Tag Archives: poppies

April, Events, June, March, May, Nature

California Wildflower Blooms

Lupine Oroville
Wildflowers in California 

Wildflowers bloom all over California – from the desert in winter months, to the High Sierra in mid summer.  Remember that the timing is everything, since most of these precious, delicate beauties only last a week or so. Out there alone, all day in the bright sunshine, whipping in the seasons strongest breezes. Flora!Ocotillo Joshua Tree

The higher the elevation, the later the bloom.
Lower elevation deserts begin to show as early as February and higher elevation peaks thaw in May. Wilderness meadows and flowers can be found in the mountains in summer. Generally in California, Springtime – between MARCH and JUNE is the best viewing time.

Places to find Wildflowers in California

West coast wildflower blooms in relation to elevation; Order of bloom is typically

  • low deserts (FEB)
  • high deserts (APRIL)
  • river canyons
  • central valley
  • mountain foothills (MAY)
  • coastal foothills
  • mountain forests (JUNE)
  • high altitude meadows
  • mountain lakes
  • mountain peaks (JULY)

some recent finds:

Carrizo Plain Super Bloom – W of Taft, CA

Klipstein Canyon, Kern County @ Hwy 166Gorman Post Road

Cottonwood Canyon
W of New Cuyama, CA

School House Canyon
W of New Cuyama, CA

Figueroa Mountain Rd – Los Padres NF @ Santa Ynez, CA

Table Mountain – Cherokee Road, N Oroville, CA

 

Box Canyon @ Mecca, California

Turtle Mountain Road, Needles, CA

Mill Creek, Lassen NF

Lassen Peak Lupine Way HikeNPS
Lassen NP (mid-to-late summer)

Lassen Peak Lupine Summer Hikes

more pages on wildflowers –

California Wildflowers

California Golden Poppies

Poppy Reserve Antelope Valley, LA Co.

Poppy Stompers

popstrollin

Anza Borrego Desert Wildflowers

Mojave Desert

Wildflowers

Poppy Stompers

California Golden Poppy

The official state flower of California is the POPPY

Spring usually means it’s warming up, to a great wildflower season in California. Time to get outdoors more! Hike, bike and picnic near the wildflowers and see some poppies.

poppy fields

California Golden Poppies can be found throughout the state, in small patches near the roadways, rolling hills behind vineyards, in high desert flats (where wind gets whipping) or even out near a ranch, with oak hills and fields of golden orange.

POPPIES can blanket hillsides, resulting in a show stopping event – which can be deadly on freeways? N of L.A. interstate 5 (the Grapevine) TEJON PASS (Lebec, Gorman, Junction 138) >> Please pull to nearest exit and stop the car. (It will be safest and well worth the 10 minute stretch break.)

Golden poppies can be found all over California. Flowers like lupine and owls clover can often be found nearby. Wildflowers may only last a few weeks, so go enjoy them while they last.

Bright yellow, gold, deep orange – or any shade in between!

best places to find poppies

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Table Mountain @ Cherokee Road
North of Oroville, CA

wine country

Wine Country NorCal

Alexander Valley Road

Railroad Tracks @ Santa Rosa, CA
Napa County
Sonoma County

Santa Rosa Tracks

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

Kern County

Fort Tejon State Historic Park @ I-5
Cerro Noroeste Road & Klipstein Canyon
Carrizo Plain National Monument BLM
Kern River Canyon
S of Walker Basin @ Caliente Bodfish Rd
North of Tehachapi, CA

Santa Lucia Mountains
Rock Front Ranch
Schoolhouse Canyon
Cottonwood
Hwy 166, West of New Cuyama, CA

Figueroa Mountain Road
Los Padres National Forest
East of Santa Ynez, CA

Pine Flat Reservoir
@ Kings River, Sierra National Forest
East of Fresno, CA

East Bay San Francisco
The rural hills out east are the best places to find poppies in the Bay Area.

