MRT owns and provides stewardship of over 2.5 square miles of habitat in the Santa Monica Mountains which include both the pristine Cold Creek Canyon and the Cold Creek Valley Preserve. Both of areas are adjacent to the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve where the Docents conduct their weekday field programs. To promoting appreciation, conservation, and stewardship of the Cold Creek watershed. Two training programs are held in the fall each year to prepare volunteers to lead nature walks for the public or for school groups. There is a nominal fee for each training program.
Some scholarships are available upon request.
Once trained, docents will observe and co-lead in all aspects of the program until they feel ready to lead. Docents are asked to serve a minimum of three times per month. Periodic naturalists enrichment workshops are held to increase docent expertise and esprit de corps. Sponsored by the Topanga Canyon Docents, this class is open to other docent organizations as a basic Santa Monica Mountains natural history training course. The classes are taught by resource professionals and topics cover plants, wildlife, geology, interpretation, cultural history, and much more.