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Available Reviews
Red Rock Canyon Park Topanga State Park Triunfo Creek Park Circle X Ranch Zuma/Trancas Canyons Santa Ynez Canyon Point Mugu State Park Corral Canyon Park Cheeseboro/Palo Comado Canyons Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve Liberty Canyon Natural Preserve Stunt Ranch Trippet Ranch Malibu Creek State Park |
Date of Review
05/29. 05/25 & 05/13 & 04/24 & 03/02 & 02/14 & 01/08. 05/25. 05/15 & 04/08. 05/10 & 05/05 & 01/01. 05/07. 04/13 & 03/04. 04/09. 04/01. 03/31. 03/27. 03/08. 03/02. 01/06. |
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This site performs a public service that anyone can participate in. Let us all know what you are seeing! If you are new to submitting a report (or maybe even an old hand at it) be sure and read How To Submit a Flower Report — ed. |
| Red Rock Canyon Park |
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05/29/2023 |
Enter this park at the very end of Red Rock Canyon Road which is off of Old Topanga Canyon Road. I had wondered if it would be too late for flowers in this park. The answer is not at all. There is a riot of flowers and some of them are fairly unusual. The large and brilliant yellow mariposas are in bloom and evident at the very beginning of the trail. There are many, many clarkias: elegant clarkia, purple clarkia, speckled clarkia and willow herb clarkia. Looking up onto the mountainsides they are studded with blooming yucca, chamise and woolly blue curls. Close to the ground there is Turkish rugging interspersed with sapphire wool stars and canchalangua. Growing on a rock wall in between were masses of Chinese houses, Santa Monica dudleya, blue larkspur and deerweed. We took a trail off the fire road and up the mountainside. There we encountered delicate lilac mariposas, white snapdragon, owl’s clover, yellow monkey flower, and deerweed. This trail goes quite a ways but eventually gets very rutted and borderline impassible. We returned as we came and enjoyed seeing all the blooms we missed on the way up.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Topanga State Park |
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05/25/2023 |
The Dead Horse trail connects the Dead Horse parking lot off Entrada Road with the Trippet Ranch area. I took the trail from the Trippet parking lot and then returned. From the Trippet parking lot walk on the paved road/trail by the pond. Just past the pond turn left onto the Dead Horse Trail. For the first bit you will have woods on your left and meadow on your right. Here there are a lot of lovely spring flowers still in bloom: blue eyed grass, buttercups, hummingbird sage, sticky gum plant, and some Catalina mariposa lilies. Soon you enter chaparral where chamise is the predominant bloomer. There is also black sage, golden star lilies, blue dicks, twining snapdragon and sticky monkey flower. For the length of the trail the ecosystems will alternate between woodland and chaparral. In the woodland areas there is purple nightshade, canyon sunflower, fiesta flower, cobweb thistle and heart leaf penstemon. This is a very nice walk for viewing flowers.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Triunfo Creek Park |
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05/25/2023 |
I revisited Pentachaeta trail, Triunfo Park. Only taking the in and out route going east, the best displays are about 1/4 mile in. Not the usual populations this year but a lot of elegant clarkia, speckled clarkia, golden yarrow, deerweed, purple sage, and chamise. The different mariposas were represented: Catalina, yellow and spotted. There were significant stands of blue larkspur, globe lily, creek monkey flower, sticky monkey flower, lanced-leaf dudleya, golden star lily, wooly blue curls, and caterpillar phacelia. Looking closely, I saw sapphire wool star and coast goldfield.
— Kathy Jonokuchi
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| Circle X Ranch |
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05/15/2023 |
From the Sandstone Peak parking lot, I took the connector counter-clockwise to the Mishe Mokwa trail. The hillsides were carpeted with yellow with mostly deerweed, golden yarrow and bush sunflower. The species of flowers were similar to my report from Newton Canyon but on a much grander scale. Also seen were clematis, purple clarkia, speckled clarkia, white pitcher sage, violet snapdragon, peninsular onion, lance-leafed dudleya, creek monkeyflower, stinky gilia, pincushion and blue larkspur. The bush lupine were very abundant on the eastern and northern facing slopes. As a birder, I was happy to see many of our summer migrants: lazuli bunting, black-headed grosbeak, western tanager and orange-crowned warbler. On the northern part of the loop, we saw a horned lizard. Although it was overcast when I left from my home in Thousand Oaks, by the time we reached the Sandstone parking lot, we were above the marine layer and so it was pretty warm on the northern part of the loop.
