Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation — Attraction in Carlsbad

The Lagoon Foundation maintains a lovely, kid and dog friendly walking trail along the north side of the Lagoon. QR code interpretive signs along the way for the curious. The 1.6-mile out and back (3.2 mile round trip) trail offers several benches for quiet contemplation or rest, and there’s a great little nature center with restroom, informative displays and items for purchase.

Very popular with bird watchers, as the Lagoon is a Nature Preserve and home to many migratory bird species, along with year round residents.

Parking is available at the west end of the trail, near the Nature Center, at the East end, and at one point in between.

Wheelchair friendly parking and access to the Nature Center, but not on the...

I was pleasantly surprised on how lovely the Batiquitos Lagoon Trail was. The Nature Center is very informative as there are many displays and the staff is more than happy to help you. Starting at the entrance of the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Nature Center- round trip is 3.25 miles. Though you can hear the freeway, if you can make yourself tune it out, you will hear the sweet music of a large variety of birds. In fact, you will find many covered benches a long the trail which are perfect for birdwatching. One of the things I enjoyed most, was encountering a gigantic Canary Island Date Palm Tree. There were 4 other trees growing out of its trunk. I can only imagine how old it is. You have to see it...

We love walking our dog at the lagoon. The trail is perfect, the morning people are friendly, and there are plenty of places to rest if we need to. Also, the nature center has a bowl out on the side for the puppies to get a drink of water.

The only bummer is that dogs can’t be off leash. It makes sense because of the wildlife preservations efforts, but we just wish our well-behaved pup could run a little more freely. Shout out to Ranger Jerry, though! That guy is...