Our Story

Panther Creek Nature Center (PCNC) was founded in 2025 by Eliza Lawdley (that’s me!). Although we are a young business, we have been on this special piece of land since 2014. I purchased the 28-acres that PCNC now calls home with my wife and parents. At that time, we lived on the land in an off-grid cabin and had a host of dogs, chickens, ducks, and guinea hens! We founded Panther Creek Forest Farm (our sister organization) in 2014 and set about planting orchards, seeding native grasses, and rehabilitating the land- which had been clear cut many times in its past. For the last 10 years we have continued the work of Panther Creek Forest Farm. We still raise a variety of crops and seasonal fruit on the property along with agroforestry operations. For more information on Panther Creek Forest Farm, please visit our website: https://www.panthercreekforestfarm.com/

In 2022, an exciting shift happened in our family- we became proud parents to our oldest child! Like many parents, we became looking for fun and creative ways to get our child outside, exploring the natural world. We spent lots and lots of time on the farm!! We also attended Book Babies at the Durham Public Library, we did nature story hour at Duke Gardens, and spent as much time as possible at the Museum of Life and Science and along the Eno River. These are still some of our favorite places in the world! The idea for Panther Creek Nature Center came about as we began welcoming more and more parents and kids out onto our farm.

Now, as a mother of two kids, I am still seeking out these outdoor adventures with my family. I crave time spent outside with those I love! As we have entered our tenth year at Panther Creek Forest Farm, it has occurred to me that other parents crave the same thing. Panther Creek Nature Center exists to try to fill this niche in a meaningful way. Our programs have been designed with young families in mind. Of course if you don’t have children- you are welcome too! We want PCNC to be a multi-generational space. We want it to be diverse, and vibrant, and a little bit funky! We hope that as we welcome people out onto the land- that the land will in turn shape and influence our activities. Our programs change with the seasons and draw inspiration from the natural world. We hope you will come out and visit the land to see it first hand. Enjoy some pictures below from over the years and spend some time on our site. We are glad you are here!