White Point Nature Center
and Preserve
1600 W Paseo Del Mar,
San Pedro, CA 90731
Established:
2009
Size:
3 acres of gardens
102 acres of preserve
Designed by:
Rick Fisher, Toyon Design
Features:
Walking Trails
Intense local history
Bomb factory buildings
Nature Center
Notable Plants:
Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana)
Coast prickly pear (Opuntia littoralis)
Giant rye (Elymus condensatus)
Ashy buckwheat (Eriogonum cinereum)
Seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium)
California box thorn (Lycium californicum)
Oregon grape (Berberis nervosa)
Clustered tarweed (Deinandra fasciculata)
Arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis)
Best time to visit:
Spring and early summer
Spring is when this space really shines! Purple sages, coast sunflowers and wildflowers are all in bloom and is the perfect time to walk through the preserve. Early summer brings out the buckwheats, asters and tarweeds. Even in the height of summer this is a great place to escape the heat.
For the last 5,000 years, the land, now occupied by the White Point Preserve, has been the site of human presence and activity. The demonstration gardens at the White Point Nature Center honor this history by focusing on the connection between people and the land.
The gardens cover three acres of the 102 acres of the preserve. They are divided into four sections, north, south, east and west, oriented to connect with the stages of life and seasonal cycles. The recommended route is east, south, west and then north. Each of these sections focus on different connections to the land. They describe how cattails were used as decoration for the face and back, how elderberry wood was used for flutes and whistles, which earned it the name “tree of music” and how over plants were used as food sources. The plants found here are locally native, ecologically important and culturally relevant to the Tongva.
The gardens around the Nature Center and amphitheater are more formal and maintained, while still being an accurate representation of the local coastal sage scrub and prairie. The gardens are beautiful and filled with small details. Delicate grasses surround smaller shrubs in the same space as sycamores. This scale shift and attention to detail turns each area into a vignette, almost like a diorama. The effect is magical. The garden also features a sundial that shows both the equinox and the solstice and a bioswale to capture rain water.
The gardens around the Nature Center and amphitheater are more formal and maintained, while still being an accurate representation of the local coastal sage scrub and prairie. The gardens are beautiful and filled with small details.Delicate grasses surround smaller shrubs in the same space as sycamores. This scale shift and attention to detail turns each area into a vignette, almost like a diorama. The effect is magical. The garden also features a sundial that shows both the equinox and the solstice and a bioswale to capture rain water.
“They are divided into four sections, north, south, east and west, oriented to connect with the stages of life and seasonal cycles. The recommended route is east, south, west and then north. Each of these sections focus on different connections to the land.”
The garden has a stunning group of Oregon grape, a ridiculously large giant rye and groups of coastal prickly pears that are covered in blooms when most other plants have gone summer dormant. On the north western side of the garden the path is lined with purple sages, which is stunning in spring time. In addition to the more common plants that are often found in gardens, like toyon, california sage brush and ceanothus, the gardens have some really cool less commonly seen plants. Torrey pine, wild tarragon, wooly milkweed, california box thorn, telegraph weed and Canaigre can also be found there. The inclusion of these less domesticated and perhaps more aesthetically challenging plants, is so important. They fill important roles in the ecosystem and remind us how rich and complex our world really is.
The goal of the preserve is to restore habitat for two local endangered species, the California gnatcatcher and the El Segundo Blue Butterfly. Both of these species live in the coastal sage scrub that is found on the south coast. The profusion of sea cliff buckwheats found here are host plants to the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, and provide important food for their caterpillars.
The garden becomes more wild as it moves away from the Nature Center and fades into the larger preserve. Here there are large ceanothus, buckwheats and California sage brush. In the past the preserve was used for cattle and this introduced many invasive species into the delicate coastal prairie.
The restoration of this area has been a long hard battle with mustard, and introduced grasses. Over time the grasslands have improved with planting and weeding. This beautiful habitat is accessible via the grassland trail.
The White Point Nature Center demonstration gardens are a stunning example of reclaimed land use and thoughtful, forward-thinking preservation.
The White Point area has a long and complicated past. Five Tongva archaeological sites have been found at the Preserve. The land has been long managed by the Tongva through controlled burns. In 1770 the Spanish arrived, marking the decline of the Tongva culture. The land was part of the first private land concession of 75 acres that was given to Juan Jose Dominguez for Rancho San Pedro In the 1820’s the land was part of Jose Dolores Sepulveda cattle ranch. A period of drought, flooding and other difficulties brought an end to the cattle ranch. By 1899 the land was leased to a group of Japanese fishermen to form an abalone fishery.
