Schwan Lake

This area, popularly known as Twin Lakes, was named after twin lagoons that once reached the sea. Schwan Lagoon and Woods Lagoon changed as the town developed: Woods Lagoon became the yacht harbor, while Schwan Lagoon lost its connection to the sea and became the lake seen today. When Jacob Schwan purchased this land in 1867, Schwan Lagoon was a pristine tidal estuary. In the 1880s, the lake was crossed by railroad trestles and bridges for horses and buggies. In the 1930s, when the East Cliff Drive road-bed blocked tidal exchange, the lake dried up each summer and became a smelly eye-sore. In the 1970s, after the Yacht Harbor was built, the beach widened, blocking the inflow of sea water, and this became a freshwater lake. In 1977, a weir gate was installed to maintain water levels year-round. Today, community efforts to remove invasive plants help neighbors and visitors enjoy this scenic recreational resource, and keeping it healthy and wild includes not feeding waterfowl, picking up litter, and not releasing pets such as ducks, geese, frogs, turtles, lizards, or snakes.

Twin Lakes, California · United States