One of few remaining coastal wetlands of San Diego County, San Elijo Lagoon is home to an exceptional number of animals and plants. The lagoon is part of San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve, a county and state regional park of nearly 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of diverse habitat including six plant communities: coastal strand, salt marsh, brackish/freshwater marsh, riparian scrub, coastal sage scrub and mixed chaparral.