— Kathy Jonokuchi
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| Topanga State Park |
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05/13/2023 |
Two months ago a section of this trail was washed out in heavy rains. Now it is so well repaired that I had trouble recognizing the spot that had been washed out. I did this trail in a counter clockwise circle, starting up the fire road from Trippet Ranch. The fire road is almost entirely uphill and unshaded. The reward are the lovely views to the ocean on one side and Topanga Canyon on the other. The background vegetation is going gold but there are still patches of blooming flowers, notably bush lupines, caterpillar phacelia, sticky monkey flower, elderberry, golden yarrow and some really lovely rose snapdragon. I turned left down the Musch Trail to make the hike a loop. Here the hillsides are covered in wild morning glory punctuated by large flower phacelia. There are Catalina mariposa lilies, collarless poppies, wide throated monkey flower, white snapdragon and the always lovely showy penstemon. The trail winds down through wooded, meadow and chaparral ecosystems with lots of varied flowers along the way. There is purple sage, brodiaea, rock rose and owl’s clover, as well as many, many more
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Zuma/Trancas Canyons |
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05/10/2023 |
Beginning at the at the Newton Canyon Trailhead, the canyon is lushly covered in shades of white and yellow consisting mostly of canyon sunflower, deerweed, sticky monkey flower, chamise, elderberry, and morning glory. Purple nightshade accents the yellow and white blooms. No Humboldt lily this season. The trail has not been taken over by non-native grass and mustard yet. In the beginning of the trail are small flowers that are in larger numbers than seen in past: horehound, willow-herb clarkia, miner's lettuce, hedge nettle, yellow monkey flower, coast figwort, and black sage. Going past the first stream and the southern facing slopes, the bush lupine is plentiful. Large numbers of Parry's phacelia, twining snapdragon, windmill pink, chia, and caterpillar phacelia. Just before the bridge, blackberry, globe lily, checkerbloom, wild sweet pea, broad leaved lupine, Fremont's star lily, wild hyacinth, golden yarrow and silver puffs.
— Kathy Jonokuchi
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| Santa Ynez Canyon |
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05/07/2023 |
A hike in this canyon is exciting and dynamic. The water in the creek has receded to the point where you may only get your shoes wet and not your pants but your pants might also get wet if you take a wrong step. This canyon has been considerably reshaped in the past two years by first fire and then floods. It isn’t overly hard to find your way but it is no longer a simple walk in the woods. Trails have been washed out and new routes are in the process of being established. Trees have fallen into the trail and have to be climbed over. Poison oak has always been an issue in this canyon and still is, I would recommend long sleeves and pants. If we haven't scared you off you will find beautiful flowers in this canyon; purple nightshade, eucrypta, canyon sunflower, bush lupine, big flower phacelia, sticky phacelia and caterpillar phacelia, globe gilia, chia, cobweb thistle and many more.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Zuma/Trancas Canyons |
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05/05/2023 |
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This is a lovely and not well known place to hike. Found at the eastern end of Bonsall Street in Malibu is a large dirt parking lot with a trailhead leading out of it.
At the beginning of the trail there are a mix of purple nightshade, deerweed, wild morning glory and canyon sunflowers in bloom. I turned left at the sign to take the Zuma Loop Trail. This winds uphill on the north shoulder of the canyon. Usually this is a great place for wildflowers. However, this season it has become overgrown with patches of huge mustard plants that have to be fought through and, worse, are crowding out many of the native wildflowers. There are still some great patches of wildflowers; lovely caterpillar phacelia, Indian paintbrush, succulent and bush lupines, blue dicks and quite a few catalina mariposa lilies. The trail descends to the creek and there is a choice to turn back along the creek to the parking lot or turn left and continue on along the creek, knowing you will have to backtrack out. I was surprised that there seemed to be fewer invasives along the creek. There is lots of deerweed interspersed with a lot of scarlet bugler. Down at the edge of the creek bank there is creek monkey flower in bloom. This trail crosses the creek several times and the creek is currently running so continuing will require wet shoes. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Topanga State Park |
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04/24/2023 |
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This trail originates in Temescal Gateway Park but I accessed it from Pacific Palisades. Drive up Palisades Drive as it curves through densely packed houses. It will eventually turn into Chastain Pkwy. Turn right through an archway (but no gate) onto Via Las Palmas. Go uphill to where the street ends, there is a fenced parking lot and defunct bathroom on the right. The trail begins across from the parking lot, initially a cement path that looks like it might be a drainage conduit. This zigzags up the hill before ending at a dirt trail. The dirt trail continues uphill and meets the Temescal Ridge Fire Road. We turned left, going north.
