There are many lakes, ponds and pools on the 125,000 acres of Camp Pendleton.
The main, all-year-round sites are shown here. [Click to enlarge]
With the exception of Lake O'Neill, no single pond is very large,
but combined they still make up 50 acres of the base.
Vernal Pools are a special conservation subject on Camp Pendleton;
in environmental surveys more than 3500 have been catalogued:
Here's one of the vernal pools [Camp Pendleton photo]
We had no difficulty finding multiple large ponds on the base,
even when maps and satellite images showed no water.
Take a look at the Stuart Mesa Ponds below:
The same area in my Jan 2020 photos:
The ponds on Pendleton are sometimes named in "military style".
This information is on a base website page,
and the 2018 Integrated Natural Resources Plan (a 770 page PDF).
Echo North Pond (ENP), Echo South Pond (ESP),
Hotel Pond (HP), India Pond (IP),
Kilo 1 Pond (K1P), Kilo 2 Pond (K2P),
Lima West Pond (LWP), Lima East Pond (LEP),
Mike North Pond (MNP), Mike South Pond (MSP),
Papa 1 Pond (P1P), Pump House Pond (PHP)
Stuart Mesa Ponds (SM1, SM2, SM3, SM4, SM5, SM6)
SMR2 Percolation Ponds (PP1*, PP2, PP3, PP4, PP5)
We made a brief stop at lovely De Luz Pond, which is near a housing center.
Consequently for safety it is fenced off.
It's easy to "jump the fence" by cropping the picture, but not so easy in person.
I usually hold my camera as high as possible and often stand in the back of the truck.
Lake O'Neill has its own page but I mention it here
because it functions as a recreational facility AND
it also supplies water to "recharge" the aquifer (underground reserves).
Excess water is moved into these large ponds west of the lake.
They drain into underground streams.
Here's an overview of the Lake and several ponds and housing areas.
We have a couple more ponds to locate and view.
I look forward to another visit to Camp Pendleton.
I will add them to this page when I get there.
With the exception of Lake O'Neill, no single pond is very large,
but combined they still make up 50 acres of the base.
Vernal Pools are a special conservation subject on Camp Pendleton;
in environmental surveys more than 3500 have been catalogued:
Here's one of the vernal pools [Camp Pendleton photo]
We had no difficulty finding multiple large ponds on the base,
even when maps and satellite images showed no water.
Take a look at the Stuart Mesa Ponds below:
The same area in my Jan 2020 photos:
The ponds on Pendleton are sometimes named in "military style".
This information is on a base website page,
and the 2018 Integrated Natural Resources Plan (a 770 page PDF).
Echo North Pond (ENP), Echo South Pond (ESP),
Hotel Pond (HP), India Pond (IP),
Kilo 1 Pond (K1P), Kilo 2 Pond (K2P),
Lima West Pond (LWP), Lima East Pond (LEP),
Mike North Pond (MNP), Mike South Pond (MSP),
Papa 1 Pond (P1P), Pump House Pond (PHP)
Stuart Mesa Ponds (SM1, SM2, SM3, SM4, SM5, SM6)
SMR2 Percolation Ponds (PP1*, PP2, PP3, PP4, PP5)
We made a brief stop at lovely De Luz Pond, which is near a housing center.
Consequently for safety it is fenced off.
It's easy to "jump the fence" by cropping the picture, but not so easy in person.
I usually hold my camera as high as possible and often stand in the back of the truck.
Lake O'Neill has its own page but I mention it here
because it functions as a recreational facility AND
it also supplies water to "recharge" the aquifer (underground reserves).
Excess water is moved into these large ponds west of the lake.
They drain into underground streams.
Here's an overview of the Lake and several ponds and housing areas.
We have a couple more ponds to locate and view.
I look forward to another visit to Camp Pendleton.
I will add them to this page when I get there.
