One saturday this March I set off on a mission: to find and explore Augustus F. Hawkins Natural Park, a diamond in the rough at the intersection of Slauson and Compton Avenues in South Central L.A. Only a little over a year old, it was, I had heard, a lovely, restorative, and natural place within this industrial wasteland.

I was, I admit, skeptical as I drove down Slauson from the Harbor Freeway, seeing only the “wasteland” part of the equation: block after block of concertina-wire–topped chainlink fence, graffiti-covered warehouse walls, and signs yelling “Carros desde $499” and “Sport shoes from $8.99.” All along the way, bushels of broken glass sparkled in the cinder railroad bed.

At the corner of Compton, I turned left, then pulled into a dirt parking lot—and was immediately transported out of the grime and grit. A massive, hundred-year-old cactus rose before me, a bright green lawn rolled toward small hills covered with aromatic plants native to the Los Angeles Basin, and a cool and quiet Craftsman-style nature center beckoned from behind a wisteria-covered gate. Birds flitted and twittered. It was an oasis—without a single palm tree, but an oasis for sure. My skepticism evaporated in the blink of an eye.

Operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the park opened on December 16, 2000. It sits on an 8.5-acre city block that for 90 years was used for pipe storage by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.