Carlsbad Lagoon (Batiquitos Lagoon)

Author's Comments

Most people drive past Batiquitos without knowing it is there. The lagoon sits just south of the freeway in Carlsbad, hemmed in by neighborhoods on one side and the rail line on the other, and yet the moment you step onto the south shore trail, the suburbs fall away and you are somewhere quieter than you expected. I come in February, early, before the sun has cleared the eastern ridge. The water is glass at that hour. The herons stand in the shallows like they have been there all night, and maybe they have. A least tern will cut across the surface and break the reflection and then the lagoon will go still again. There is a particular stretch about a mile in where the trail bends and the water opens wide to the north, and the coastal sage on the far bank reflects in the water with such clarity that it takes a moment to find the seam between the real and the mirrored. The light here is gentler than the coast. The bluffs to the west soften the morning, and the lagoon holds that soft light longer than the open beach does. Bring a long lens for the birds and a wider one for the water. Walk slowly. The trail is flat and easy and most people who come are walking dogs or running, not looking, which means the lagoon stays mostly to itself. That is the gift of this place. It is not hidden so much as overlooked, and the photographs it gives you feel earned in a quiet way.

Gallery