Abbotts Lagoon is a two-stage lagoon located on the northwestern coast of Point Reyes National Seashore, approximately 9 miles (14.5 km) south-southeast of Tomales Point and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west-northwest of Inverness, California. The upper lagoon is a freshwater impoundment that occasionally overflows into a lower, brackish section. During winter, there is occasional tidal exchange.

The Coast Miwok tribe inhabited the area before 19th-century European colonization. By the 1870s, the land around the lagoon was used for cattle and dairy ranching. In 1941, the U.S. Navy was granted permission to use Abbotts Lagoon for dive-bombing practice for pilots from airfields in Hamilton, Santa Rosa, and Alameda. In 1952, the airspace danger areas covering this target were canceled, and the government initiated action to cancel the site’s ground rights lease. In 1962, the lagoon was authorized for addition to the National Park System as part of Point Reyes National Seashore. Today, the Tule Elk Reserve encompasses the north end of the Point Reyes Peninsula, including Tomales Point. Much of the western end of the peninsula consists of pastoral lands associated with dairy and cattle ranches, maintained in cooperation with the National Park Service. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains communication stations near Abbotts Lagoon and at Palomarin Beach.

Abbotts Lagoon is typically separated from the Pacific Ocean by dune sand to the west. In 2011, a significant restoration project removed up to 120 acres (49 ha) of invasive European beachgrass and ice plant from the dunes south of the lagoon. This initiative, known as the Abbotts Lagoon Coastal Dune Restoration Project, aims to restore natural dune processes and functions in an ecosystem that supports at least 11 threatened and endangered species. The ecological value of this area has been severely compromised by the rapid spread of these non-native species, originally planted to stabilize dunes for nearby development. Read more here and here. Explore more of Abbotts Lagoon and Point Reyes National Seashore here: