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Available Reviews
Paramount Ranch Castro Crest Newton Canyon Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa Point Mugu State Park Charmlee Wilderness Park Sara Wan Trail Santa Susana Mountain Park Circle X Ranch Point Dume Nature Preserve Solstice Canyon Rocky Oaks Castro Crest |
Date of Review
4/11/17. 4/7/17. 4/3/17. 3/23/17. 3/14/17. 3/4/17. 2/23/17. 2/18/17. 2/9/17. 1/24/17. 1/17/17. 1/14/17. 12/28/16. |
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Reports here suggest that this is the best flower season the Santa Monica's have seen in years. What better incentive could you have to follow through on that New Year's Resolution?
This site performs a public service that anyone can participate in. Let us all know what you are seeing! In general, if you are submitting a report I will get it much faster if you use the gmail account 'SMMWildFlowers' rather than my nps.gov account. If you are new to submitting a report (or maybe even an old hand at it) be sure and read How To Submit a Flower Report — ed. |
| Paramount Ranch |
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4/11/17 |
I left out of the old western town, took the Coyote Canyon Trail to the Hacienda Trail to the Backdrop Trail and then came back to the western town on the Bwana Trail. At first I was disappointed that there didn't seem to be the masses of flowers that I have seen in some other locations, it just seemed to be blue dicks. Then there were also a lot of owl's clover, then added in popcorn and fiesta flowers, then there were fairy lanterns, a flower that I rarely see. The rest of the chaparral section had caterpillar phacelia, yellow monkey flower, woolly blue curls, chia, yarrow, parry's phacelia and whispering bells. When I walked through the grassland area I saw great masses of globe gillia interspersed with yellow collarless poppies as well as butterfly mariposa lilies, red maids, fiddle neck and johnny-jump-ups. A very pleasurable walk for flower lovers.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Castro Crest |
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4/7/17 |
The Castro Crest area is easily visited by travelling the Backbone Trail between Corral Canyon Road and Latigo Canyon Road. This is a great hike for flowers at this time in this year. There are some, like star lilies that are scattered along the length of the trail, we must have seen hundreds. There are others that seem clustered in their own 'neighborhoods'. Some highlights are: The large quantities of twining snapdragon, in some places creating nearly a solid mass of them. The great masses of blue dicks that are interspersed with butterfly mariposa lilies. Patches of the tiny but vividly blue skullcap that line the trail in many places. The yellow johnny-jump-ups, cinquefoil, milkmaids and fiesta flowers that are in the shaded creekside places. There are large patches of woolly blue curls, of parry's phacelia, Indian paintbrush and scarlet bugler. This is not a trail to be missed.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Newton Canyon |
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4/3/17 |
Climb up and over Tunnel 1 from the Newton Canyon Trailhead. About 15 minutes or into the trail you will find the most amazing stand of Hummingbird sage (aka Crimson pitcher sage) I've ever seen. It is on the right-hand side of the trail (upslope). There are several areas of it along the way.
— Gary Goldstein
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| Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa |
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3/23/17 |
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Went to Rancho Sierra / Satwiwa and saw some great blooms! You have to walk a little ways to where the hillsides burned a few years ago. There is more Purple Nightshade than I have ever seen in one place. There are California Poppies and Parry's Phacelia (a fire follower) blooming . The part of the Boney Mountain Trail that goes down to the waterfall (see park map) was the best place to see lots of flowers. The Hidden Valley Overlook Trail is also nice, as is the Stream Side Trail.
Flowers seen: Parry's Phacelia California Golden poppy , Morning Glory, Purple nightshade Annual Coreopsis Winter vetch , Deerweed, Canyon Sunflower Bush Sunflower, Blue dicks ,pitcher Sage, Mariposa Lily, Pink Lady's Popcorn Flower,Stinging Lupine, Wishbone Bush, chia, Purple Larkspur, Collarless California Poppy — Jim Garafalo 
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| Point Mugu State Park |
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3/14/17 |
| Hillsides carpeted with California poppies. Gorgeous wildflowers all over the place including: morning glory, lupine, canyon sunflower, blue dicks, desert wishbone bush (five purple petals, five white stamens), purple nightshade, fiddlenecks (yellow, curling). Occasionally: paintbrush, shooting stars, clematis, pearly everlasting, treasure flower, Jimson weed. Other blooming plants: wild pea, wild cucumber, miners lettuce, black sage, ceanothus (blue and white), And many more whose names I don’t yet know. Thousands of lizards along the trail, particularly side-blotch, along with fence and alligator lizards. — David Harris | ||
| Charmlee Wilderness Park |
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3/4/17 |
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Tons of Flowers!!
Fields of Shooting Stars in full bloom above the Nature Center. Fields of Blue Dicks on the entrance road. Hummingbird Sage in bloom with Anna’s Hummingbirds feeding in Oak Groves. MilkMaids, Canyon Sunflower, Stinging Lupine, Danny’s Skullcap, Wishbone Bush, Wild Peony, Prickly Phlox, Indian Paintbrush, Hairy leaf Ceonothus, Purple Nightshade. — Joseph Brooks |
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| Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy |
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2/23/17 |
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The Sara Wan Trail can be accessed from PCH north of Puerco Canyon Rd and South of Corral Canyon Rd or you can use the pay parking lot adjacent to Malibu Seafood.
