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Spring Wildflower Adventures in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area

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Spring Wildflower Adventures in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area Spring Wildflower Adventures in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area Author’s Note: This article “Spring Wildflower Adventures in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area” is also a chapter in my travel guidebook/ebookNorthern California Travel: The Best Options. Parallel coverage of nature in Northern California occurs in my latest travel guidebook/ebookNorthern California History Travel Adventures: 35 Suggested Trips. All my travel guidebooks/ebooks on California can be seen on myAmazon Author Page. By Lee Foster The refreshing opportunity for spring wildflower adventures makes mid-March to mid-May a joyous annual travel time in the San Francisco Bay Area. Each year’s bloom time will vary, due to the rain amount, daily temperatures, and cloud cover vs sun. Call ahead to the locations (see phones at end of this article) to be assured that your visit time will be optimal for bloom. Wildflowers please the fortunate viewer in many ways. Golden carpets of the small goldfields flowers or abundant clusters of poppies delight the eye and lift the spirit. More delicate and less revealing flowers, especially the Douglas iris, reward a searcher in the shadier woodlands. Highly specialized dashes of color, such as red larkspur, add punch to the green tapestry of spring. The variety in wildflowers stuns the imagination. Identifying wildflowers can excite some detective passion. The first reality is simply to enjoy the flowers. But knowing their names and collecting a personal record of memories in seeing them can be an enriching experience. Start with brochures available at some wildflower parks. Move on to Helen Sharsmith’s bookSpring Wildflowers of the San Francisco Bay Region. Possibly proceed further to learn the Latin names and precise vocabulary of the botanist. The Life Force in Spring Wildflowers The life force surging forward in a wildflower seed is a wonder to behold. Beauty in wildflowers is a blatant effort to attract pollinator insects and perpetuate the species. Conditions of germination that trigger a seed are cagey, sometimes not allowing all to sprout at the same time, lest an unfavorable situation wipe out the species. Five places in the Bay Area rank among the most pleasing wildflower outings of my experience. (An “If You Go” section at the end suggests further information, directions, lodging, and dining.) Call ahead to the wildflower destination, if you can, to check and determine if the bloom is peaking. As mentioned above, rainfall levels, cold/warm temperatures, and cloud cover/sunlight variations can accelerate or delay the bloom time. Chimney Rock -1. The Chimney Rock area of Point Reyes, near the lighthouse on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, is my single favorite place to experience wildflowers. Chimney Rock presents an enormous variety and abundance of wildflowers, ranging from California buttercup to seaside daisy. The ocean cliff ambiance provides a rugged landscape. Sometimes other dramatic nature experiences also occur. For example, a red-tail hawk flew in and landed about 20 feet from me on my last visit. Because the area has not been grazed for some time, a satisfying pristine feeling has re-emerged in the wild vegetation. You’ll see many of the large yellow flowers known as mule’s ears, named for the characteristic look of their leaves. Dense clusters of blue Douglas iris thrive in the moist ocean breezes. California poppy wildflowers Road to Chimney Rock To get to Chimney Rock, take the last turnoff to the left before reaching the Point Reyes lighthouse and park in the designated lot. The hike out to the end of land is about a mile. There is a loop trail, lending variety to the walk. (I usually precede my walk with a short drive beyond the turnoff to venture all the way up to the lighthouse, just for the pleasure of seeing the luxurious yellow bush lupines covering the hillside looking north.) With a little attention to detail, you will see more than 25 varieties of wildflowers on a sunny afternoon here. Bring a picnic. A brochure, posted behind glass at the parking lot, will help you identify the local wildflowers. Mount Tamalpais -2. The Pantoll Ranger Station, midway through Mount Tamalpais State Park, allows you access to a gentle hike in a wooded area, the Matt Davis Trail. Park at the Pantoll lot and check in with the ranger before hiking on the trail. Ask the ranger to see the lovingly crafted book on the wildflowers of Mount Tamalpais, in three-ring binder form, produced by Jim and Doris Vitek. Take it to a picnic table near the ranger station and look through it. This couple loved Mount Tamalpais and spent a lifetime cataloguing the nuanced