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This view from Overlook Hill shows Soda Lake and the Temblor Range in the distance. In the foreground is a park boardwalk constructed to protect the sensative saltbush habitat that borders the lakebed. Soda Dry Lake is a playa (an ephemeral lake) at about 1,908 feet in elevation. The lakebed receives water during wet winters and rare late summer monsoon storms. The modern saltpan covers about 3,000 acres and is one of the largest undisturbed alkali wetlands in California. Rainfall in the Carrizo Plain averages about 8 inches per year (but is significantly greater in the surrounding high country). Rainwater that collects of the playa becomes temporary home to fairy and brine shrimp and supports migratory and nesting birds. |
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