Gopher Problems Near the Claremont Colleges and Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
Claremont is known as the City of Trees and PhDs — and appropriately, it has gopher problems that are both extensive and deeply rooted. The combination of the largest private university consortium on the West Coast, one of California's premier botanical gardens, San Antonio Golf Club, and the Mt. Baldy foothills directly to the north creates gopher pressure from multiple directions simultaneously. Virtually every residential neighborhood in Claremont is within a few blocks of a major gopher source.
The Major Gopher Sources in Claremont
The Claremont Colleges — seven institutions including Pomona College, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pitzer, Claremont Graduate University, and Keck Graduate Institute — collectively maintain hundreds of acres of beautifully landscaped campus grounds across central Claremont. The campuses feature mature trees, ornamental gardens, athletic fields, and extensive irrigation systems maintained year-round. Pomona College's campus alone, widely considered one of the most beautiful in the country, is a premium gopher environment with deep-rooted plantings and consistent soil moisture. The surrounding residential streets bordering the campus consortium — along College Avenue, Foothill Boulevard, and the residential blocks between the campuses — experience steady gopher pressure from these institutional grounds.
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden occupies 86 acres at the base of the San Gabriel foothills on the northern edge of Claremont. As the largest botanic garden dedicated exclusively to California native plants, it maintains an enormous variety of deep-rooted native species in rich, well-irrigated soil — a gopher paradise. The residential streets bordering the garden along Dartmouth Avenue and the foothill corridor see consistent gopher activity as animals push outward from the garden's established populations.
San Antonio Golf Club is one of the oldest private golf clubs in the Inland Empire, with classic irrigated fairways that have sustained gopher populations for generations. Properties bordering the golf club on the city's western edge report high and consistent gopher activity. Older golf courses with decades of established irrigation have the most entrenched gopher populations because the soil conditions have been optimized for tunneling over a very long period.
Mt. Baldy and San Gabriel foothills form Claremont's entire northern border, providing natural gopher habitat that never gets systematically managed. The foothill communities in northern Claremont — particularly along Mills Avenue north of Foothill Boulevard — experience the direct population pressure of animals pushing downhill from the undeveloped mountain terrain. After wet winters this pressure increases noticeably as natural vegetation expands and supports larger foothill populations.
Thompson Creek Trail and open space corridors running along the eastern side of the city connect foothill open space to residential neighborhoods and provide underground gopher corridors that allow animals to move efficiently into established yards.
Why Claremont's Historic Landscapes Are Especially Vulnerable
Claremont's historic residential neighborhoods feature some of the most mature and valuable private landscaping in the San Gabriel Valley — properties with 50-year-old fruit trees, established rose gardens, heritage oaks, and irrigation systems that have been in place for generations. Gophers are strongly attracted to mature root systems, and the damage to established plantings can be severe and permanent. The proximity to the Colleges also means many Claremont properties have faculty and staff who have invested decades in their landscapes.
Service Areas Near Claremont
- Gopher Control in La Verne — University of La Verne and foothill pressure
- Gopher Control in Upland — San Antonio golf and foothill open space
- Gopher Control in Pasadena — Arroyo Seco and Caltech
- Mole Control in Claremont
- Ground Squirrel Control in Claremont
Also Read
- Gopher Problems Near the University of La Verne
- Gopher Problems Near Upland Foothills and Golf Courses
- Why Pet-Safe Gopher Control Matters
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Hundreds of acres of irrigated campus grounds sustain established gopher populations that push into surrounding residential blocks continuously throughout the year.
Completely. We use traps and carbon monoxide only — no poisons. Safe for children, pets, and the wildlife in the foothill corridor.
Yes. Monthly and quarterly maintenance agreements are available for properties near the foothills or institutional campuses where reinvasion pressure is high. No long-term contracts required.
Call 909-599-4711 to schedule gopher control in Claremont. We serve all neighborhoods including the Colleges corridor, foothill areas, and historic residential districts.