Humboldt Lagoons is a 5.9 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Trinidad, California that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from June until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Tucked away along the isolated coast of Humboldt County between the villages of Trinidad and Orick lies the largest lagoon system in the continental United States. The lagoons are shallow, landlocked bodies of water along the coast which are separated from the sea by coastal spits of land. Seawater only flows in and out of the lagoons when it breaks through the spits, generally during winter storm seasons. In the early 1900's, Dry Lagoon was drained by early farmers in an attempt to grow several types of crops, none of which proved economically viable. Today, Dry Lagoon supports a wetland environment that attracts migratory birds. Additionally, several dairy ranches were established along the shores of Stone Lagoon. At Stone Lagoon the park's visitor center on HWY 101 was formerly a local motel-restaurant called the "Little Red Hen." This business operated until 1979. Today the restaurant has been remodeled into a museum/bookstore and the park office. Picnic tables, restrooms, and boat launching are all available here. The coastal beaches within Humboldt Lagoons support healthy coastal dune vegetation. The edges of both Big and Stone lagoons contain brackish marshes; Dry Lagoon supports both freshwater and a brackish marsh. The landlocked Freshwater Lagoon is surrounded by a narrow strip of freshwater marshlands. In the park's forests are Coast Redwood, Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Fir, Red Alder and large stands of Willows. Humboldt Lagoons is part of the Pacific Flyway, hosting more than 200 bird species which include: bald eagles, peregrine falcons and threatened Western snowy plovers. Black bear, Roosevelt elk herds and bobcats can be seen throughout the park. Offshore, whales, dolphins and sea lions can be encountered. The lagoons are open for fishing and exploration by boat; primarily small power boats, canoes, kayaks, paddle-boards, and even shallow keeled sailboats.
Visitor Center Operating Hours: Open daily 10am to 3pm if staffing allows from June to September (Due to low staffing calling ahead would be best) Day-use Areas: Sunrise to sunset year-round Seasonal Camping: Camping is seasonal and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact the park directly for information.
HUMBOLDT LAGOONS STATE PARK 15336 Highway 101 Trinidad, California 95570 Phone: 707-488-2169 Humboldt Lagoons SP http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=416
Coastal/Temperate. Summer is foggy, cool and damp, with temperatures averaging 50-60 degrees. Winter temperatures average 40-50 degrees with a 60" annual rainfall occurring mostly November - May. Spring and Fall are typically very nice. Bring warm/layered clothing.
Humboldt Lagoons is located 40 miles north of Eureka and 55 miles south of Crescent City on Highway 101. (Latitude/Longitude: 41.1900 / -124.1206)
A bit muddy and the lagoon is blocking the last quarter mile. But a nice hike!
was a nice late winter hike. A little soggy and muddy after all the rains the past week. Lots of new growth and sprouts peaking out. Couldn't make it all the way to spit as Stone Lagoon is very full and high, that last section of trail was under water.
Overgrown and pretty muddy in spots. Took a detour to the top of the lookout point. Great views
The forest like jungles - very green. Long ocean Beach is nice.
24 July 2020. Nice trail with varied landscapes. Starts off sandy with coastal brush and turns woody for a bit (with that lovely spongey coniferous forest floor) before it becomes an overgrown jungle. The plants are tall along portions of the main path. At the first offshoot of the main path, the trail takes you toward a giant overlook rock on the beach and the overgrowth gets much worse long the way. There are parts where it’s tough to push through, particularly in the areas where there are thorny shrubs. Still, a hat, pants, and sleeves will protect you from the few bugs, the sun, and the plants. The hike up the peak on the beach was well worth the effort. It’s easy to get up there but terrifying to climb down! It may not be safe for dogs and little children to go all the way, but hiking even part of the way there affords a great view. (Minus one star for all the overgrowth and thorny shrubs.)
This was definitely my least favorite hike done on my weekend in Humboldt. The path is extremely overgrown for 1/3-1/2 of the length of it. We wore long sleeves but not pants and our legs are pretty scratched up. The foliage was well over my head (and in my face) in many places (don’t bring your kids!). It was quite buggy at times, I walked with my hand over my face so I didn’t inhale them. I also ended up with a lot of spider webs in my face due to the overgrown path. We never lost the trail, but there were several points where we couldn’t see it. We clocked the hike from the parking lot to the lagoon and back at just 5.2mi instead of 5.9. Also notable that we saw fresh bear scat twice so make noise and be aware!
Beautiful area, however the foliage on the trail needs to be cut back....I had to turn around. Perhaps I should try again during a different time of year.
Really glad this trail has finally been maintained as I’ve been wanting to do it since I moved here. Trail was in great condition minus some muddy patches which is pretty common for this season. I saw two other couples hiking it and lots of birds! I would definitely recommend taking the offshoot to the overlook- it was by far my favorite part of the hike. The path it a bit hard to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for but if you use the waypoints on the map it’s fairly easy.
I called and spoke to the Patrick’s Point Visitor Center, which is where you need to register to stay at the Stone Lagoon Campground. They said the trail is closed and unmaintained, and that you can’t leave your car overnight at Dry Lagoon or ”it’ll get towed”. They said the only way to get to the campground is by boat/kayak via the far side of Stone Lagoon.
We were staying across the street at Elk Country RV Park, which was great, so we mainly drove by the dry lagoons and walked down to the ocean. There were elk all in the dry lagoon and it was one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen. We had our dog on the beach along with many others. We loved it!