Mojave Desert Preserve
Providence Mountain SRA
Interstate 40
East of Barstow, CA

Central Coast California

Gold Country Hiking

Gold Country California

Auburn, CA
Central California Reservoirs
Located all around most rivers w/ dams (reservoirs) poppies can easily be found along highways, rural roads and on oak hillsides.

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Boulder Creek Road (dirt)
Descanso to Julian, CA
San Diego Mountain Foothills

SoCal poppies

Lancaster Poppy: Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Poppy Hotline (661) 724-1180

Remember, stay on the trail!  Getting a picture of that one really nice poppy will crush all the plants along the way, and compact the ground leaving lifeless bare dirt for the next year or longer.  If someone else has started a trail, do not add to the damage.  Please be a responsible park visitor and leave the park as nice as you found it.

Or you can avoid the crowds & tour buses at the Poppy Park to head off on your own adventure. All along both sides of high desert Hwy 138 you can find fields of California Poppies, from the small town of Neenach, CA east to Hwy 14. Plus the hills of Gorman are usually full of color.

Gorman @ I-5
Gorman CA – Interstate 5 @ jct Hwy 138
Campgrounds, Historic Site, Indian Site, Picnic Areas, Sightseeing, Wildflowers

Tejon California

Tejon Pass / The Grapevine / Tejon Ranch

tejon poppies

Interstate 5 California (Kern & LA County)

Tejon is the largest and oldest privately owned ranch land in California. It spans from the northern slopes of the great central valley to the tops of the oak sided mountains. The Tejon Pass 4144′ elevation, is Interstate 5. The golden state freeway zooms by connecting north Los Angeles to the Central Valley…. at 80mph. Watch for CHP near here. It’s easy to go down hill at 90 and not even realize it.

The old portion of this mountain pass is known as the Historic Ridge Route, and many overgrown miles can still be traveled on the back road. Off road and motorbike trails join up with old sections of crumbling highway between Lake Castiac and Pyramid.  The artist Christo erected 1760 yellow umbrellas along these hillsides between Gorman and Tejon, back in 1991. Awesome wildflowers bloom throughout Tejon, Lebec to Gorman each spring from late March thru May.

Angeles National Forest is on the east side of the freeway w/ Castiac Lake and Los PadresNational Forest is on the west side, with Pyramid Lake. Back roads camping and total seclusion is prime pickins in this region, if you have a decent map and are willing to drive a little

Family campgrounds, RV astronomy sites, 4×4 camps on dirt roads, off road parks, walk in campground to alpine meadows, ridge line forest camps, backpacking, horsepacking, mountain biking, hiking. Numerous campgrounds can easily be found by driving 30 minutes from the “Frazier Park Mountain Road” exit off the freeway. Most folks aim for Mount Pinos, but the whole Los Padres forest is devine.

The fort location was established by the U.S. Army in 1854 and was designed to protect Native Americans. Restored adobes and museum feature exhibits on military life and local history. They also hold living history events performed by volunteers in costume. The park has a number of 400 year-old valley oak trees. Mister Peter Lebeck was killed by a grizzly here and there is even a tree to prove it.

Tejon photos

Fort Tejon Uniforms
Originally uploaded by danamight

Tejon Industrial Complex: This is the first large scale development in a master planned laid out by the privately owned Tejon Ranch Corporation. Another trucker stop on the opposite side of the freeway is already underway. In-N-Out Burger, Starbucks, McDonalds, IKEA distribution center, gasoline @ the bottom of the Grapevine. 30 miles south of Bakersfield & just down the hill from Lebec.

towns nearby –


Angeles National Forest Map
Angeles Forest Map 		Los Padres National Forest Map: South
Los Padres Forest Map: South

Gorman Gold

Headed to Kern River ?

KERN COUNTY RD 184 = LAVAL ROAD: Wheeler Ridge. This is your freeway exit northbound if you wanna bypass Bako city traffic, on the way to Lake Isabella & Kernville.

Gas up in Lamont, it’s cheaper on the north end of town. Great little taco shops abound. Best bypass thru the farm belt to the Sierra Nevada.