Share Your Wildflower Photos from Northern CA and Northwest USA with DesertUSA
Please share pictures for Northern CA and Northwest USA Wildflower Reports, including the date and location. We will post your photos on our Wildflower Reports page, so others can learn where and when to view the spectacular displays.
- E-mail your digital photos and reports to Jim@desertusa.com. Use Wildflower Report as the subject of your e-mail. Let us know where you took the image, the date, and how you would like us to give you photo credit (first name, etc.)
2025 Northern California and the Northwest Wildflowers reports.
April 7, 2025, Craig Reports: Today, and for the next two weeks, is the Kite Hill Wildflower Preserve’s peak of the April Super Bloom of tidy tips, poppies and owls clover. Park behind the Jane Drive gate and walk in the pedestrian gate. Google address is 300 Jane Drive, Woodside, CA. 14-acres owned by the Town of Woodside, always open. If you miss the April Super Bloom, the second Super Bloom is May, and the third is June to August.
April 6, 2025, Anna M. Reports: Here are a couple of photos that I took today, April 5th, in the Kern River Canyon, from a pull-out on the south side of the highway. You can see the abundance of flowers on the hillsides. In addition to the phacelia, goldfields, popcorn flower and fiddleneck, there were poppies and lupine, though not as abundant, and others that I can’t remember the names of.
April 3, 2025, Henryonatrip Reports: Stopped by Table Mountain just outside of Oroville. It’s still a little early, but the wildflowers are starting to bloom. It was a little chilly when we got out there this morning, and the flowers were closed, but as the temperature warmed up, they began to open. There’s a nice 1.8-mile trail to Phantom Falls. We noticed that the flowers closer to the falls seem to open fuller than the ones near the trailhead. The waterfalls were a bonus. I bet in a week or two, the wildflowers will be in full bloom.
You’ll need a day permit as there are rangers at the entrance checking. Contrary to the CDFW website, which states that the restrooms are closed, they are open. There is no water or services at the trailhead. There are cows throughout the area, but they’ll leave you alone.
March 30, 2025, Craig Reports: If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or plan to visit, the easiest April Super-Bloom in Northern California is at the Kite Hill Wildflower Preserve. Located half-way between San Francisco and San Jose, off I-280 in the Town of Woodside. And if you are rushed for time, the Super Bloom is within a 5-minute walk of where you park behind the Jane Drive gate (Google map address = 300 Jane Drive). Photos of what you will see for the next four weeks: Tidy tips and owls clovers, are a two-minute walk from the gate, along the I-280 fence.More tidy tips, only a three-minute walk from the gate and the view is from the trail running along the I-280 fence. Today, just getting started with about 20% of the blooms opening this week, with their peak in mid-April.
March 23, 2025, Craig Reports: The Tidy Tips bloom begins at Kite Hill–a site and the wildflower that played a pivotal role in California history. In 1769, the tidy tips that flourished in this area of Woodside were instrumental in aiding the starving members of the First Portola Expedition. The Native Peoples had harvested the edible seeds of the tidy tips for thousands of years as a food source.
As the expedition was returning to San Diego on November 6, 1769, they passed through what is now the Town of Woodside. According to Miguel Costanso’s diary, they encountered Native Americans who offered them food: “Two very numerous bands of Indians met us on the road with presents of pinole and some large trays of white atole, which supplied in large measure the needs of our men.”
This wildflower not only provided critical nourishment during a critical moment in history but also supports local wildlife. Tidy tips are a food source for bumblebees and butterflies, and flocks of goldfinches love their seeds in May. Address for the Preserve is 300 Jane Drive, Woodside, CA. and park along Jane Drive behind the private road which is private for vehicles, and is also the main access for the open space preserve. Walk in the pedestrian gate, bike in, or come on horseback, all are welcome. Always open.
March 20, 2025, Craig Reports: The Kite Hill Wildflower Preserve in Woodside, California, is currently showcasing one of its shortest but most important spring blooms—the California plantain (Plantago erecta)—which peaks in late March. This tiny native wildflower is vital to the endangered Bay Checkerspot butterfly, serving as the primary food source for its larvae. The plant only grows in 100% weed-free conditions, a result of eight years of careful mowing, mulching, and organic fertilizing. The success at Kite Hill demonstrates how low-maintenance land management—just 90 minutes of mowing per acre per month—can restore native habitats and create vibrant Super Blooms from dormant seeds already in the soil.
This approach is gaining traction, with the Woodside Fire Prevention District adopting the method in 2023 for all 4,000 homeowners to help reduce fire risk and bring back native wildflowers. Other promising Super Bloom sites in the Bay Area include Stanford’s Dish area, Jasper Ridge, Russian Ridge, Edgewood Preserve, and San Bruno Mountain. Visitors are encouraged to walk, bike, or ride horseback into Kite Hill via 300 Jane Drive, where the blooming plantain and future butterfly lilies offer a glimpse into what’s possible when native ecosystems are given the chance to thrive.
March 20, 2025, Dave Reports: As of 3/18, there are a few spots of Blue Dicks, Shooting Stars, Blue Eyed Grass, Johnny Jump Ups, Fiddleneck, etc., but nothing extensive yet. There has been about an inch of rain in the past few days and temperatures are forecast to climb into the 70’s, so hoping this kickstarts some more flowers in the next few weeks. The photo was taken (3/18) at Holdener Park in Livermore.
March 17, 2025, Craig Reports: At the Kite Hill Wildflower Preserve in the Town of Woodside, between San Francisco and San Jose in San Mateo County are 14 acres of serpentine wildflowers starting to bloom.
Until the end of March, the goldfields are making a show.
Go to where the Jane Drive curve is closest to the I-280 fence, as shown in the picture.
Address for the Preserve is 300 Jane Drive and park behind the private road which is private for vehicles, and is access for the open space preserve. Walk in the pedestrian gate, bike in, or come on horseback, all are welcome. Always open.
March 4, 2025, Craig Reports:–Kite Hill Wildflower Preserve, owned by the Town of Woodside in San Mateo County, Northern California. California poppies blooming this week, is the official opening for the three-month-long “Super Bloom” season at the 14-acre serpentine wildflower preserve, situated between San Francisco and San Jose.
Eight years of monthly mowing of the weeds at 8-12 inches high, and adding fertilizers and mulch have unearthed hundreds of millions of wildflower–all within easy reach. Just park behind the Jane Drive gate, and walk in the pedestrian gate, and you are there.
The easiest place in Northern California to see wildflowers, an easy walk for seniors and toddlers! Beyond the gate is a private road for vehicles, but anyone can walk in, bike in or come on horseback to visit the preserve and enjoy the wildflowers. Each month has different natives blooming, so you can come and see three free shows from March to May!
January 1, 2025, DesertUSA reports: No reports yet from Northern CA and Northwest USA. Updates will be shared here as soon as new reports come in. Stay tuned for the latest bloom news, and don’t forget to bookmark this page for easy access to timely updates!
2024 Northern CA and Northwest USA Wildflower Reports
June 1, 2024 Visit Bishop Reports: The blooms are happening between 6-8,000′, including Bishop Creek Canyon, Highway 168 E on the way to the bristlecones, and hiking trails. The beavertails are blooming, as well as lupine, paintbrush, mules ears, and these blue-ish purple ones, which I need a little help with naming: All three of these shots are in Bishop Creek Canyon. This year (compared to last year) it takes a little more searching for these little gems of color, but so worth it!!
Photos tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function – usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers – This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More…
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