Blooms to Brighten Area Hiking Trails

If you need an incentive to get you out on the hiking trail, consider this: The wildflowers are just beginning to put on their annual spring show.

It’s still early, so don’t expect a blaze of color out there. The season peaks in April and runs into May--plenty of time to explore trails throughout Ventura County and the Valley.

During the last two years, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has been serving up a bumper crop of wildflowers, due unfortunately to the devastating fires that charred much of the area in late 1993.

The fires destroyed the bushy chaparral, which normally beats out the wildflowers in the competition for water, sun and soil nutrients. Without the chaparral, the wildflowers had a better chance and they bloomed magnificently the first year.

Last year, the show was not quite so spectacular, and although this year looks good, the fire’s beneficial effects are fading.

“This is one of our last best years after the fire,” said National Park Service ranger Ken Low. “The vegetation is coming back so thick--it will begin to shade out the wildflowers.”

Among the wildflowers that bloom like crazy after a fire are the “fire followers,” bloomers that only appear prodigiously in the couple of years after a blaze. The rare chocolate lily made a comeback after the fires in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s been spotted this year at Circle X Ranch hiking area, near the coastal border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The Mishe Mokwa Trail in this area generally has a good variety of wildflowers.

Cara O’Brien, park interpretive specialist at Point Mugu State Park, has already spotted shooting stars, purple nightshade, morning glories and California poppies on the loop trail out of Sycamore Canyon.

“The coreopsis are incredible--the rain helped,” she said. These yellow-colored daisy-like bushes can be seen on the hillside along the Pacific Coast Highway.

At Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks, the shooting stars were plentiful and the elusive chocolate lily was making an appearance.

If you head for the trails in Los Padres National Forest above Ojai, you’ll likely come across ceanothus and prickly phlox.

*

It’s still too early for poppies--look for them after March. Locally, one of the best spots is at Leo Carrillo State Beach, located just below the Los Angeles County border on the coast. (Take the Nicholas Flat Trail.)

If you’re willing to drive, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster and the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area in Gorman are tops for poppy viewing.

“Because of the late rain, there should be a good stand of poppies,” said Jo Kitz of the California Native Plant Society. “The late rains worked in favor of the wildflowers. This should be a pretty wildflower year.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DETAILS

* SHOWS: April 6 and 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., California Native Plant Society wildflower show and plant sale at Bluff Park in Malibu, intersection of Malibu Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway. Free.

April 13, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Wildflower Festival, 1212 Mission Canyon Road. Fee $3 adults, $2 students and seniors, $1 kids 5-12, and under 5 free. For information, 682-4726.

* HOTLINE: The Theodore Payne Foundation wildflower hotline has information on what is blooming and where; call (818) 768-3533.

WILDFLOWER HIKES

* Saturday, 9 a.m., four-hour wildflower walk in the Santa Monica Mountains sponsored by the California Native Plant Society. For location and carpool information, call (818) 348-5910. Bring lunch.

* Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., docent-led plant hike at Sage Ranch, located south of Simi Valley, near Black Canyon and Woolsey Canyon roads. Similar hikes 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 6, and 2 to 4 p.m. April 7. For information, call Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, (310) 589-3200.

* March 24, 2 p.m., four-mile-round-trip Sierra Club hike from Circle X Ranch, Yerba Buena Road, off Pacific Coast Highway. Naturalist Peter Rice points out flowers, animals and Native American history. See a waterfall and rock cave. For information, car pools and reservations, (805) 389-3221.

* April 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., family wildflower outing sponsored by the Wilderness Institute in Charmlee Natural Area, Encinal Canyon Road off Pacific Coast Highway, up the coast from Malibu. Cost is $18. Bring lunch. Preregistration required; call (818) 991-7327.

Remember to bring water on all outings.