Orange County, CA has some natural lakes and they are situated in the Laguna Coast Wilderness area. I have lived in Orange County my entire life and never knew this until a few years ago.
We set off on the suggestion of my hiking friend to see the lake. Along the way we kept our eyes and ears out for wildlife (our kids probably scare everything off since we are loud on the trail) and especially snakes. The trail is nice and wide which makes things slightly easier to spot and we reminded our kids to stay on the trail.
Barbara’s Lake is the largest, 12 acres, of the lakes with multiple trails leading to it. The round trip is about 2 miles, from the Nix Nature Center, and hiking with kids takes about 2 hours including bug searching and snack breaks.
Although there are several park and start points we began our hike at the Nix Nature Center parking area.
The trail head starts near Laguna Canyon Road, goes under the road and on to the lake.
I thought this was poison oak. It is not.
We ALWAYS have snacks on the trail.
When are you going to visit this part of Orange County?
For more information click here to go to the OC Parks website.
That’s not Poison Oak.
Dangit. Thanks Andy, I will need to update my post.