beauty of its wildflowers, including their locations. Their passion and their intellectual precision are apparent. Then hike out along the trail, which has both sun-drenched grassy hillsides and cool moist forests. You’ll see white Douglas iris in the shady forests and morning glory on the sunny grassy hillsides. More Tamalpais There are other good wildflower areas at Mount Tamalpais, especially at Rock Spring, near the juncture of Pantoll Road and East/West Ridgecrest Road. Volunteers put out labeled flower signs there each spring. Call ahead to determine the best weekend for wildflower viewing (see the phone number in the “If You Go” section). After you look at the wildflowers, venture out East Ridgecrest Road to the Visitor Center at the top of 2,571-foot-high Mount Tamalpais. You will be rewarded with a lovely elevated view of the Marin County region immediately north of San Francisco. Mount Diablo -3. Mount Diablo State Park, on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay in Contra Costa County, is a wondrous drive-through spring wildflower setting. I like to drive in from the north side and enjoy the abundant poppies along North Gate Road in the typical oak and grassland environment. It is likely you will also see flocks of wild turkeys here. The elevation change at Mount Diablo shows flowering from early spring at low elevations to much later in the spring near the peak. At the Junction Ranger Station, where Summit Road turns east to the peak, a brochure posted behind glass on an information board will help you identify the flowers. The Junction Campground here and Juniper Campground farther up the road to the summit are quite lovely, and will surprise you with how little they are used, even on a glorious spring weekend. The drive between the ranger station and summit boasts more than 50 handsome turnouts with picnic tables, benches, and stone fire pits, all legacies from the California Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Enjoy them as you gaze out at the populated valleys, such as the Livermore Valley, below. The drive has especially lovely showings of white ceanothus bush wildflowers each spring. From the summit of Mount Diablo you can look clear into the Delta or back to the Golden Gate Bridge. This is arguably one of the finest panoramic views you will find in the Bay Area. On a particularly clear day, after winter rains have cleaned the air, you may be able to see all the way north to Mount Lassen. The drive to the south entrance shows many more flower-filled hillsides, with bush lupine in abundance. Booking.com San Antonio Valley -4. The San Antonio Valley south from Livermore, via Mines Road, is the wildest wildflower backcountry drive that I know of in the Bay Area. Choice wildflower areas flourish near where Mines Road changes its name to San Antonio Valley Road, at the junction with Del Puerto Canyon Road. The single dominant experience is vast carpets of a small yellow flower known as goldfields, Baeria chrysostoma, in a semi-grazed landscape. You will find vast landscapes of this delicate gold flower stretching for long distances. I like to do this drive from the San Jose area, across Mount Hamilton, with a stop at the Lick Observatory, and then end up at Livermore. But be warned that this is a remote and twisty road, good only for the patient and careful driver. There won’t be many travelers on it when you descend behind Mount Hamilton. Be prepared to sustain yourself for a while if you experience an automotive breakdown. The drive, as I like to do it, begins on Highway 130 at Grant Park and proceeds up the flanks of Mount Hamilton to the pinnacle and the Lick Observatory, noted for its astronomy efforts. A drive up on a spring day shows a lovely leafing out of the oak trees with their delicate shades of green. The view from the summit of Mount Hamilton at the Observatory provides a panoramic look at the contrast between the populated Silicon Valley to the west and the rustic backcountry to the east. Remote Mount Hamilton When you drive east down the back side of Mount Hamilton, the remoteness of the environment will astound you. If I were a mountain lion in the Bay Area, this would be my chosen hangout because there are enormous road-less areas where a mountain lion can retreat for a little privacy. A dry forest of digger pine and oak dominates the scene. The goldfields wildflowers begin when San Antonio Valley Road turns north towards Livermore. Edgewood Park -5. Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve on the Peninsula is one of the most biologically rich 467 acres in Northern California, with more than 500 plant species. So many species grow here because of the diverse habitats, from grasslands to dense forests. The serpentine rock outcroppings are also particularly hospitable to certain wildflowers and native grasses. A butterfly named the Bay Checkerspot, close to extinction, still survives here.
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