CLIPBOARD : Laguna Lake Park
April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. --T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land , 1922
Laguna Lake Park does not make a good first impression.
It starts with the parking lot. Trees are coated with a white dust, sprayed up from car tires on gravel. Pollen-laden pine needles are the color of smog.
Dandelions compete with bull thistle for growing room. The cool silty smell of lake bottom drifts in the breeze. There is no sense of Eden here.
A scraggly path winds through short brush, leading up a set of well-worn cement steps beneath a thicket of scrawny oaks. Now, though, the constant hum of freeway traffic has faded. And viewed from a cement dam overlook, the raw beauty of Laguna Lake Park slowly rises to the surface.
Hidden beneath twisting eucalyptus trees, the sunken lake dominates the surrounding hilly landscape. Dark green pads, each one decorated with an eggshell-thin lily, float across the jade water. Yellow-billed black coots and teals glide across the water’s surface, occasionally tipping between the cattails to feed off the lake bottom.
“This is one of the few Orange County lakes with lily pads,” said fisherman Herb Green of Fullerton. “Not only do the lilies add to the scenery, I think the fish hide under them. At least, that’s where I land my best catches.”
Green, now retired, has spent many a day fishing the lake for largemouth bass. “I started coming here in the early 1960s,” Green said. “Over the decades, the county has grown, but this little piece of land has maintained its character. I still see young couples courting out here. It’s a romantic spot.”
Not that this fisherman is a hopeless romantic. Green stopped talking long enough to hook a granddaddy of a catfish but threw it back into the lake. No sense keeping the fish, he explained. “I fish for sport,” he said, “not for dinner.”
For those who prefer their sport to be a quick lunch-hour walk, a jogging and equestrian trail wraps around the shoreline. The loop winds through the cool, pine-infused 28 acres, and is wide enough to accommodate horseback riders and an influx of baby strollers.
The east side of the lake features several hitching posts for those who arrive on horseback. A nearby equestrian center renders the scene reminiscent of early photographs taken of Orange County.
On the other side of the lake, a children’s playground and picnic area provide diversion for both adults and children. For Margaret Manning, outings in the park have become a part of her daily agenda.
“My grandchildren love it here,” said Manning, as she pushed a stroller filled with trucks, treats and cold drinks. Her grandchildren, ages 2 and 4, scampered to the swing set. “This is a wonderful place to learn about nature,” she said. “We’ve watched all sorts of plants push their way out of the hard soil.”
“The beauty of this park is so unexpected,” Manning said. “I guess that is the lesson of spring.” Hours: Open daily, 7 a.m. to sunset. Address: 3120 Lakeview Drive (at Euclid Street), Fullerton Telephone: For further information, contact the Fullerton Community Services at (714) 738-6575.