This is a ridge top trail/fire road without much shade. It’s appeal in the spring is for the masses of Braunton’s milk vetch, a lovely member of the pea family that does not grow in many places. Right now it is in full and beautiful bloom. There are also a lot of bush lupines, sugar bush, California poppy, caterpillar phacelia, deerweed and purple nightshade. But the milk vetch is the star of this walk. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Point Mugu State Park |
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04/13/2023 |
| Taking the tarmac down in the canyon and coming up to the Danielson Road, there were many nice displays on the southern slopes in particular. We had several stream crossings, so take your time unless you have waterproof boots. There were large numbers of Parry's phacelia, bush sunflower, wishbone bush, deerweed, lupine, chia descending down the tarmac. Going up the canyon in the shaded areas were blue larkspur, canyon sunflower, chaparral pea, ceanothus, henbit, morning glory, California everlasting, fiesta flower, golden yarrow, purple nightshade and the clematis was in full bloom. It was a lovely surprise to find a California newt on the trail and watched it go down to the stream. On the Danielson Road side were collarless poppies, stinging lupine, black sage, dodder and as well as the same species going down the tarmac. The poison oak was very abundant too. — Kathy Jonokuchi | ||
| Corral Canyon Park |
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04/09/2023 |
This is a trail that is accessed from the parking lot shared with Malibu Seafood north of Pepperdine and south of Corral Canyon Rd. This is a 2.5 mile loop trail that usually has great ocean views. On the day I hiked, the first time in over a year, the views were obscured by dense fog and the trail was nearly obstructed in many places by a huge overgrowth of black mustard plants that tower over a person and nearly fill in the trail. Despite those things this is still an interesting trail. I found an entirely different suite of wildflowers blooming there than I saw the day before in another area of the Santa Monica Mountains. In areas without mustard there are huge swathes of lovely deep blue succulent lupines, large patches of California poppies and Indian paintbrush and dozens of Catalina mariposa lilies. It was a struggle to fight through some of the mustard but it felt worth it.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Circle X Ranch |
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04/08/2023 |
We hiked the loop counter clockwise going to Split Rock and then Sandstone Peak before returning to the trailhead.
One of the best flower sightings were the chocolate lilies that were growing in profusion, taller and covering a larger space than I can remember from past years. There were also blue dicks, stinging lupine, woolly blue curls, parry’s phacelia, star lilies, shiny lomatium and collarless poppies. When we descended into the rocky areas there were great quantities of goldfields and popcorn flower. Just beyond Split Rock there was a great gathering of wild peonies. There were some of the more unusual ceanothus species; hairy leaf and hoary leaf, as well as the more common green bark. The area between Split Rock and Inspiration Point is still heavily impacted by the 2019 Woolsey Fire, there are little starts of plants but not much reaching maturity. At the base of Sandstone Peak there were patches of prickly phlox and California saxifrage. On the downhill to the parking lot there were quite a lot of bush lupines.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Cheeseboro/Palo Comado Canyons |
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04/01/2023 |
The trail is 3.7 miles and 1000 feet elevation gain in Oak Park, CA starting from Eagle View Park. Patches of orange poppies, lupine, bush sunflowers, yerba santa, and prickly popcorn flower. We were not disappointed by the abundance of wildflowers throughout the trail. Definitely a workout but the breathtaking views of the lush valleys and surrounding mountains make it worthwhile. Some mud but nothing that should stop you from going.
