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San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve 2710 Manchester Avenue (Nature Center) Encinitas, CA 92023-0634 760.436.3944 www.sanelijo.org San Elijo Lagoon is one of San Diego County’s largest coastal wetlands. It lies along the coast between the cities of Solana Beach and Encinitas, extending inland to the community of Rancho Santa Fe. It is fed by a 77 square mile watershed with two main tributaries, Escondido Creek and Orilla Creek. The reserve encompasses approximately 900 acres of diverse habitat with six plant communities: coastal strand, salt marsh, fresh-water marsh, riparian scrub, coastal sage scrub, and mixed chaparral. This mosaic of habitats supports: -over 300 species of plants San Elijo Lagoon is primarily a shallow-water estuary. It is divided into basins by Highway 101, the railway, and Interstate 5. A century of artificial constriction has resulted in reduction of the natural ability of the estuary to open to the ocean. In recent years successful efforts by the county, state, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy have improved the water quality by dredging open the inlet allowing a tidal exchange critical to the health of the estuary. There are over 5 miles of hiking trails in the reserve open to the public. These trails can be reached from the north end of Rios Avenue, Santa Carina Drive and Santa Helena Drive on the south side of the lagoon in Solana Beach and along El Camino Real at Orilla Creek in Rancho Santa Fe at the east end. The Nature Center is located at 2710 Manchester Avenue in Encinitas on the northwest side of the reserve. The San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy (SELC) is a non-profit citezens’ group with a mission to preserve, protect, and enhance the reserve. They host public nature walks each month as well as docent guided tours. Call the office for more information or visist their website. |
