Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

Barbara's Lake: Inland Orange County's Only Natural Body of Water

BarbarasLake.jpg
Photo by David Lockeretz of Nobody Hikes in L.A.
()

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today. 

By David Lockeretz of Nobody Hikes in L.A. / Special to LAistIt’s common to joke about how the Los Angeles Lakers play in a city that has no natural lakes. However, while many L.A. residents are aware that the basketball team’s nickname comes from their days in Minneapolis, few realize that an hour’s drive from downtown, in the hills of Orange County, there is in fact a lake.

Believed to be fed from an underground spring, Barbara’s Lake is the only naturally occurring body of water in inland Orange County. It is located in the Dilley Preserve section of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, not far from one of the county’s busiest freeway interchanges, the infamous El Toro “Y”. Yet, other than some noise from the traffic on nearby highway 133, Barbara’s Lake is a peaceful and quiet place to spend an afternoon. Wildflowers make spring probably its best season, but the trails are moderate enough that they can be a year-round destination, except perhaps on the hottest summer days.

There are several possible routes to the lake. The easiest and quickest is on the appropriately named Lake Trail, which leaves the parking lot and follows a more or less level course, reaching the lake in about a mile. You can sit on its banks and enjoy the scenery before either returning to your car, or continuing uphill.

If you decide to extend your hike, you can climb the Edison Trail, which rises three hundred feet to a ridge on the east side of the park. Here, you reach a hub where several other trails, including the Mariposa, Canyon and Ridgetop converge and head downhill. In addition to the lake, other scenery here includes prickly pear cacti, oaks, willows and nice views of the canyon. If the air is clear, you’ll see the dominant shape of Old Saddleback to the north, and perhaps a glimpse of Mt. Baldy.

Support for LAist comes from

To get to the Dilley Preserve, take I-405 to highway 133. Head south for 4.8 miles and take a U-turn just before the 73 Freeway overpass, and the park will be on your right. Admission is $3 per vehicle on weekdays, $5 on weekends and $7 on holidays. The parking lot hours are 8am to 5pm. Dogs are not allowed.

As of this writing, there is talk of the possibility of the Sacramento Kings basketball team moving to Orange County. If that happens, they may have a more legitimate claim to the name Lakers than their famous counterparts in downtown Los Angeles. Regardless of what happens in the basketball world, Barbara’s Lake, the Dilley Preserve and the rest of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park are great recreational destinations for Orange County and Los Angeles residents alike.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist