Judy McClure became a docent at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center in 2003 following her husband’s footsteps.
“He spent so much time here that I decided to become a docent so I could see him once in a while,” she said with a light chuckle during a recent Saturday, taking a pause from interacting with children and families.
Throughout her time at the center, she fell in love with the Los Angeles County park — nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains about a mile and a half away from State Route 14 — because of what it has to offer.
“I love the freedom. I come here and I feel so calm, and I just love it. I just love the trees, and the creek when it’s flowing. It just makes me feel good,” McClure said.
Throughout the years McClure has taken on the responsibility of taking care of the hummingbird garden and assists with restoration efforts, eliminating non-native plants and replacing them with ones that are.
Every Saturday at 11 a.m. on the patio, she also welcomes new visitors and regulars to a one-hour Family Nature Walk, where she engages children with open-ended questions about native plants and local history, while also allowing space for their curiosity to guide the experience.
Although the forecast was chillier than usual, three sisters named Dylan, Devyn and Drew paid a visit to the park with their grandparents who were visiting from North Carolina for spring break.
All three were eager and curious over the many things they wanted to see, and McClure began the nature walk by the outdoor animal enclosures teaching them about the non-releasable native wildlife housed on the property that serve as “animal ambassadors.”
McClure enjoys leading the family-focused nature walks because “I want to teach them a little bit about nature. I want them to get away from their computers and come outdoors and enjoy the fresh air and learn about the trees and flowers,” she said.
As the three girls continued to follow McClure throughout the outdoor portion of the park, they got a glimpse of a few hummingbirds drinking nectar from a feeder and learned what a sticky monkey flower looked like. Their journey then continued to the pond, where there were lots of algae and no tadpoles, which drew disappointment from the girls.
But for McClure, getting the young girls to learn how to be observant of their surroundings and what it has to offer is the first step of teaching them to appreciate nature.
“I think it’s important for children to get out of the house and into nature,” she said, and added that simple outdoor experiences can help children slow down and observe the world around them.
For those interested in taking a family nature walk with McClure, she said guests can show up on Saturdays at 11 a.m. at the patio near the animal enclosures.
