Wildflowers are blooming somewhere in Fresno County from January to fall. The show starts at our lower elevations early in the year after we get some rain and continues into the county's highest elevations through the summer and fall, until they're covered by snow.
There are hikes you can take to see the show, but many flowers can be seen from the road. Whenever I safely stop along a road to look at a flower I’ve noticed, there are a half dozen more in the vicinity just waiting to be discovered.
Here are wildflower-viewing road trips in Fresno and neighboring counties that I can recommend:
- Piedra Road off of Highway 180 to Elwood Road towards Wonder Valley.
- Dry Creek Road (J21) off Road 216 out of Woodlake (out and back).
- Yokohl Valley Drive south of Hwy 198 beyond Exeter (out and back or drive all the way to Springville).
- Carrizo Plain National Monument is fabulous at the right time of year. Reports suggest the season has already begun. There is a ranger station you can call to learn if the flowers are in bloom. The trip to Carrizo Plain is a three-hour drive one way, but its well worth investing a whole day to explore. Keep in mind there are NO services in the park – no gas station, no mini-mart, no soda machine – so pack a lunch and fill-up beforehand.
- I just drove up Hwy 198 to Three Rivers for a retreat and saw a hillside of poppies in full explosion. Fiddleneck, popcorn flowers and mustards were in abundance.
Hiking is a a great way to see flowers, you just have to be looking out for them. Every hike in our foothills and mountains will have flowers if you go at the right time. Here are some favorite local hikes:
- The Blue Oak trail along Millerton Lake has a good variety of flowers early in the spring.
- The hike to Pincushion Peak at the end of Sky Harbor Road as well as the San Joaquin River trail from the same parking lot are full of wildflowers in early spring. Buzzards' Roost is a short but steep trail on the Madera side of Millerton Lake which has similar wildflowers.
- The north end of Wellbarn Road off of Hwy 168 leads to a gated road which can be hiked down to the San Joaquin River at Temperance Flats. There is a prolific number of flowers along the way, again in early spring before the heat hits.
- The San Joaquin River Gorge hike off Smalley Road near Powerhouse Road in Auberry is a fun hike with lots of flowers.
- The Sierra Foothill Conservancy offers a variety of classes and hikes highlighting their preserved lands. Their website lists hikes on property only accessible with a docent. They hike to the Fine Gold Preserve, which has a bonanza of flowers, Black Mountain and the vernal pools on top of two table mountains near Millerton Lake. Vernal pools have a unique ecosystem that includes fascinating flowers.
- My favorite high elevation hike is to Twin Lakes from Kaiser Pass Road. It’s an eight-mile trek that seems longer every year but has a power punch of flowers from June (or whenever you can get in after snow melt) through the summer. I’ve hiked throughout the Sierras on the west side and east side and have found a remarkable number of distinct flowers.
And now you can easily identify California wildflowers with Google Lens or PictureThis or any number of apps.
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Written by UC Master Gardener Sharon Matson