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Available Reviews
Topanga Canyon State Park Zuma Canyon Malibu Creek State Park China Flat Rocky Oaks Stunt Ranch Circle X Ranch Paramount Ranch Castro Crest Newton Canyon |
Date of Review
7/19 & 7/10 & 6/12 & 5/17. 6/8 & 5/18. 5/10. 5/9. 5/2. 4/26. 4/15. 4/11/17. 4/7/17. 4/3/17. |
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— ed. |
| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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7/19/17 |
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This is a portion of The Backbone Trail that begins at Old Topanga Rd. and climbs to the radio towers off Piuma Rd. We went very early in the morning to beat the heat but it was still fairly intense and we only climbed a mile or so.
The hike starts by crossing a nearly dry creek bed. We walked upstream and did find a few pools that were teeming with tadpoles. The areas around those pools are alive with multitudes of tiny hopping juvenile toads. But back to the trail. It goes ever upwards through patches of forest and swathes of meadow. The good thing is that when you have had enough it is all downhill. Most flowers are finished blooming but there was still a fair amount of sticky madia, slender tarweed and cliff aster. There were a few purple clarkia, honeysuckle and wild roses. There was one patch of blooming narrow leaf milkweed. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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7/10/17 |
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Amazingly flowers can still be found in July. This is a cool shaded canyon but, with that in mind, be prepared for a lot of poison oak, it is the predominant ground cover.
At the beginning of this trail there are the unsurprising laurel sumac, cliff asters and California buckwheat. But just a little ways down the trail you come to one of the special treats of this place, monardella, a lovely lavender mint that is not found in many places in the Santa Monicas. Taking the right turn to the trail for the waterfall you walk in and next to the dry creaked until you come to the first pool of water where, on the rock wall above the pool there is a spray of coast boykinia, another of the flowers that are not found in many places. Approaching the 'waterfall' which is currently more of a trickle, there are more and more pools of water. Look into the pools to see tadpoles and water striders, above the pools to see swallowtail and California sister butterflies and next to the pools to see lovely scarlet monkey flower and white hedge nettle. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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6/12/17 |
This hike is one of the best for late spring and summer. There are two distinct sections; the riparian, where you start and the chaparral that you climb up into. In the riparian section the Humboldt lilies are the stars, they are everywhere this year, many more than I have seen in past years. They are so large and so bright that they almost appear to be illuminated. There is a lot of heart leaf penstemon and California buckwheat and a little bit of a lot of other flowers but the Humboldts are what you get excited about. After walking through the riparian section, and being careful to avoid the plentiful poison oak, you climb up into the chaparral section. This section also has stars and they are the scarlet larkspur which is really tall and really plentiful and the plummers mariposas which are abundant and stunning. There are also some other lovelies to enjoy; white snapdragons, canyon dudleya, sapphire wool stars and twiggy wreath plant. It will do your soul good to visit this place.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Zuma Canyon |
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6/8/17 |
I have been meaning to get to this area for literally months. My the second week of June I figured that the flowers would be about finished but I went anyway. I could not have been more wrong about the flowers-the displays are stunning. Just pulling into the Zuma Canyon parking area you can see the entire valley floor carpeted with purple sage with sprays of bush mallow shooting out above with the whole thing punctuated by the occasional bladder pod bush. I took the Ocean View/Canyon View Loop, a trail that is a bit less traveled than the Zuma Loop Trail. I could not keep track of the flowers. There were bushes full of milkwort, there was sticky phacelia, lots of heart leaf penstemon, patches of perezia and slender tar weed, lots of cliff asters, sticky madea and white and golden yarrow. Climbing up the hill the mustard growing by the side of the trail gets a bit overwhelming-it is 10-15 feet tall. At first I enjoyed the sensation of being an ant traveling through grass and then I started feeling a little claustrophobic and resentful that I could not see the views this trail is named for. Fortunately the intense mustard falls away and the views return. There are entire mountainsides that a simply coated with purple sage, it is spectacular. Almost as breathtaking are the large number of plummers mariposas growing at the top of this trail, a great reward for steep climb up on the mustard choked trail.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Zuma Canyon |
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5/18/17 |
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The Backbone Trail section through upper Zuma Canyon is a garden right now, with over 80 species currently in bloom. In addition to the "usual suspects", some of the less common plants to be seen include: Checker Bloom, Stinky Gila (Allophyllum glutinosum), some white-flowered Elegant Clarkia, Large-flowered Phacelia, California Mustard (Caulanthus lasiophylllus), Pine Mat (Gallium andrewsii), and Mountain Dandelion.
