I have wanted to get to the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve for a number of years now, but the timing has never been right. My brother in law Bob saw that the early spring rains had caused a profuse late spring bloom this year and he urged me to come. So I did. And Susan came up from Claremont McKenna College to go out with us. We went out after a leisurely saturday morning breakfast. (Susan and Renee, my niece, had gone night clubbing the night before, so Susan was not up for an early trip.
The mid April day was warm enough that we were very comfortable without being hot. Bob took us out first to an area at the edge of the city (Lancaster) where the fields were still open and filled with creosote and other bushes. The ground was carpeted with goldfields. We saw about 10 different species of low wildflowers there before we headed out to the preserve.
We did not go in the main entrance to the Poppy Preserve. We took back roads into an area north of the preserve, following dirt roads. Consequently, we saw no other cars until later in the trip. Following roads winding into the hills we found a number of species, including Woody Paintbrush, California Coreopsis, Desert Lupine, Golden Carpet and Thistle Sage.My sister Shirley, Bob, Susan and I too turns discovering new species it seemed.
Then we went down into the plains, where we saw fields carpeted in California Golden Poppies. The fields were so golden that if you looked too long the color went away and everything looked black. We went to 5 or six different places where there was nothing but poppies. In one or two places the poppies were broken up by an occasional sage bush or by lupines. But many fields were nothing but orange. After that we went to a field where there was nothing but Fremonts Phacelia. Just a bluish purple field.
The last part of our trip took us by the main paved roads in the preserve. That is where we saw the parade of cars bumper to bumper searching for the elusive parking space. Good luck! We still found wildflowers after we left the preserve. On the roads back into Lancaster we spotted foelds filled with more goldfields. They were broken up by occasional cream cups. We probably saw 30 different species of flower in one afternoon! And all within a 5 square mile area. It is a place well worth stopping in if you are interested in wildflowers.
Return to Short Trips
Created on 1/28/02