Lake Calavera, Calavera hills, Calavera Lake California
The 400-acre lake is a man-made reservoir managed by the Carlsbad Municipal Water District. Built in 1940, the earthen dam at the south end of the lake rises 67 feet high and 490 feet across. The lake stores 520 acre-feet of water.
The preserve’s main trail is a 1.9-mile loop that circles Lake Calavera. The main North Trail crosses the dam to continue along the main South Trail for that full lake loop.
Just beyond the south end of the dam, a steep trail forks off to the south of that main South Trail. Take that trail uphill to reach the cliff side of Mount Calavera, the 513-foot-high summit centered in the preserve.
“Calavera means skull (in Spanish), which probably comes from the unusual shape of the area’s centerpiece, Mount Calavera,” says Preserve Calavera, a nonprofit citizens’ organization formed about 10 years ago to protect this open space.
Mount Calavera, says the organization, is not a mountain but rather a 22 million-year-old volcanic plug - a mass of volcanic rock that solidified in a volcano’s vent millions of years ago. “When the volcano becomes extinct and starts to erode away, the ‘plug’ is all that is left.” Mount Calavera is one of only three volcanic plugs in Southern California, it adds.
That cliff is evidence of mining done here in the early 1900s. It also seems to invite rock climbers.
There have been several activities in this area for years that Carlsbad has been trying to eliminate, including motorized vehicles, swimming in the lake, rogue trails, trash dumping and unleashed dogs running free. Since 2009, the city has partnered with the Center for Natural Lands Management to manage and patrol the preserve, install fencing and signs, fix trails and close unauthorized trails, survey plants and animals and remove invasive plants, including mustard and fennel that once thrived here.
When you reach the top of that short spur trail to Mount Calavera’s cliff, head toward the entry opening in the chain-link fence. Just to the right of that opening is a surprising rock maze. You can’t get lost inside this maze, since you can step over one circle to the next. But this concentric trail, like any contemplative labyrinth, simply invites one to ponder the journey rather than the destination. Nearby are rock arrangements that spell people’s names and such.
Go back down to join the main South Trail around the lake. Just beyond a bench that looks out over the lake, the trail forks with the main trail on the low side and the Serpentine Trail (not currently marked with a sign) to the right. Take that right trail to head uphill. At a kiosk at the top, another trail heads up the top of that volcanic plug for the best views around.
You can wander around these trails for several hours with very little chance of getting lost. But take a map before you go to locate where you are, since many of the trails are not now sporting signs.
Негізгі бет Calavera Lake Volcano and Dam history, Carlsbad California
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