Earthside Nature Center in 2025 (Photos – Matt Hormann)
“We need the tonic of wildness,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden. “We can never have enough of nature.” This philosophy inspired the creation of Earthside Nature Center on the outskirts of Lamanda Park in 1971.
By Matt Hormann
Today, the center stands derelict behind a black wrought-iron fence, just south of Del Mar Boulevard, tucked behind an urgent care facility. But decades ago, it was a carefully tended oasis of California native plants, including black sage, phacelia, lupine, wild iris, and poppies.
It featured “leaf-strewn paths” and “a serene pond under spreading oaks and sycamores,” according to a 1987 L.A. Times article. The paper described it as “a magic kingdom,” where “it is shady and cool, and the only sounds are the crunching of leaves and the chirping of birds.”
Initially, the 3-acre site was a dumping ground filled with refuse, old cars, and the remnants of a house. In the late 1960s, however, the City of Pasadena donated the land to a group of naturalists, including Arcadia horticulturist Kevin Connolly and nature writer Elna S. Bakker. Through donations and volunteer efforts, they transformed it into “a microcosm of the California plant world,” delighting school groups and tourists alike.
Both Connolly and Bakker passed away around the time the center closed in 1995. Yet, before its closure, Earthside was honored with the American Horticultural Society’s Award for Urban Beautification.
Today, the area is overgrown with weeds, though a few small signs still mark the locations of plants that have vanished. The center’s motto, once displayed on a now-missing sign, read: “Look, Listen, and Let it Live.”
The City of Pasadena is asking residents to participate in a public survey, open through Friday, July 25, to help guide the design of above-ground features for a new passive park and environmental site at the former Earthside Nature Center. Community members can share their feedback by completing the survey at this link.
Earthside Nature Center’s main entrance as seen in 2025 (Photo – Matt Hormann)
A sign that says “scrub oak – Quercus dumosa“ (Photo – Matt Hormann)
Debris accumulated over the years (Photo – Matt Hormann)
An adjacent nursery uses the land under high-voltage lines (Photo – Colorado Boulevard)
Earthside Nature Center in 2008 (File Photo – City of Pasadena)
Thank you for this story. Every time I drive down Del Mar past there I think about the Earthside Nature Center. I knew both Kevin and Elna, and way back then some of us visited the Center with them and one of our docents who also volunteered there. (I work at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.) Sad that it fell into ruin. Hopefully there will be a rebirth of sorts with the new vision for that area.
An uncut diamond!