San Juan Creek runs behind a shopping center at Ortega Highway and Antonio Parkway, passes through San Juan Capistrano, and reaches the sand at Doheny State Beach. This October, several things are changing along it at once. A new restaurant at the upstream end chose the creek's name, county crews are clearing vegetation from the channel through November, and a rail bridge project downstream is building a new underpass for the bikeway. The restaurant opening, the trail detours and the construction fencing are separate projects with separate owners, and all of them sit on the same creek.
Below is what is happening at each point, starting upstream and following the water down.
The Upstream End: A Restaurant Named for the Creek Behind It
Sendero Marketplace sits at 30721 Gateway Place in Rancho Mission Viejo, on the northeast corner of Antonio Parkway and Ortega Highway, just east of San Juan Capistrano. On September 15, 2026, the Orange County Business Journal reported that RJB Restaurant Group, owned by Russ Bendel Jr. and partners, plans to open a restaurant there called Creekside this October. It will be the group's eighth business in Orange County.
Bendel told OCBJ the name came from San Juan Creek, which runs directly behind the restaurant. The concept is described as "every day American fare" comfort food, with doors opening at 4 p.m. daily.
As of October 8, the Creekside website still says "Coming Soon: Fall of 2026." No exact opening day has been announced, so check the site before planning dinner around it. The published menu already gives a good sense of the place. It lists chili cheese fries, albacore tuna tartar, pimento cheese dip, shrimp scampi, burrata, focaccia, a brisket-and-pork chili, and a set of salads.
If the name RJB Restaurant Group is new to you, some of its restaurants probably aren't. The same partners, including Executive Chef Jared Cook, run Vine and Parlor Pizzeria in San Clemente, Bloom in San Juan Capistrano, Sapphire and The Pantry in Laguna Beach, Ironwood in Laguna Hills, and Olea in Newport Beach.
Two Restaurants, One Old Road
In the OCBJ announcement, Bendel tied the new restaurant to one of his existing ones:
"Between our new spot and Bloom in San Juan Capistrano, it will be fun to have two great restaurants as bookends of the historic Ortega Highway in OC."
He means "bookends" loosely. Bloom's address is 31760 Old Mission Road in San Juan Capistrano, not Ortega Highway itself, and the Orange County Register reported that it began dinner service at 4 p.m. on December 2, 2022. Still, the geography works. Ortega Highway and San Juan Creek run roughly side by side between Antonio Parkway and the old mission district, so the road and the creek link the two restaurants.
Following the Water Down: Who Is Working Where
Lower on the creek, the news is about the bikeway, and two agencies are working on it at the same time. Their schedules differ, so here they are side by side.
| Project | Agency | Where | When | What trail users see |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channel vegetation management | OC Public Works | San Juan Creek and Trabuco Creek channels | September 30 through November 2026 | Bikeway stays open, with intermittent closures and posted detours as equipment moves |
| Bridge-area rock slope protection | OCTA | San Juan Creek Trail between Camino Capistrano and Trabuco Creek | Weekdays 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for about two weeks, starting Thursday, September 24 | Daytime weekday closure, reopening each evening and on weekends |
| San Juan Creek rail bridge replacement | OCTA | Railroad crossing of San Juan Creek | Expected to finish in early 2027 | Includes a new bikeway underpass |
The vegetation work, and why the creek will look different by Thanksgiving
The OC Public Works maintenance alert, dated September 23, 2026, describes the work in detail. Crews are cutting all woody vegetation in the channels, meaning small trees, shrubs and brush, along with non-native plants, down to ground level. Native grasses are left in place where possible. Soil, roots and channel surfaces are not disturbed, and no excavation is involved. Cuttings from some native plants will be replanted at restoration sites, and no herbicides are used.
State and federal regulators reviewed and approved the work, and a biological monitor is on site every day to protect nesting birds and other sensitive resources. For anyone who rides or walks the bikeway regularly, the visible change will be a channel with much less brush by late fall. The county says the reason is to keep channel operations safe and effective.
The OCTA closure is ending about now
OCTA's two-week daytime closure between Camino Capistrano and Trabuco Creek began Thursday, September 24. With today's date of October 8, it is at or near its scheduled end. During the closure, crews placed rock slope protection along the embankment from outside the creek. If you are on the trail this week during work hours and find it closed, the posted detour sends trail users along Camino Capistrano, Del Obispo Street and the Trabuco Creek Trail, and OCTA asks cyclists to walk their bikes on Del Obispo. OCTA also notes that weather or operational problems can change the schedule, so its construction page has the latest status.
The longer-term change is the bridge project itself. It includes a new bikeway underpass at the rail crossing and is expected to be finished in early 2027.
The Downstream End: The Mile to Doheny
At the bottom of the creek, Dana Point's San Juan Creek Trail is a concrete path of about one mile. It runs alongside the creek from Stonehill Drive to Doheny State Beach and is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. This stretch lies below the OCTA work zone. For a short out-and-back ride this month that avoids the detours, it is the simplest choice.
What the County Map Shows Near Sendero
There is a gap between the two ends of this story that's worth knowing about. Orange County's Planning Area 1 plan for the area around Antonio Parkway and Ortega Highway shows San Juan Creek running northeast to southwest through the planning area. The plan places a Class I bikeway on the creek's north side, a regional riding and hiking trail on its south side, and a community trail heading north toward Ladera Ranch.
That document is a plan, and its cover is dated February 23, 2011. It shows where routes were intended to go. It does not confirm that a trail access point exists at Sendero Marketplace or that the whole reach is open and continuous today. Until that's confirmed, a ride from Doheny up to Creekside is an idea to scout, not a set route.
A Fall Weekend Along the Creek, Upstream to Down
For anyone planning a few hours along the creek this month, here is the order that fits the schedules above:
- Morning at Doheny. Ride or walk the Dana Point stretch of the San Juan Creek Trail from Stonehill Drive to the beach. It opens at 6 a.m.
- Midday through San Juan Capistrano on a weekend. OCTA's weekday closure lifted on weekends even while it was in effect, and OC Public Works says the bikeway stays open except for intermittent closures with posted detours.
- Upstream errands at Rancho Mission Viejo. The community's Farmers' Market is held in The Pavilion parking lot. Rancho Mission Viejo sends visitors to its event page and resident app for current dates. Its event page describes an annual Harvest Pumpkin Patch at Esencia as an October resident event with pumpkin-carving demonstrations, apple cider, live music and trick-or-treating, but it does not list a specific date or year.
- Dinner after 4 p.m. Creekside at Sendero Marketplace, once it opens, or Bloom on Old Mission Road, which opened for dinner at 4 p.m. on December 2, 2022.
If OCTA's timeline holds, the bridge project and its new bikeway underpass will be finished in early 2027. For now, check the Creekside site for an opening date and the OCTA and OC Public Works pages before heading out on the trail.
The San Juan Creek corridor connects Rancho Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, and several agencies and businesses are making changes along it this fall. At Green Group Real Estate, we keep track of these details because they shape how a home in Rancho Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano or Dana Point works day to day. If you'd like to talk through how a trail connection, a new restaurant or a construction timeline fits your own plans, please contact us.