— Marie Wyszynski
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| Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve |
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03/31/2023 |
I haven’t been on this hike in years. I entered the preserve from the trailhead at the northern end of Las Virgenes Rd. I was there the day after a rain and the trail was very muddy and there were two rather challenging creek crossings. Also, to my surprise, I encountered almost no wildflowers along the main trail, just a few common fiddleneck. I turned west on an uphill trail just past a small fenced installation. Here there were flowers, swathes of California poppies on the hillside that were interspersed with chia and hubbys phacelia with some fern leaf phacelia, succulent lupine and Indian paintbrush alongside the trail. At the top of the ridge I turned back and headed out the way I came.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Liberty Canyon Natural Preserve |
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03/27/2023 |
This was my first time on this trail. The trailhead is on the north side of Mulholland Highway between Las Virgenes Rd. and Cornell Rd. There are some places to park on the shoulder but no parking lot.
The trail begins with switchbacks that are lined with blooming greenbark ceanothus. Mixed among them were common fiddlenecks, elderberry, and purple nightshade. Continuing higher the ceanothus fade out and there are lots of bush sunflowers, eucrypta, popcorn flower, wishbone bush, succulent lupine and wild morning glory. The trail keeps going up and up. I kept thinking the top was in sight but there was always a top beyond the top. Finally, at the final top there were spectacular 360 degree views. From that vantage I could see south facing hillsides that were orange with California poppies. There were also some banks of the poppies near the top as well as a bush poppy, hubby’s phacelia, blue dicks, owl’s clover and red maids. I could have continued downhill on the other side but opted to return to Mulholland Highway. On the return I saw a horned lizard, the first in a long time.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Stunt Ranch |
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03/08/2023 |
This is a lovely in and out trail that traverses different plant communities. You begin on a tree shaded trail alongside a creek. It isn’t long before the trail is lined with milkmaids. I also saw a few baby-blues-eyes in this section. The creekside segment ends when you emerge into sunlight and a tunnel of white big pod ceanothus which was in full bloom the day I visited. Turn left at the T and continue into the meadow portion. Here there are blue dicks and California everlasting standing out above the grass as well as tiny red maids, popcorn flower and miner’s lettuce concealed within the grass. Continuing uphill into the chaparral I encountered fuchsia flowering gooseberry, purple nightshade, fiesta flower and eucrypta as well as flowering ash trees. To my surprise the chaparral portion of the trail was by far the muddiest.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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| Point Mugu State Park |
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03/04/2023 |
I visited the park twice this week to see the giant coreopsis in full bloom. I parked before the paid parking on Westward Beach. Walking along the road are sea rocket, wishbone bush, sand verbena and bush sunflower. Both times I saw the gray whales feeding off the point, along with the sea lions hauled out and dolphins surfing.
— Kathy Jonokuchi
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| Topanga State Park |
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03/02/2023 |
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I revisited the Nature Trail to see how it came through the heavy rains. Some of the great masses of succulent lupines were a bit battered by the rain but they are still impressive. The flowers have changed a bit, there is more popcorn flower and less wild cucumber. The caterpillar phacelia have joined the mob of flowers. This is still the best trail for impressive wildflower viewing.
Return down the fire road to the parking lot. There are a couple of lovely blooming fuchsia flowering gooseberry bushes. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Trippet Ranch |
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03/02/2023 |
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I was eager to see what the mountains look like after all the recent rain. I headed up the Musch Trail from the Trippet Ranch parking lot. After all the rain the Musch Trail should be called the Mushy Trail. There was quite a lot of mud as well as creeks running across the trail and, often, down the middle of the trail. Before I had gotten even a mile I came to a spot where the trail had been completely washed out and it would have taken a far more adventurous hiker than I to cross it. I turned back.
Still, it is wonderful to see everything so greened up. There is great promise for spring wild flowers. On the portion of the trail I walked I saw purple nightshade and wild cucumber, both fairly beaten down by the rains. There was some California buttercup, little skullcap flowers, eucrypta and popcorn flowers. Good things are coming to this trail but most are not here yet. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Topanga State Park |
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02/14/2023 |
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The Nature Loop Trail is a fairly short loop trail that leaves the Trippet Ranch parking lot, goes by the Visitor’s Center, climbs a wooded trail to the fire road, cross the road to go through more woods, out into a spectacular area of blooming chaparral and then returns to the parking lot via the fire road.
