If you love flower fields, you may have heard about the vast bright orange poppy fields in Southern California that spring up during Superbloom years. They’re so popular that they create major traffic jams near popular areas in the Los Angeles area! Before they became so popular, Ken and I drove hundreds of miles from San Francisco to see these amazing flower fields for themselves. What we saw at Antelope Valley was like a scene out of a fantasy film… vast endless fields of orange poppies as far as the eyes can see… it was shocking and it was spectacular! Despite all the pictures we had seen beforehand, there is nothing like experiencing the Superbloom in person. It was truly a beautiful and amazing sight and we simply could not believe it was real! In this post, I’ll share information about these poppy fields and some photos we took there.
All photos were taken by me and my husband Ken. If you’re interested in flower photography, you may be interested in my post on the Best Lenses for Flower Photography. Or take a look at my photo gear!
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The Superbloom in California
According to Wikipedia, “A superbloom is a rare desert botanical phenomenon in which an unusually high proportion of wildflowers whose seeds have lain dormant in desert soil germinate and blossom at roughly the same time. The phenomenon is associated with an unusually wet rainy season.”
A Superbloom of Spring wildflowers in California happens rarely, only after a particularly wet winter, and usually in the desert areas near San Diego and Walker Canyon / Lake Elsinore. Some years, however, the Superbloom spreads north, to the remote Carrizo Plain, and to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and surrounding areas. During recent Superbloom years starting in 2017, these areas were literally covered with bright orange, yellow, white and purple wildflowers as in a flower-covered world!
For current wildflower conditions and outlook for the Southern California parks, check out the California State Parks Wildflower Bloom page. There’s even a webcam for the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve!
The Superbloom typically doesn’t reach this level in Northern California, but if you live in or visit the San Francisco Bay Area in the Spring, check out the poppy fields at Mt Diablo State Park in the East Bay! There are poppies and other wildflowers there nearly every year, along with spectacular mountain-top views!
Our Trip to See the Poppies at Antelope Valley
Since we don’t get to experience the Superbloom in the S.F. Bay Area where we live, I knew we had to drive to Southern California to see this phenomenon for ourselves! After a stay in Bakersfield following our successful trip to see Superbloom wildflowers in the Carrizo Plains, Ken and I set out for the nearby Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve early the next morning to continue our California Superbloom road trip.
Our destination was the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the city of Lancaster, located approximately 1.5 hrs north of Los Angeles. As we approached the reserve, we saw that a field next to the reserve had dense clusters of bright golden orange poppies with a number of other people there also, so we decided to stop and wander for a bit and take some pictures. The next thing we knew, a couple of hours had passed already, and it had been almost four hours since we started our trip! What happened?? I guess time flies when you’re entranced with endless fields of gorgeous poppies!!
As it turns out, we spent so much time at the smaller poppy fields on the way to, and just outside of the reserve, that we never made it inside the actual reserve by the time we got hungry for lunch and had to continue our trip to Los Angeles!
But even if we didn’t get to go inside the actual reserve, we were very happy that we still got to see the spectacular Superbloom poppies of the area. Some people that we met at the field actually told us that the poppies we saw there were even more dense than those inside the reserve, so I’m happy to know that we didn’t miss out!
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If you’re looking for more California Spring travel ideas, check out my posts on the Most Beautiful Spots in Big Sur, the Purple Ice Plants of the Monterey Peninsula, the spectacular Flower Fields of Carlsbad Ranch, and the Poppy Fields of Mt Diablo State Park! All of my California travel posts are available here!
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Pansy ❤️
Hi, I’m Pansy!
Hello, thanks for stopping by! I’m Pansy, California-based travel blogger, photographer and lover of ALL the pretty flowers! You may notice that most of my travels, photography & DIY center around flowers and nature! 🌸🌼🌿
I recently started a YouTube channel where I feature beautiful gardens, parks & flower fields! Make sure to follow me there if you love flowers & gardens! 😊
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Pansy ❤️
Hi! For anyone reading this, poppies are not in bloom this season at Antelope Valley. If you go, please be aware you’ll be seeing a valley of dead! It is a nice walk around but no poppies as we didn’t receive enough rain 🙂
Thanks for the 2021 update Emily! If only a Superbloom occurs more often! 🌼🌼🌼
If you come this year, 2021, plan to see a plethora of illegal marijuana grow sites. The cartels have brazenly taken over the Antelope Valley. Fact, there is an abandoned grow site across the street from the California Poppy Reserve. What you won’t see are Poppies. Drought conditions resulted in no blooms. What little water available is being sucked up by the illegal growers. Each plant requires approximately six gallons of water per day per plant. In 2020 it’s estimated the grows were illegally consuming between 3 and 9.5 million gallons of water DAILY. More illegal grow sites crop up each day. Do the math. Plan to bring drinking water, at this rate the Antelope Valley will soon be dry. If this alarms you, contact Governor Newsom’s office and ask for immediate action to halt illegal grows.