Every spring, Southern California puts on one of its most underrated natural shows: wildflower season. After winter rains, hillsides, deserts, and coastal mountains explode with color—from golden poppies to vibrant black mustard—usually starting as early as February and peaking through April.

Wildflowers follow elevation, which means while Southern California blooms in spring, higher mountain regions don’t reach their peak until summer. If you’ve ever seen the famous lupine fields in Colorado’s Wildflower Capital, you know how magical that later-season bloom can be.

But if you don’t want to wait until summer, Southern California offers plenty of places to catch spectacular wildflower displays right now. Here are 12 of the best spots to see wildflowers across Southern California.

*this post was first written in 2019 and has been partially updated*

2026 is a superbloom year and my top recs from the list below for places that don’t normally bloom are: Carrizo & Death Valley

*Reminder: the wilderness is a fragile space so please don’t forget to practice Leave No Trace. Stay on designated trails (there are rattlesnakes in some areas), do not stomp on flowers, and do not pick them. Explore the trails, take your photos, but don’t do whatever it takes to “get the shot” for the gram… let’s leave nature in its pretty and natural condition for everyone to enjoy.

& my personal pet peeve… don’t be THAT person on the trail blasting their music for everyone to hear

p.s. no wildflowers were harmed in the making of these photos

Booking travel soon?
Please consider using my affiliate links below. It costs nothing additional for you but helps me maintain the ever-increasing costs of running a travel blog:

General travel through Tripadvisor here.
Book your flights here.
Book your accommodations here on Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, and VRBO.
Book your car rentals here.
Book your tours here.
Book your travel insurance here.
Shop my favorite gear here.

Best Hikes to See Wildflowers in SoCal (by a local)

Griffith Park

Visit date: 2.27.19
Status: full bloom when I went
Trail: Riverside Trail
Time: 15-20 mins hike up to reach wildflowers
Distance: 1 mi

You can also enter from the Vermont Canyon Tennis Court which I did back in March 2017. The trail is only slightly shorter and the parking lot is small.

There is only a small patch of an abundance of wildflowers in this section of the Griffith Park (that I know of). You’ll see it as you’re approaching the spot and there’s a small trail off to the right around the one-mile marker to get here. It’s a beautiful detour trail here with a skyline view of Downtown Los Angeles… there’s a well-defined trail so please respect the park and stay on it!

griffith park: wildflowers hike near los angeles

Chino Hills State Park

Visit date: 3.17.19 and April 2022
Status: full bloom when I went
Trail: (Upper) Bane Ridge Trail
Time: 10-15 mins hike up to reach wildflowers

There are wildflowers spread throughout the park and multiple entrances, but when I asked the ranger at the kiosk, she said I had picked the best entrance for wildflower viewings.

I entered the park from Soquel Canyon off the 71 hwy. There’s a $10 vehicle entrance fee (used to be $5) or you can park on the street below and walk up, but it is an uphill the whole way to the park entrance… and then the 2 miles to the trailhead is very hilly. I went on a very hot day (80 deg) so the $5 was worth it and there was plenty of parking inside; it was actually much more packed outside than inside the park for a Sunday.

From the parking lot trailhead, the hike starts uphill for about 10 mins and once you reach the top, you’re at the peak area of the wildflowers on this trail. If you look on your map, you should see several other trailheads to connect to this spot. I got very lucky and caught a painted lady butterfly in the second shot below (:

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

Visit date: 2.26.19
Status: blooming sectionally
Area: spotted near the flat dirt area by the Baldwin Hills sign off Hetzler Rd, but it is probably popping up all over the area by now
Time: 10-15 mins hike up to reach wildflowers
While you’re here… get in a good workout and hike up those steps! 😉

Kenneth Hahn State Park

Visit date: 4.25.20
Status: typically blooms mid-April
Area: Southeast section of the park
Time: depends where you enter but less than an hour

Weir Canyon

Visit date: 4.6.23
Status: blooming
Trail: Weir Canyon Trail
Time: 2 hrs

Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore

status: currently in full bloom & mayhem *closed for 2023*
I haven’t been since I hear it’s crazy busy and I like to avoid “Disneyland-size crowds”. Parking is extremely limited and the city has implemented a shuttle system. The area was closed down temporarily last weekend due to a lack of resources, but they’re open again for now.

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

This state park is known for poppies! There’s an entrance fee and you can find current conditions on their site here.

I went during California’s last super bloom in 2017 and this was as bad as Walker Canyon seems to be this year. Traffic and parking were so horrendous that I didn’t even make it in the natural reserve boundaries after a long wait in traffic outside the reserve. The poppies were in full bloom outside the park and even the parking there was (for lack of a better term) a sh*t show. We planned to just leave, but we got lucky with a parking spot and were able to wander around the valley outside. There aren’t many trails outside the park though… so careful with your steps.
Photos from March 2017 below

Diamond Valley Lake

This has been a popular area to see wildflowers for the 2023 season. It’s a very short hike starting from the marina and you do have to pay for parking and are not allowed to walk off trail.

Carrizo Plain National Monument

In 2017, this was the place to be! We drove on a sketchy dirt road that would be handled a lot better on an AWD or high-clearance road… but we made it in my friend’s luxury sedan (totally not built for outdoor exploring).

The hills here were painted in yellow, orange, and purple… what a variety! I have no clue what these flowers are, and we didn’t pick any specific trails, just wandered aimlessly…

Looks like they currently have blooms also, but not as full as two years ago…

Joshua Tree National Park

I came here at the beginning of the last super bloom in early March 2017… right after the wildflowers just started popping up. It was dispersed just north of the Cottonwood Visitor Center but I believe the park is getting flower blooms right now too!

Anza Borrego State Park

I haven’t been here during any blooms but it looks like it’s in full bloom now! I don’t know where, but if you find out and get an epic shot, help me fill out this section 🙂

Death Valley

In 2016, they had a rare but major super bloom, but the park isn’t expecting this again this year because although the park got a lot of rain, it came later in the season which doesn’t produce the same effect – you can read more about it on their website here.

Carpet of yellow flowers cover the valley floor with mountains in the background — photo from nps.gov / Kurt Moses

When do wildflowers bloom?

Alpine wildflowers (in the mountains) tend to bloom in the summer while lower elevation wildflowers (in the city) bloom in the Spring so if you’re unsure where else nearby you in SoCal has wildflowers blooming right now, aim for the hills and desert floors, not the high altitude mountains!

Tiffany

Tiff, the owner and author of Follow Tiff’s Journey, is a California/ Colorado-based adventurer and outdoor connoisseur who divides her heart between the Eastern Sierra Mountains and the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Despite her fear of heights, she’s become a seasoned mountaineer, ultralight hiking and backcountry camping enthusiast, expert road trip planner, and a fervent explorer of alpine lakes, natural hot springs, and sandstone canyons.

With 10 years of experience exploring the outdoors, her blog is your go-to source for all things wilderness, offering invaluable insights and pro tips, essential gear recommendations, and awe-inspiring stories from her adventures.

Join Tiff on her quest to share the wonders of nature and inspire others to follow their own path in the great outdoors.

12 Places to see wildflowers in Southern California