This beautiful park, located adjacent to the Pt. Vicente Lighthouse, offers recreational and educational opportunities to the public.
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The Interpretive Center opened in 1984 with a mission to present and interpret the unique features and history of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  Almost six years ago, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes held a gala event to break ground on a multimillion dollar expansion of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center (PVIC), But it was found that the ground was contaminated with lead – the result of its previous use as an Army rifle range. It took the Army Corps of Engineers two years to rid the soil of the lead and construction on the nearly $6 million is pushing ahead.  The brand-new, 150 seat Pacific Amphitheater, which looks out to the Pacific Ocean, covered with Palos Verdes stone is already complete. The 7,500 square foot addition effectively quadruple PVIC's former size. New exhibition areas make up about 3,400 square fert of the expanded center. The center has  a 45 foot replica of a full-sized whale, along with a number of displays featuring the Gray Whales  and their annual migration from the Artic to Baja California and back. Aside from all the maritime exhibit, there were also historical features highlighting local history, from the native Tongva tribes to the Spanish herders and Japanese farmers to the Vanderlips, who brought Palos Verdes into the 20th century.
I then watched the film talking about the history of Palos Verdes, the indigenous Tongva people, the arrival of the Portugues, and the land purchase for Rancho Sepulveda.

After touring the museum I then walked through the trails of a 7,000 square foot native plant garden donated by the PV Sunset Rotary and California Native Plant Society.
Along the trails and garden is a station for whale-watchers to take a census of the giants during their migration.  So far this season 471 Gray Whales have migrated past, including 5 on the morning I was there.  Though I only captured a glimpse of one of the magnificent mammals.

A short walk along the trails, just south of the interpretative center, I came across the Point Vicente Lighthouse.   This historic lighthouse was erected in 1926, in response to a petition from ship's masters who deplored this disastrous stretch of costal waters. The two million candlepower white light is developed from a fifteen-watt bulb focused through a handcrafted five-foot lens. Made in Paris in 1886, the lens saw forty years of service in Alaska before being brought to the Peninsula. The 67 foot high tower is perched on a cliff, resulting in a light source 197 feet above sea level, which can be seen twenty miles at sea.
Point Vicente was manned by civilian lighthouse keepers until 1939, when the U.S. Coast Guard became responsible for its maintenance and operation. The light and radio station have since been automated. Addition of a radio station and helicopter service has made the lighthouse the Coast Guard's principal communications center in Southern California, as well as the base for numerous rescue operations. It was also used as the headquaters to patrol the waters during World War II to keep an eye open for possible Japanese Submarines that may attack the California Coast.  It is one of the biggest and brightest lights along the coast of California. Point Vicente Lighthouse is open to the public the second Saturday of every month, from 10 am to 4 pm. Free admission.
For the romantically-inclined, there are several legends attached to the lighthouse. Most famous is that of the ghost lady who, having hurled herself into the same sea that took her sailor sweetheart, walks the tower every night awaiting his return. Explanations that the phantom is caused by reflections from the huge lens have done little to dissuade lovers from joining the lady in her somber watch.
This was one of those “trips” that is less than 5 miles from where I live, and never took the time to get to know though I’ve driven past it a hundred times.