Lago Tranquilo: Bringing You closer to the Beauty of Bluff Lake
Doug Chudy
Director of Preserve Planning & Design
San Bernardino Mountains Regional Director
The Wildlands Conservancy
For various reasons through the years, we have considered adding new features and developments at Bluff Lake Reserve, and have felt better simply letting the place remain as it is and has been. In recent years, however, visitation to the Reserve has increased, and once-tranquil spaces along the trail have become so lively that some days, fewer opportunities present themselves for visitors to experience a sense of quiet intimacy with nature.
In late July, The Wildlands Conservancy’s design team set out to learn how we could create additional opportunities for visitors to experience a connection, especially with the water of Bluff Lake, as most of the immediate shoreline is closed to the public to protect habitat. To balance access with habitat protection, we focused on an area with existing impacts from social trails and storm damage. The “Lago Tranquilo” trail was born from that brainstorming session.
The first steps in the trail’s development will include removing several large pines that have fallen in high wind events and now lay partially in the lake and processing them into 6-foot long logs which will be placed end-to-end along the edges of the trail. By doing this, we utilize native material for designating the trail, guiding visitors to remain on the path and avoid damaging the sensitive flora that thrive on the north shore. The trail position will ensure that unique views are framed—a subtle feature on many of our trails. Wildlands’ signature design aesthetic complements the natural places we select, which is especially important at Bluff Lake Reserve.
New conifer growth along the shore of Bluff Lake Reserve. Photo by Elba Mora.
The north shore of Bluff Lake is a tranquil, densely-forested area with some of the largest Jeffery pines in the San Bernardino Mountains. A minimalist touch is required to both retain these qualities and also establish a new walking path along the forest floor. While one might give pause at the thought of even a relatively small length of forest floor disturbance in a place as beautiful as Bluff Lake Reserve, all work will be done with these habitat and species protection in mind. For example, commencing work in annual species’ dormant season will have the least impact on seed production. And, the installation of this new trail will actually benefit the forest floor by providing visitors a designated pathway to access that portion of the shoreline without trampling the sensitive plant community.
While many visitors would love the opportunity to walk along the lake’s entire edge, it is imperative to protect the shoreline where the life of aquatic ecosystems border and overlap with the forest floor. Places that have entirely walkable shorelines eventually get beaten down to a hardscape of compacted soil where nothing has a chance to gain footing before being stamped out by the next passerby. One example of how a shoreline can be damaged by “too much love” is Jenks Lake in the San Bernardino National Forest. Generations of picnickers, anglers and hikers have denuded the lakeside, leading to warmer surface temperatures for those fringe areas as well as an increase of sedimentation from runoff entering the water from exposed peripheral soils.
When the Lago Tranquilo trail is open, we will have an addition so enticing that the lake will communicate from its still waters with you.