The enterprise grew and by 1903 the group had enough capital to invest in a canning factory. Lobster, red crab, sea urchin, sea snails and octopus were also harvested at the site. In 1915 the Tagami family began construction on The White Point Hot Springs, which took advantage of sulphur hot springs on the beach. The resort included a hotel, restaurant, rental cabins, the sulfur spring pool, a saltwater pool, bathhouse and a pier from which day fishermen could be shuttled out to a floating fishing barge. The resort was very popular and operated until the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. The earthquake not only damaged the buildings but closed the fissure that had created the all important sulphur hot springs. This along with the economic downturn of the time resulted in the resort’s closure. The foundations of the White Point Hot Springs are still visible and there is a historic marker to provide information about this important site.
The community finally came to an end in the early 1940’s with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Quickly after the attack community leaders submitted a declaration of loyalty to the United States. This action, however, did not prevent the government from removing the Japanese people, regardless of their citizenship, from the White Point area. They were sent to and incarcerated internment camps throughout the state losing their homes, businesses and belongings. After the way very few were able to come back to the harbour area.
“The community finally came to an end in the early 1940’s with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Quickly after the attack community leaders submitted a declaration of loyalty to the United States. This action, however, did not prevent the government from removing the Japanese people, regardless of their citizenship, from the White Point area. ”
White Point became a part of the Coastal Defense System during WWII. Afterwards, during the Cold War, White Point became home to numerous Nike Missiles. The Nature Center is in one of the missile assembly buildings and the footprints of many other structures are still present in the preserve. In 1978 the land was decommissioned as a military base and the 102 acres were gifted to the City of Los Angeles for the use of a public park. Finally, in 2003, the preserve opened.
More Information
Opening Hours:
White Point Preserve: Sunrise to sunset
Nature Center:
Wednesdays 10 am – 4 pm
Saturdays and Sundays 10 am – 4 pm
White Point Nature Center
and Preserve
1600 W. Paseo Del Mar,
San Pedro, CA 90731
Established:
2009
Size:
3 acres of gardens
102 acres of preserve
Designed by:
Rick Fisher, Toyon Design
Features:
Walking Trails
Intense local history
Bomb factory buildings
Nature Center
Notable Plants:
Torrey pine
(Pinus torreyana)
Coast prickly pear
(Opuntia littoralis)
Giant rye
(Elymus condensatus)
Ashy buckwheat
(Eriogonum cinereum)
Seacliff buckwheat
(Eriogonum parvifolium)
California box thorn
(Lycium californicum)
Oregon grape
(Berberis nervosa)
Clustered tarweed
(Deinandra fasciculata)
Arroyo willow
Salix lasiolepis)
Best time to visit:
Spring and early summer
Spring is when this space really shines! Purple sages, coast sunflowers and wildflowers are all in bloom and is the perfect time to walk through the preserve. Early summer brings out the buckwheats, asters and tarweeds. Even in the height of summer this is a great place to escape the heat.
For the last 5,000 years, the land, now occupied by the White Point Preserve, has been the site of human presence and activity. The demonstration gardens at the White Point Nature Center honor this history by focusing on the connection between people and the land.
The gardens cover three acres of the 102 acres of the preserve. They are divided into four sections, north, south, east and west, oriented to connect with the stages of life and seasonal cycles. The recommended route is east, south, west and then north. Each of these sections focus on different connections to the land. They describe how cattails were used as decoration for the face and back, how elderberry wood was used for flutes and whistles, which earned it the name “tree of music” and how over plants were used as food sources. The plants found here are locally native, ecologically important and culturally relevant to the Tongva.
The gardens around the Nature Center and amphitheater are more formal and maintained, while still being an accurate representation of the local coastal sage scrub and prairie. The gardens are beautiful and filled with small details. Delicate grasses surround smaller shrubs in the same space as sycamores. This scale shift and attention to detail turns each area into a vignette, almost like a diorama. The effect is magical. The garden also features a sundial that shows both the equinox and the solstice and a bioswale to capture rain water.
The gardens around the Nature Center and amphitheater are more formal and maintained, while still being an accurate representation of the local coastal sage scrub and prairie. The gardens are beautiful and filled with small details.Delicate grasses surround smaller shrubs in the same space as sycamores. This scale shift and attention to detail turns each area into a vignette, almost like a diorama. The effect is magical. The garden also features a sundial that shows both the equinox and the solstice and a bioswale to capture rain water.
