Laguna Seca

Laguna Seca is a seasonal lake located in south Santa Clara Valley in the Coyote Valley, an area critical to wildlife as the narrowest corridor connecting Mt. Hamilton and the Diablo Range on the east to the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west. It is the largest freshwater wetland in Santa Clara County, California and is fed by Fisher Creek. A man-made channel extends Fisher Creek to Coyote Creek.HistoryThe first written historical account of La Laguna Zeca 'the dry lake' was first described on 31 October 1797.Rancho Laguna Seca (Alvires) or Refugio de la Laguna Seca is a Mexican land grant presumably named for the seasonal lake. The grant was made July 22, 1834 to Juan Alvires by Governor José Figueroa.Historically, Laguna Seca was an approximately 1,000-acre spring-fed perennial wetland mosaic of flooded wet meadows and smaller perennial freshwater marshes and lagunas. It occasionally dried up in drought years. From 1916 to 1917, Laguna Seca was largely filled in to permit agriculture.