— Jay Sullivan
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| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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5/17/17 |
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This year's wonderful flowers are starting to diminish in many places but the Nature Trail in Topanga Canyon State Park, especially the chaparral portion out on the edge of the hillside is still pretty wonderful. It isn't that there are unusual flowers there, just that there are so many massed flowers. There are bush mallow and lots of bush sunflowers, yucca, wild rose, bush lupine, narrow leaf milkweed and California buckwheat, in great quantities. We saw alligator lizards and a California whip snake. The only downside is that there is a lot of yellow star thistle growing in and near the trail. The prickles easily penetrate most trouser fabric and I pity anyone wearing shorts.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Malibu Creek State Park |
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5/10/17 |
Hiked the Backbone Trail eastbound from Piuma Road to Saddle Peak. There is a large variety of flowers blooming on this trail. There is a lot of Golden Yarrow, Elegant Clarkia , Orange Monkey Flower, and Purple Sage blooming on this trail. Other flowers seen; Yellow Monkey Flower, Deerweed, Chemise, Indian Pink, California Everlast, Tarweed, Mariposa Lily, White Pincushion , Wooly Bluecurl, California Fuchsia, Buckwheat , Popcorn Flower, Canyon Sunflower, Purple Nightshade, Black Sage, Purple Sage Turkish Rugging Goldenstar, Fern Phacelia, Tarweed, Large Flowered Phacelia, Caterpillar Phacelia Cliff Aster
— Jim Garafalo
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| China Flat |
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5/9/17 |
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A wonderful site if you can make the climb. Black Sage blooming in mass, Sticky Monkey Flower seems to be peaking, Wooly Blue Curls and Chamise adding to the mix. I started at the China Flat trailhead. Heading up the 101 North take Kanan exit, head North away from coast, after a few miles go right on Lindero Canyon Rd. Look for China Flat trailhead sign on the left. Hike is straight uphill and strenuous with some overgrown Mustard in the beginning, but once you get to the top, weeds are gone and hiking is generally easy and flat.
The pond off the China Flat trail on the eastern end of the loop has standing water, with hundreds of juvenile Western Toads hopping all around it. Quite the natural phenomena. If you do go, watch your step because some of them are tiny. — Anthony Bevilacqua 
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| Rocky Oaks |
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5/2/17 |
Rocky Oaks is a great place to go right now with many flowering species seen not far from the parking lot. I took the Pond Trail and found a cluster of flowers from a large patch of Golden Yarrow, Black Sage, Wooly Blue Curls, and all the Chamise around them in full bloom. A nice easy walk and the pond is full with water. After many dry years it is worth the trip.
— Anthony Bevilacqua
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| Stunt Ranch |
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4/26/17 |
This trail is in full glory. The trailhead is awash in purple sage mixed with golden yard, chamise and wild morning glory. Descending into the cool riparian woodland you fine purple nightshade, canyon sunflowers, fiesta flower, hummingbird sage, eucrypta and my favorite; globe lilies or fairy lanterns that just seem to radiate light. Climbing up out of the oaks you come to meadows that are filled with golds and purples. There are multitudes of golden star lilies and more golden yarrow mixed with larkspur, blue dicks, blue eyed grass and the exquisite tiny brodeaia and punctuated by more butterfly mariposa lilies than I can remember seeing in one place. Continuing into the chaparral you will find elegant clarkia, heart leaf penstemon, woolly blue curls, California chicory, caterpillar phacelia and great swathes of Chinese houses. A wonderful hike for flower viewing.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Circle X Ranch |
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4/15/17 |
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This is always an amazing hike filled with different habitats and the plants that inhabit them. We began our hike from the second parking lot after you pass the park visitor center, the one marked as the Mishe Mokwa trailhead. When we came to the Backbone Trail we turned left onto it and made a clockwise loop going to Sandstone Peak and then Split Rock before returning to the parking lot, about 6 miles.
We were barely out of the parking lot before we were overwhelmed at the quantity of butterfly mariposa lilies, they filled the grasslands and trail edges, I don’t remember ever seeing so many. There was also blooming yucca, yarrow, black sage, popcorn flower, California chicory, chia, star lilies, twining snapdragon and yellow monkey flower. As we climbed toward Sandstone Peak we saw blooming chamise, sticky monkey flower, collarless poppies, mustard evening primrose and beautiful bush lupines. On the trail up to Sandstone Peak there were clumps of blooming phlox. Walking from Sandstone Peak to Split Rock there were blooming globe gilia, larkspur, yellow pin cushion and owls clover. Approaching Split Rock there are blue and white ceanothus that are not the usually found ones that are especially beautiful. From Split Rock back to the parking lot there were great patches of virgins bower, delicate woodland stars, parry’s phacelia, shiny lomatium, more blue dicks than can be imagined and a few of the flower we were hoping to find, chocolate lilies. It was a wonderful hike. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| 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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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"
