Humboldt Lagoons State Park

Humboldt Lagoons State Park is on the California coast on the Pacific Ocean, in Humboldt County, Northwestern California. The California state park protects three lagoons with estuaries and wetlands. It is located off U.S. Route 101 between Eureka, and the border with Oregon.GeographyBig Lagoon is the largest and southernmost lagoon. Stone Lagoon is in the middle, and Freshwater Lagoon is the northernmost and smallest.The lagoons are shallow bays between rocky headlands where coastal wave action has formed a sandy bar separating each lagoon from the ocean. The 2256acre park was established in 1931.The lagoons are resting areas for migratory waterfowl using the Pacific Flyway between Lake Earl on the Smith River estuarine wetlands 40mi to the north and Humboldt Bay on the Mad River estuarine wetlands 30mi to the south. Studies around Humboldt Bay indicate tectonic activity along the Cascadia subduction zone has caused local sea level changes at intervals of several centuries. The alluvial plain forming each shallow lagoon may support freshwater wetlands or Sitka Spruce forests following uplift events and salt marsh or inundated shellfish beds following subsidence events.