This beautiful lake and park are a launching pad for several Hikes. You can spend time around the lake admiring the ducks and swans, fishing or enjoying a picnic.
The lake gets stocked with fish regularly and you can witness adults and kids actually catching some fish. Dogs are welcome here but must be on a leash.
The trails connected to the lake are good for hiking, biking and horse riding. For a short and easy hike, you can just loop around the lake. One loop would be around ¾ a mile.
Several trails with varying length and difficulty starting from the lake.
Juanita Cooke Greenbelt Trail
At the north-east end of the lake, cross Santa Rosa Place road and head down the trail in either direction. Going south you can keep going for about a mile and a half until you reach Laguna Road park close to Bastanchury Road.
If you decide to continue your hike or bike ride, after cross Bastanchury you will encounter a fork in the trail. Keeping straight, you can keep going until you reach Euclid – which will take you another mile or so.
If you take the right-side fork, you will on the Hitlscher Park Trail.
Both trails are mostly flat, with special ramps for mounting biking challenges.
As you approach the end of the main trail, you will notice that neighbors on both sides keep beautiful gardens with tall palms making it a very pleasant end to a long hike.
This end of the trail is also very close to Downtown Fullerton. You can keep walking to enjoy lunch or coffee before you head back.
Bud Turner Trail
Another good trail starts from the south-west end of the lake. This is actually an extension of the trail hugging the south side of the lake.
The trail will take you through the green area of Laguna Lake Park and crossing through the Equestrian Center - which is home to the "Fullerton Recreational Riders". You can stay at the lower level close to the park or you can take the high trail which climbs for a while before dropping again.
The trail seems to end at Laguna road as it meets Euclid, but it actually continues paralleling the street until it reaches Valencia Mesa drive close to downtown.
Nora Kuttner Trail
If you follow Bud Turner trail parallel to Euclid for little distance you come across a pedestrian walkway connecting to a Church. At the other side of Euclid, you can pick up Nora Kuttner rail.
If you follow this trail for 1/2 a mile you will get to the "Top of the World" - the highest point on t his trail with great views of the Robert E. Ward natural preserve.
Looking down at the protected Coyote Hills you can see Coyote brush, southern willow scrub, coast prickly pear, California sagebrush, purple phacelia, yellow sun cups, and orange monkeyflowers along with forests of cactus.
In the distance, you can gaze at the San Gabrial Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains and downtown Los Angeles.
The trail is mostly easy with a few steep inclines. It is shared with bicycles and horses, so watch out for those bikes. The bike trail splits from the hiking trails for a good portion of this hike making a little safer.
You can get to this hike from several points along the trail but beware, there is no parking at the official trailhead on Castlewood dr. Your better option is to start from Laguna Lake Park with plenty of parking.
West trailhead: Castlewood Dr, Fullerton, CA 92833 East trailhead: 3120 Lakeview Dr, Fullerton, CA 92835