It is only mid-February but spring flowers are already in full bloom in the Topanga chaparral, particularly in areas that burn in the May, 2021 fire. We followed the Nature Loop which winds up the hill through oaks occasional patches of purple nightshade, wild cucumber, red maids and miner’s lettuce. The trail crosses the fire road and winds to the left through some more trees and the first representatives of the beautiful blue succulent lupines in bloom. Once you can see the canyon opening to your right, keep in mind that all of this burned to blackened soil less than two years ago. Now it is lush and flowering. The trail continues into and open chaparral area and runs along the lip of a steep slope. Here the flowers are fabulous. Among the many blue lupines and white wild cucumber there are sticky phacelia, white nightshade, popcorn flowers and poppies, both the orange and the yellow. In the traverse across there are also bush sunflower, coastal lotus, greenbark ceanothus, blue dicks and wishbone flowers. On the last arm of this triangle an entire hillside is covered with the red/purple flowers of stinging lupine. It is breathtaking. Return down the fire road to the parking lot. There are a couple of lovely blooming fuchsia flowering gooseberry bushes. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Topanga State Park |
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01/08/2023 |
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I was very curious to know the state of the canyon after three inches of rain in the past week.
This canyon has been dramatically impacted in the past couple years, first by the Palisades Fire in May on 2021 and then by the heavy rains in December 2021 and January 2022 which caused the soil on the slopes, that after the fire no longer had plants holding it in place, to wash into and fill the creek. This resulted in the creek appearing to be a graded dirt roadway that most hikers used as a trail. After last week’s big rains the creek no longer looks like a roadway. It looks like a wide and rushing creek. Some of the trail also looks like a creek. There is a good deal of mud. It is an exciting hike, but know that your shoes will get muddy. On the canyon floor there was not much in bloom. I only saw blooming bay trees. However I took the trail toward Trippet Ranch and climbing up into the chaparral I encountered a suite of white flowers. The most notable is the big pod ceanothus whose honey-like smell permeates the area. There are also wild cucumber vines in flower, twiggy wreath plant, California everlasting and wild morning glory. Most exciting to me was the view of the mountainside across the canyon. It burned and for the past year and a half has been blackened and bare, now it is vibrantly green. — Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Malibu Creek State Park |
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01/06/2023 |
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We wanted to take advantage of a break in the rain and get outside and hike, hopefully without getting too muddy. Malibu Creek State Park seemed to be a good choice. It is a place where you can have a real hike on what is essentially a graded dirt road.
We hiked from the lower parking lot on Crags Road to where took the bridge over Malibu Creek and turned left onto Mott Road. We took that to where the state park ends and then turned back and retraced our steps. We got there early on a foggy weekday morning and had the feeling that we had the enormous place to ourselves. To my disappointment, it seemed that we were too early for flowers. There was a cudweed aster flower here and a goldenbush flower there. The only plants in full bloom were the California bay trees. However there were a plethora of birds. As we walked along the road we saw juncos, towhees, white crowned sparrows, scrub jays, and flycatchers. A flock of California quail flew up from the creek. In the creek, which was more like a raging river, there were great blue herons, egrets, mallards and coots. All the trees seemed to be filled with acorn woodpeckers. Too soon for many flowers but still a nice walk. — Dorothy Steinicke |
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| Zuma/Trancas Canyons |
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01/01/2023 |
I celebrated the start of 2023 and the rainfall that has come with it by hiking in Zuma Canyon. The hillsides are still more gray than green but the creek was flowing and the flowers are starting to bloom. We walked along the flat canyon bottom, trying to avoid mud and fording the stream when necessary. After three crossings it looked too deep to try and we returned on the Zuma Loop Trail that traverses the northern shoulder of the canyon. It was exciting to see the big pod ceanothus starting, clumps of it were frequently encountered. There was also a good bit of chaparral currant and wild cucumber getting started. There was a lot of scalebroom growing alongside the creek. We also saw white and purple nightshade, deerweed, wild morning glory, bush mallow, cudweed aster and mulefat. A very good start of the new year.
— Dorothy Steinicke
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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: 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"
