Mugu_Lagoon
Mugu Lagoon
Salt marsh in Ventura County, California
Mugu Lagoon (/muːˈɡuː/; Chumash: Muwu, meaning "Beach")[1] is a salt marsh located within the Naval Base Ventura County at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura County, California.[2] The lagoon extends for 4.3 miles parallel to a narrow barrier beach.[3][4] The first European to come ashore here was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo on October 10, 1542. Cabrillo was the first European to visit present-day California, and he named the lagoon Mugu after Muwu, which is Chumash meaning "beach" or "seashore".[5] When the Europeans first discovered the lagoon, it functioned as the capital village of the Chumash Indians settled around Point Mugu.[6]