“They are divided into four sections, north, south, east and west, oriented to connect with the stages of life and seasonal cycles. The recommended route is east, south, west and then north. Each of these sections focus on different connections to the land.“
The garden has a stunning group of Oregon grape, a ridiculously large giant rye and groups of coastal prickly pears that are covered in blooms when most other plants have gone summer dormant. On the north western side of the garden the path is lined with purple sages, which is stunning in spring time. In addition to the more common plants that are often found in gardens, like toyon, california sage brush and ceanothus, the gardens have some really cool less commonly seen plants. Torrey pine, wild tarragon, wooly milkweed, california box thorn, telegraph weed and Canaigre can also be found there. The inclusion of these less domesticated and perhaps more aesthetically challenging plants, is so important. They fill important roles in the ecosystem and remind us how rich and complex our world really is.
The goal of the preserve is to restore habitat for two local endangered species, the California gnatcatcher and the El Segundo Blue Butterfly. Both of these species live in the coastal sage scrub that is found on the south coast. The profusion of sea cliff buckwheats found here are host plants to the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, and provide important food for their caterpillars.
The garden becomes more wild as it moves away from the Nature Center and fades into the larger preserve. Here there are large ceanothus, buckwheats and California sage brush. In the past the preserve was used for cattle and this introduced many invasive species into the delicate coastal prairie.
The goal of the preserve is to restore habitat for two local endangered species, the California gnatcatcher and the El Segundo Blue Butterfly. Both of these species live in the coastal sage scrub that is found on the south coast. The profusion of sea cliff buckwheats found here are host plants to the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, and provide important food for their caterpillars.
The garden becomes more wild as it moves away from the Nature Center and fades into the larger preserve. Here there are large ceanothus, buckwheats and California sage brush. In the past the preserve was used for cattle and this introduced many invasive species into the delicate coastal prairie.
The White Point area has a long and complicated past. Five Tongva archaeological sites have been found at the Preserve. The land has been long managed by the Tongva through controlled burns. In 1770 the Spanish arrived, marking the decline of the Tongva culture. The land was part of the first private land concession of 75 acres that was given to Juan Jose Dominguez for Rancho San Pedro In the 1820’s the land was part of Jose Dolores Sepulveda cattle ranch. A period of drought, flooding and other difficulties brought an end to the cattle ranch. By 1899 the land was leased to a group of Japanese fishermen to form an abalone fishery.
The enterprise grew and by 1903 the group had enough capital to invest in a canning factory. Lobster, red crab, sea urchin, sea snails and octopus were also harvested at the site. In 1915 the Tagami family began construction on The White Point Hot Springs, which took advantage of sulphur hot springs on the beach. The resort included a hotel, restaurant, rental cabins, the sulfur spring pool, a saltwater pool, bathhouse and a pier from which day fishermen could be shuttled out to a floating fishing barge. The resort was very popular and operated until the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. The earthquake not only damaged the buildings but closed the fissure that had created the all important sulphur hot springs. This along with the economic downturn of the time resulted in the resort’s closure. The foundations of the White Point Hot Springs are still visible and there is a historic marker to provide information about this important site.
The enterprise grew and by 1903 the group had enough capital to invest in a canning factory. Lobster, red crab, sea urchin, sea snails and octopus were also harvested at the site. In 1915 the Tagami family began construction on The White Point Hot Springs, which took advantage of sulphur hot springs on the beach. The resort included a hotel, restaurant, rental cabins, the sulfur spring pool, a saltwater pool, bathhouse and a pier from which day fishermen could be shuttled out to a floating fishing barge. The resort was very popular and operated until the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. The earthquake not only damaged the buildings but closed the fissure that had created the all important sulphur hot springs. This along with the economic downturn of the time resulted in the resort’s closure. The foundations of the White Point Hot Springs are still visible and there is a historic marker to provide information about this important site.
“The community finally came to an end in the early 1940’s with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Quickly after the attack community leaders submitted a declaration of loyalty to the United States. This action, however, did not prevent the government from removing the Japanese people, regardless of their citizenship, from the White Point area.”
White Point became a part of the Coastal Defense System during WWII. Afterwards, during the Cold War, White Point became home to numerous Nike Missiles. The Nature Center is in one of the missile assembly buildings and the footprints of many other structures are still present in the preserve. In 1978 the land was decommissioned as a military base and the 102 acres were gifted to the City of Los Angeles for the use of a public park. Finally, in 2003, the preserve opened.
