About Chino Hills
Chino Hills is a city in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, spread across the rolling grassy hills where Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties meet, about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. For more than a century the land was used for cattle grazing as part of the old Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, and it stayed largely rural until planned neighborhoods began climbing the hills in the 1970s and 1980s. Chino Hills incorporated as a city in 1991.
Today Chino Hills is a residential city of around 78,000 people that has kept a remarkable amount of open space. Ridgelines, canyons and horse trails weave between neighborhoods, and on clear winter days the snow-capped peak of Mount San Antonio rises over the valley to the north. The Shoppes at Chino Hills forms a walkable town center with restaurants, shops, the city hall and the library.
The city's two best-known attractions could hardly be more different. Chino Hills State Park protects more than 14,000 acres of wild hills, oak canyons and wildflower meadows along the Puente-Chino Hills wildlife corridor, with trails for hikers, riders and mountain bikers. And the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple hand-carved from Italian marble and Turkish limestone and opened in 2012, welcomes visitors to admire its intricate domes, spires and carvings.
Best seasonFebruary to May for green hills and wildflowers, and October to December for clear, mild days; summers are hot.
Ideal stayA half day for the Mandir and the Shoppes, or a full day with a hike in Chino Hills State Park.
ArrivingOntario International Airport is about 20 minutes away, and the SR-71 freeway runs through the city with the SR-60 and SR-91 nearby.