Overview
About Lake Forest Keys
The Lake Forest Keys covers 73.6 acres and holds 500 homes on seventeen streets, ninth highest home count of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site. The median lot measures 3,600 square feet, the third smallest detached lot median in the city. Lake 2 adjoins the boundary at 33.5 acres, and a third of an acre inside the line is itself designated lake on the city's land use layer.
The city's pool layer records only three backyard pools inside the boundary alongside 23 solar installations, two spas and a tennis court, the lowest private pool count of any Lake Forest community on this site holding more than 400 homes on its own lots. Irvine Ranch Water District supplies the water, 2.1 acres sit in FEMA flood zone AE, and children go to Rancho Canada Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High.
View available homes in Lake Forest KeysHistory
How Lake Forest Keys was built
The Keys sits along Lake 2, a 33.5 acre man-made lake at the center of the old ranch. Occidental Petroleum built houses through the eucalyptus groves around it in the late 1960s, and the forest and the lakes gave the city its name.
The homes here date to 1972, 500 of them on 74 acres and seventeen streets, with a median lot of 3,600 square feet, the third smallest detached lot median in the city. Homes on the water have private docks. There are only three private backyard pools inside the whole boundary, the lowest count of any Lake Forest community here with more than 400 homes on their own lots, which makes sense when the lake is a short walk away.
By the Numbers
Lake Forest Keys by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Lake Forest Keys lifestyle
Lake 2 runs along the edge of the community and covers 34 acres of open water on the city's lake map.
Lake Forest keeps 31 parks open from dawn to dusk. The Lake Forest Sports Park and Recreation Center opened in November 2014 on 86 acres, with 57 of them given over to sports fields, and the city runs the largest free skatepark in Orange County at Etnies Skatepark.
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park holds 1,575 acres of county open space against the north edge of the city, and the city's trail map carries 49 named trails.
Across the whole city the general plan sets 3,756 acres to residential use and 3,065 acres to open space and parks, which is why so much of Lake Forest reads as green from the ridgelines.
Schools
Schools serving Lake Forest Keys
The City of Lake Forest property record names Rancho Canada Elementary for all 544 addresses in the Lake Forest Keys, with Serrano Intermediate for middle school and El Toro High for high school. There is no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
9-12 · 1,902 students
7-8 · 868 students
K-6 · 633 students
FAQs
Common questions about Lake Forest Keys
How big is the Lake Forest Keys?
The community covers 73.6 acres on the city's published boundary and holds 500 homes on 544 parcels across seventeen streets. It ranks fourteenth by acreage and ninth by home count of the fifty Lake Forest communities on this site.
What size are the lots?
The median parcel measures 3,600 square feet, the third smallest of the thirty-three Lake Forest communities on this site where a parcel median describes a detached lot rather than shared ground.
Is there a lake?
Lake 2 adjoins the boundary at 33.5 acres, and a third of an acre inside the association line is itself designated lake on the city's land use layer. The lake lies wholly inside the neighboring Lake Forest II boundary.
When was the Lake Forest Keys laid out?
One map covers the whole community. Tract 7197 was recorded on February 18, 1972 under licensed surveyor Frank W. Richardson, filed at MM 291/4-15, and the recorded tract runs to 145 acres against the association's published 73.6.
Which schools serve the Lake Forest Keys?
The city's property record names Rancho Canada Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High for all 544 addresses inside the boundary, with no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.