Batiquitos Lagoon consists of 610 acres with a drainage basin of about 55,000 acres. The watershed basin includes the cities of Carlsbad, San Marcos, and Encinitas, with its primary freshwater tributaries being San Marcos Creek from the east and Encinitas Creek which flows north along Green Valley, entering the lagoon under El Camino Real and La Costa Avenue, respectively. The lagoon can be seen and experienced from a nature trail on the north side. The public walking and hiking trail is about 1.6 miles long. It starts just east of Interstate 5 at the end of Gabbiano Lane and goes most of the way to El Camino Real on the east end of the lagoon. There are five public parking lots providing access to the trail, one by the Nature Center and four on Batiquitos Drive.
The Nature Center has amazing exhibits of local wildlife as well as many artifacts from the local Indian tribe that once inhabited the land. Find out more here.