White Point Nature Preserve
White Point Overview
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The White Point Nature Preserve features 102 acres of restored coastal sage scrub habitat, hiking and handicap access trails, and a new Nature Education Center overlooking the ocean and Catalina Island.
Nature Education Center
The Preserve is now home to the Nature Education Center adapted from a historic Cold War Assembly building on the site. The Center will serve as a resource for students, families and community groups from all over Los Angeles. It is housed in a creatively re-purposed former military structure surrounded by a California native plant demonstration garden built as an educational and interpretive model of our local plant communities.
Inside the Center, multi-media exhibits will move visitors through a timeline of sequentially arranged exhibits and displays that tell the story of White Point’s cultural and natural history, spanning the Pleistocene age through the present. Noted muralists Robert Reid and Nelly Schouest from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has created a mural in consultation with paleontologists, paleobotanists and entomologists accurately depicting White Point during the last ice age. Materials in the Center’s interior are built out of sustainable products including 100% recycled curbside glass, low carbon concrete counters and natural bamboo cabinets.
The Nature Center will be open to the public from 10am to 4pm on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The PVPLC will also use the facility for scheduled class visits during the week. Community groups interested in the use of the facility may make a reservation through the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.
History
White Point Nature Preserve is located in San Pedro, California, in the southern part of the City of Los Angeles. It is owned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. In May 2000, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and the 15th Council District formally dedicated the space as a nature preserve, and in 2003 this scenic landscape was opened to the public for all to enjoy. In 2001, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy began 25-year management agreement with the City of Los Angeles to restore the coastal sage scrub, cactus scrub, and grasslands habitat, and implement the approved community-derived Master Plan 
Master Plan [2.8MB].
Directions
White Point Nature Preserve is located at1600 W. Paseo del Mar, San Pedro, CA 90731 on the north side of Paseo del Mar between Western and Weymouth Avenues. The Preserve can easily be accessed from adjacent communities from the 110 Harbor Freeway with exits at Pacific Coast Highway to Western Avenue or the exit at Gaffey Street to Paseo del Mar. Parking is available in the lot along Paseo del Mar from sun up to sun down during Preserve hours. Public transportation is provided to the area by Metro Express and Local line service along Paseo del Mar. The area is also serviced by the Municipal Area Express (MAX), which has more frequent stops along Paseo del Mar. Additional pedestrian entry points have been established at convenient locations around the perimeter of the Preserve to allow access from the local community.
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