Abundant rains have allowed some above average wild flower blooms in our area. One place to go is California Poppy Preserve State Park ($10.00 parking fee) which is 15 miles west of Lancaster. Take Highway 14 (directions here) and exit west on I Street in Lancaster. Be advised that you need to come early on weekends as the park is crowded.
Your faithful blogger left before 5:00am to beat the crowds and arrived just before 7:00am as the park opened and there were still ten cars ahead of him. He then tried a weekday in April and it was still quite crowded.
Flowers should also be in bloom in the Point Mugu area. There are two trails that access Point Mugu Peak (1,266 feet) which had some wild flower blooms in March 2017 and April 7, 2019. The steep Chumash Trail starts from the hill side just north of Point Mugu on Highway 1 (across from the Navy’s shooting range) and it is about 2 miles to get to the top of the mountain. The Chumash Trail goes up 900 feet in about ¾ of a mile. There is a less steep way to get to the top further south but the mileage is longer (6.5 miles) and you must pay for parking ($9.00 for 3 hours). Yours truly will include eight pictures from the Poppy Preserve for two weeks, then we will include a link to some snapped near Mugu Peak right here.
Now feel free to pop open a can of orange soda to get the full effect of all that sensational amber. Cheers!
