After the Fires : Nature: Last year’s blazes in Ventura County destroyed bushy chaparral. The result is a bumper crop of wildflowers.

There is a bright side to the fires that charred the Santa Monica Mountains late last year: A bumper crop of wildflowers is blooming there this spring.

In fact, wildflowers are blooming all over Ventura County. This is the season to traipse through the hills and spot patches of brilliant orange California poppies or splashes of blue-purple lupines.

But you are in for a wildflower high if you hike the trails of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Blooming in the Rancho Sierra Vista area in Newbury Park are 79 varieties of wildflowers, according to a list prepared by National Park Service rangers. And the Circle X Ranch, near the coastal border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, is another blooming bonanza with 55 species.

“There are a lot more flowers than usual,” said Ray Sauvajot, an ecologist with the park service. What’s more, they are likely to be abundant for the next few years.

In burned areas, the fire destroyed the bushy chaparral, which normally beats out the wildflowers in the competition for water, sun and soil nutrients, Sauvajot said. Without the chaparral, the wildflowers have a better chance.

“They can make a dramatic resurgence,” he said. That is, until the chaparral grows back and resumes its dominant role.

This year’s crop began blooming in March, and the colorful show will continue through April and into May. So, what will you see if you hit the trails?

Most anywhere you go in the burned areas of the Santa Monica Mountains, you’ll see colorful phacelias, lupines and blue dicks. The white blooms of the wild cucumber with its inedible, spiny pods are plentiful, too.

Chances are good that you might stumble across the rare chocolate lily. The brown-colored lily, absent for several years, is making a surprise appearance this year, most likely because of the fires.

“It’s not common at all,” park Ranger Mark Boehler said. “We don’t see it very often, but it’s coming up in quite a few places.”

Shortly, the Humboldt lily will be blooming in upper Sycamore Canyon, which stretches from Rancho Sierra Vista to the ocean.

“It should be spectacular,” Boehler said. “I’ve never seen so many of them there in my life.” They have bright yellow-orange flowers with red spots, and grow more than five feet tall, he said.

One species less plentiful this year is the giant coreopsis, a small tree-like plant with a woody stem and yellow daisy-like flowers. The fires wiped out many of these perennials, and it will take a while for them to bounce back. Those that are blooming were missed by the flames. A good place to see them is along Pacific Coast Highway south of Point Mugu.

If it’s poppies you want, there are smatterings of them throughout the mountains. They’re a sure bet at Rancho Sierra Vista and Point Mugu State Park. But one of the best poppy-viewing locations is at Leo Carrillo State Park on the coast, just over the Los Angeles County line. On the Nicholas Flat trail, whole hillsides of them are in bloom, giving off a golden glow.

If you don’t want to work hard to see masses of wildflowers, head for Rancho Sierra Vista, especially the easy trails that loop around the grassy fields near the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center.

“There are huge stands of wild radish in bloom,” Boehler said. These white, yellow or purple flowers stand five feet tall. Also blooming are poppies, phacelias and lupine. “Whole sections are covered with it.”

If you don’t mind a strenuous hike, try La Jolla Canyon Trail in Point Mugu State Park.

As you enter the canyon on a fire road, you’ll see patches of lupines, blue dicks and an occasional Mariposa lily. As the trail goes through a narrow gorge with a waterfall, giant coreopsis sprout from the rocky mountainside.

Entering the wide-open La Jolla Valley, keep your eyes open for poppies, wild cucumber, orange-red paint brush, white morning glories and varieties of ceanothus.

(Resist the temptation to pick them. It’s illegal and, if you get caught, you could face a fine.)

While hiking the trails in the Santa Monica Mountains, you might see some fields ablaze with color, but more often the effect is subtle--patches of flowers here and there, splashes that you might miss if you weren’t watching for them.

“That’s the joy of discovery--happening upon these things, instead of having them in your face,” Ranger Jaquie Stiver said. “That makes it more special.”

Flowering Trails

If the arrival of spring puts you in the mood to tiptoe among the wildflowers, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, as well as other areas in and around Ventura County, offer a variety of viewing spots:

1) Leo Carrillo State Beach: Located just below the Los Angeles County border along the coast. Take Pacific Coast Highway south, just past Mulholland Highway. What to look for: poppies (take Nicholas Flat trail a mile or so).

2) Circle X Ranch: Near the coastal border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Take Pacific Coast Highway south; take Yerba Buena Road about five miles to the park site. Suggested hike is on the Mishe Mokwa Trail, continuing on to Sandstone Peak, about six miles total. What to look for: phacelias, shooting stars, blue dicks, miners lettuce, popcorn flower, chocolate lily.

3) Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa: Take the Wendy Drive exit off the Ventura Freeway, go south and then west on Potrero Road. Take the 1.5-mile Satwiwa Loop Trail starting at the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center. What to look for: poppies, wild radish, phacelias, lupine.

4) Wildwood Park / Thousand Oaks: Take the Lynn Road exit off the Ventura Freeway and go north. Go west on Avenida de los Arboles to Big Sky Drive. What to look for: the rare chocolate lily, shooting stars, phacelia, wild morning glory, purple nightshade, wild cucumber, miners lettuce.

5) Los Padres National Forest / Ojai: Wildflowers are blooming at lower elevations. What to look for: California poppies, lupine, popcorn flower, wild hyacinth, baby blue eyes and the Mariposa lily. Gridley and Horn Canyon trails near Ojai and Santa Paula Canyon are recommended.

Research by: JANE HULSE / For The Times