More Information
Opening Hours:
White Point Preserve: Sunrise to sunset
Nature Center:
Wednesdays 10 am – 4 pm
Saturdays and Sundays 10 am – 4 pm
White Point
Nature Center
and Preserve
1600 W. Paseo Del Mar,
San Pedro, CA 90731
Established:
2009
Size:
3 acres of gardens
102 acres of preserve
Designed by:
Rick Fisher, Toyon Design
Features:
Walking Trails
Intense local history
Bomb factory buildings
Nature Center
Notable Plants:
Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana)
Coast prickly pear (Opuntia littoralis)
Giant rye (Elymus condensatus)
Ashy buckwheat (Eriogonum cinereum)
Seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium)
California box thorn (Lycium californicum)
Oregon grape (Berberis nervosa)
Clustered tarweed (Deinandra fasciculata)
Arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis)
Best time to visit:
Spring and early summer
Spring is when this space really shines! Purple sages, coast sunflowers and wildflowers are all in bloom and is the perfect time to walk through the preserve. Early summer brings out the buckwheats, asters and tarweeds. Even in the height of summer this is a great place to escape the heat.
South Pasadena Nature Park marks the most southern, and our last stop on the Arroyo Seco. In the 1990’s this three and a half acre piece of land was condemned to be sold and developed. However, it was through community activism that the land was preserved as an open space. Construction began in 2004 and the park has steadily grown since.
The edges of the park are lined with mature oaks, sycamores, walnuts and toyons. In the spring the path that leads from the street to the park is lined with wild cucumber. This fascinating plant spreads ridiculously fast from a giant root system (it is in the “manroot” family after all). The vines can cover trees and will completely take over large areas. And yet by mid summer, they are completely gone. Only the most stringy of dried vines are left of this summer deciduous plant. In the winter and spring they are covered in small, charming flowers, beautifully shaped leaves and right before disappearing, strange spiky seed pods (that look nothing like a cucumber).
Along this trail there is also a very healthy stand of poison oak, which is lovely to see, but maybe not to touch. The open space of the park is filled with small trails that take you through buckwheats, bladder pods, California sage and an impressive group of bush sunflowers that are simply spectacular when in bloom.
“In the 1990’s this three and a half acre piece of land was condemned to be sold and developed. However, it was through community activism that the land was preserved as an open space. “
The butterfly garden that was completed in 2018 features milkweeds, penstemons, wildflowers and a stunning chaparral mallow. Here visitors can find a helpful sign about monarch butterflies and the plants they need to survive. There is also a helpful guide to the visible peaks, such as the well known Mount Baldy and the delightfully named Mount Disappointment.
The park connects to the greater Arroyo Seco trails and it is not uncommon to see riders on horseback pass through the park. While coming in the spring could never disappoint, especially with all those bush sunflowers, summer has the buckwheats in bloom and the Nevin’s barberries at the entrance are covered in bright red berries. The chaparral mallow in the butterfly garden is simply spectacular and would warrant a visit in the hot sun.
While the start of the nature park was not easy, it was the establishment of the plants that became a real battle. Neglected and disturbed areas like the Nature Park site have a seed bank overrun with weeds and invasive plants. Without attention these plants quickly outcompete the native plants.
(Quick side note: the reason non-native plants are often more successful is because they have no predators, pathogens, or natural systems to keep them in check. What you are seeing is not a plant better suited to the environment, but an ecology that is totally out of balance.)
“This is the reality of our environment, yet each month a small group of citizens refuses to accept it.”
Barbara Eisenstein, the author of Weeding Wild Suburbia and the main force behind the Nature Park, details the beginning of the park in the article “Native by Design: Community involvement in the creation and stewardship of a nature park” in the 2009 issue of Fremontia, the magazine of the California Native Plant Society. Eisenstein writes about how volunteers battled weeds, urban runoff, and vandalism. The original plans for the lower flat area of the park was to have a grassland meadow, but that was immediately overrun with weeds. The city brought in green waste to smother the casterbeans and other weeds, which worked but left the center of the park empty. The space was then filled with less delicate shrubs, like laurel sumac and buckwheat. And while this wasn’t the original plan, it’s still lovely.
What the South Pasadena Nature Park really represents is caring, or perhaps more accurately, stewardship. Eisenstein writes “It is a target for graffiti, broken glass, and litter. Weeds are always ready to reestablish themselves, crowding out the local native plants. Through much of the year, urban runoff—polluted with fertilizers, pesticides, and other toxins— flows through the concrete-lined waterway. This is the reality of our environment, yet each month a small group of citizens refuses to accept it.”
The park was created through hard physical work but also through the labour and endurance of continuing to care. This space and the habitat it provides is the result of people looking at a space and seeing what it could be. Of wanting something better, and of valuing the land in a way that subverts our current systems of consumption.
More Information
Opening Hours:
White Point Preserve: Sunrise to sunset
Nature Center:
Wednesdays 10 am – 4 pm
Saturdays and Sundays 10 am – 4 pm