Editor’s Note: This is part of a monthly feature on notable regional parks in Orange County, which is rich with places to get outside and have fun with the family and explore nature.
It is hard to miss the sprawling Crown Valley Park sign that spans the two-lane entrance.
And then there are the green soccer fields, a community center, an aquatics center, a playground and — in the summer — a children’s splash area.
on Saturday, May 3, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
But unless you know where to look, you might not notice Crown Valley Park’s pièce de résistance: the Niguel Botanical Preserve — 18 tucked-away acres of soothing, colorful, enveloping Mediterranean-based plants and trees for the public’s enjoyment.
Rose DeSimone of Dana Point recently introduced her best friend and walking buddy, Nancy Lovelady, to the garden’s hidden “magic.”
“Even people who go to the park don’t look up the hill and see it,” she said, despite the oasis’s location in the middle of Laguna Niguel.
The park has been sprouting plants since 1981 when it was a community vegetable garden, said long-time resident and preserve board secretary Linda Purrington.
In 1984, community members ceremonially planted a single flame tree on the barren hillside. The tree, named for its flaming red canopy of flowers, was the first of many trees to come.
Then in 1987 came the Girl Scouts’ Tree Grove — jacaranda, bougainvillea, pine, oak and other trees planted by the Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel Girl Scouts in celebration of their 75th anniversary, Purrington said.
Finally, in 1989, unincorporated Laguna Niguel became a city and a master plan was developed for the Niguel Botanical Preserve.
Purrington first discovered the area while jogging in 1979.
Hardscape and an adherence to Mediterranean water-efficient plants “has really defined the gardens over the last 20 years,” she said.
She still walks there with her two dogs, Rosie and Chewie, almost daily. It’s a place where she can step away from her daily life and unplug in the comfort of nature.
Traveling upward from the park’s amphitheater, visitors pass through the Pollinator Garden, Butterfly Garden, Rose Garden, Succulent Row and the Formal Garden filled with varieties of lavender. The Butterfly Garden (last year) and the Pollinator Garden (this year) are the newest.
At the very top of the pathway sits a 45-by-24-foot tiled labyrinth featuring a bougainvillea, the city’s flower, in the center. It was former Mayor Joe Brown and his wife, Gwen’s, dream, and was installed by the city in 2010. On a clear day you get a postcard view of the city and the Saddleback Mountains. The Browns, now deceased, traveled all over Europe and were inspired by the mazes they saw.
The stated mission of the preserve is “to demonstrate the use of garden-worthy, drought-tolerant plants appropriate to the Southern California region, introduce unusual plant species to the public and provide a tranquil setting for the use and enjoyment of the community.”
It is divided into five Mediterranean plant regions with several gardens and installations.
Free educational programs are offered throughout the year, such as a labyrinth walk and talk by Charlotte Cressey, who has studied the mazes internationally.
Karin Campbell, second vice president of membership and fundraising for the preserve, recently took part in the walk. “People you didn’t know came together and were so present,” she said. “It was so beautiful.”
Also offered was a Forest Bathing session led by certified guide Donna McCullough. Forest Bathing is based on the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, which emphasizes spending time outdoors and being mindful of one’s senses.
“We’ve been trying to amp up different opportunities for the public,” Campbell said.
“We have a hidden gem that people are always using,” she said of the preserve. “But we only have 125 members. It’s baffling.”
Annual membership costs $35 for an individual, $25 for seniors, and $50 for a family.
“There are so many ways for people to get involved in support of the preserve,” Purrington said. “They can become members, they can volunteer to do work around the grounds the second Saturday of every month, they can take part in November’s fall plantings, or during Earth Day in April.”
About 40 sponsored benches along the pathways invite people to stop and, perhaps literally, smell the flowers. Purrington, the board’s secretary, sponsored one for her husband, Keith Purrington, who died unexpectedly in 2020. Inscribed on the bench’s plaque is a quote by author John Muir:
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
***Get outside
Location: 29751 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel
Hours: The botanical preserve is open sunrise to sunset daily; the sprayground is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day; the pool is open yearround, check online for hours and information on use
Amenities
• Pool with diving boards, fit pool
• 30 picnic tables
• Children’s splash park, or sprayground
• Barbecues
• Baseball and soccer fields
• 2 restrooms — one by the lower soccer field and one near the playground
• Playgrounds with rubber surfaces
• Outdoor amphitheater
• Niguel Botanical Preserve
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