use as farmland and grazing.

The Trabuco Bombing Range was operated as a practice range, meaning that the bombs and rockets dropped/launched at the Range were either inert or contained "spotting charges" that allowed flight crews to see where their ordnance had landed. Available records indicate that high-explosive munitions were not deployed at the Trabuco Canyon range. However, a large amount of debris from the activities at the Trabuco Bombing Range remained on the range following its closure. This debris included some unexploded ordnance (UXO), in the form of practice bombs containing spotting charges (an explosive charge designed to create a puff of smoke upon impact) which had not detonated.

Because UXO associated with the Trabuco Bombing Range still may be capable of causing injury, various clearance and removal activities have been conducted by property owners and government entities since 1956; and the process continues with the current effort which is designed to bring the process closer to closure. These activities, with emphasis on government-supported projects, are described in the Post-Closure Activities and Current Project sections of this Web site.

As the greater Los Angeles/Orange County metroplex continued to expand, the area was gradually subdivided and developed. Portions of the area that were within the original boundaries of the former range now lie within:

• O'Neill Regional Park (The park began in 1948, when the O'Neill family donated 278 acres of canyon bottom land to the County of Orange for park purposes. The family donated an additional 120 acres in 1963. The county purchased 232 acres in 1974 and an additional 30 acres in 1975. In 1982, 935 acres, known as the Arroyo Trabuco, were dedicated to the County by the Rancho Mission Viejo Company. Today, the park encompasses 3,100 acres.)
• Tijeras Creek Golf Club (The golf course was built as part of the RSM master plan, and opened in 1990. It was sold to the current owner, Pacific Life Insurance Company, in 1997. An interesting historical sidelight is that this property is said to be the site of the original California mission. The mission on this site was dedicated on July 24, 1769, and was later moved to San Juan Capistrano. A stone monument just off the 12th tee marks the spot.)
• Residential and commercial areas of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita (This 5,000-acre master-planned community was zoned for development in the early 1980s, and is now largely built out.)
• Unincorporated communities within Orange County
• Government-owned and privately held infrastructure such as roads, watersheds, parks, and other public use areas.

If you find suspicious items that may be military ordnance/munitions, DO NOT TOUCH! Mark the area for identification and call 911 immediately!

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