Lake Elizabeth, located in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
of
Fremont, California
Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...
, is a man made lake with a 2 mile walkway around the lake. When at average capacity, water rises to a depth of about seven feet.
[Average capacity ~= ~= 190 million U.S. gallons ~= 720 ML]
About
Lake Elizabeth was named when it and the surrounding
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
were dedicated to
Fremont's sister city,
Elizabeth, South Australia
Elizabeth is an outer northern suburb of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia, 24 km north of the Adelaide city centre. It is located in the City of Playford. At the 2021 census, Elizabeth had a population of 40,343.
Establi ...
on March 22, 1969. Central Park and Lake Elizabeth began development in 1960.
Central Park and the lake are visited by hundreds of people every day, and the lake is commonly used for boating and other recreational activities too. The park is home to a large number of birds such as
American coot
The American coot (''Fulica americana''), also known as a mud hen or pouldeau, is a bird of the family Rallidae. Though commonly mistaken for ducks, American coots are only distantly related to ducks, belonging to a separate order. Unlike the we ...
s,
mallards
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...
,
gulls
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and Skimmer (bird), skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gul ...
, and also some very unusual birds who live near the small forest on the northern side of the park or on the small island (often called Duck Island), inaccessible to land bound visitors, in the center of the lake. Many people come to bicycle or jog around the lake's perimeter, and many families come for the two playgrounds in the park and the other three that it connects to by walkway. Many people also enjoy fishing at the lake, as it is free. Fishes that could be caught include sunfish, trout, catfish, and largemouth bass. The
Aqua Adventure water park lies in Central Park on the southern shore of Lake Elizabeth.
Hydrology
Lake Elizabeth has one island, named Duck Island, located in the eastern part of the lake.
Mission Creek
Mission Creek (from Spanish: ''misión'') is a river in San Francisco, California. Once navigable from the Mission Bay inland to the vicinity of Mission Dolores, where several smaller creeks converged to form it, Mission Creek has long since b ...
flows into Lake Elizabeth on the southern shore.
Tunnel
As part of the
Warm Springs BART expansion, a
cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...
tunnel was built across
Fremont Central Park
Fremont Central Park is a manmade park in the central area of Fremont, California on Paseo Padre Parkway at Stevenson Boulevard. It is accessible from I-880 and I-680. It began development in 1960, and contains Lake Elizabeth, a shallow man m ...
and under Lake Elizabeth at a cost of $137 million.
Underground tracks are more expensive than surface tracks, but this lessens the impact of train operations on the park. Construction began in 2009, and was completed in 2012.
The tunnel did not open for revenue service until March 2017.
See also
*
List of lakes in California
There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.
Largest lakes
In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occup ...
References
{{authority control
Geography of Fremont, California
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth''
* Princess Elizabeth ...
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth''
* Princess Elizabeth ...