The creek that runs along the bottom of the canyon is now full and rushing. In order to access the trail from the parking lot you will have to get wet feet or walk out to PCH, cross the bridge and take the trail that starts from the south side of the creek. This is a loop trail. I always take it clockwise for better ocean views on the descent. Near PCH there are a lot of bush sunflowers in bloom. Continuing on there starts to be a lot of wild cucumber. You come to the side of an old cabin or house with only the chimney remaining. Here the former garden has naturalized and although they are not wildflowers the splash of yellow, purple and orange flowers is striking. Continuing up the trail the blue dicks begin, first a few and then in great profusion. Indian paintbrush are in bloom here and there. I saw swallowtail and Sara orange tip butterflies. It was a clear day and on the descent Santa Barbara Island was clearly visible. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Santa Susana Mountain Park |
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2/18/17 |
| Hills are bursting with life from all the rain on Friday - wild cucumber, mustard, blue dicks, fiddleneck, wishbone plant, California everlasting, white ceanothus, yellow oxalis and one sticky monkey flower in dark orange opened. chamise looks to open in the next few days, and lupines are getting ready. I entered the park through the entrance on Andora just west of Lassen. Water is flowing everywhere, so please wear good hiking shoes or boots. If one turns left about a mile in, the waterfalls are incredible but possibly short-lived - also there's a vernal pond at the top of the stagecoach trail or devil's slide which may be accessed from Lilac Lane off of Santa Susana Pass Road. — Adam Lieberman | ||
| Circle X Ranch |
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2/9/17 |
Shooting Stars are now in full bloom along the Mishe Mokwa and Backbone Trails in the valley between Sandstone Peak and Tri Peaks. They are most easily found directly on the Backbone Tail right by the intersection with the Mishe Mokwa Trail. It is easiest to park at the Sandstone Peak Trailhead and take either the trail up to Sandstone Peak or connect with the feeder to the Mishe Mokwa Trail (my preferred route).
— Steven Friedman
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| Point Dume Natural Preserve |
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1/24/17 |
The Point Dume Natural Preserve is a fun place to explore where you can enjoy a lot of native wildflowers in an uncommonly found coastal scrub ecosystem and, at the same time enjoy views of the ocean and possible sightings of marine mammals. The park can be accessed from Cliffside Drive where there are a dozen 2 hour free parking spaces or from Westward Beach, where you pay to park. From the southernmost part of Westward Beach climb the well marked trail to the top of Point Dume. The giant rock is covered in giant coreopsis that have just started blooming. These plants look like they should be in a Dr. Suess book, they look like stumpy tropical trees that are covered in what look like yellow daisies. Also currently in bloom are wild cucumber, lemonade berry, coast golden bush and, to my great surprise, a lot of California poppies.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Solstice Canyon |
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1/17/17 |
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NPS site - Solstice Canyon (PCH & Corral Canyon Rd.) There is a 76 gas station on the corner where you turn and the entrance to the park is at the first bend in the road. This is a very popular site with a small parking lot so try to visit on a weekday.
As you start the one mile Solstice Canyon walk on the old driveway from the main parking lot, you'll see catkins on the Alder trees. Just past the nice view of the creek from the bridge, the old driveway goes right and soon you'll see a few flowers of white nightshade blooming, then you'll start to see clumps of wild cucumber blooms. The white flowers on long stalks are the male flowers, some of the female flowers close to the main vine have already formed the small spiky pods that enclose the plant's seeds. The best thing about this site is the California bay laurel trees starting to bloom. These sweet smelling clusters of small yellow flowers are clearly visible against the dark green long and slender bay leaves of these large trees. After enjoying the one mile walk up to Tropical Terrace you can return the way you came. Rating is promising. — Sheila Braden |
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| Rocky Oaks |
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1/14/17 |
| NPS site - Rocky Oaks (Mulholland Hwy west of Kanan Rd.) The short Rocky Oaks loop trail is muddy in spots. The path over the dam is dry. The pond has shrunk to a three foot wide mud puddle. On the slope the white pinkish flowers of big berry manzanita are just starting to bloom. What makes this site interesting are the lichens. Three types of the crusty growths are clearly visible on the leafless branches: green shield lichen (gray green), candle flame lichen (yellow), and firedot lichen (bright orange). Rating is promising. — Sheila Braden | ||
| Castro Crest |
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12/28/16 |
| The rain that has fallen has started to perk things up and it is clear that there will be flowers this year. This trail crosses creeks with water six or seven times. The flowers have not really started but they are close. The wild cucumber is pushing up and we saw a few blooming stalks. There are some milk maids blooming near the creek. We saw one blooming California everlasting and some big berry manzanita that was just about to open. — Dorothy Steinicke | ||
Contact Information:
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Santa Monica Mountains NRA 401 West Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 805-370-2301 www.nps.gov/samo |
If you would like to contribute a wildflower report you can e-mail the editor at: Tony_Valois@nps.gov Or, for faster response use the gmail account SMMWildFlowers@gmail.com |
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What's Blooming
on the web at
www.smmflowers.org/whatsblooming
or go to
www.nps.gov/samo
click on
"Plan Your Visit" >> "Things to Do" >> "Look for Wildflowers"
