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Four Drives into the Heart of Desert Wildflower Country
February 4, 2010 by Lynn Bremner   

If you are sensitive to the rhythms of the desert, you’ll know that
the period from March to mid-April is a time when a special kind of
natural magic can occur. All through February, if the gentle winter
rains have arrived on schedule, wildflowers have been peeking their
heads up out of the sandy soil, reluctant to expose themselves to the
still chilly air. Now, with the increasing temperatures and longer
daylight of early spring, perennials and annuals burst forth, making a
spectacular show in particularly abundant years.

When spring comes, I pack a camera or two, a few well-worn
guidebooks and road maps, and head out to scout wildflowers. When I
do, I usually follow these four easy itineraries.










California Highway 78
One of my favorite desert drives — one of my favorite drives
anywhere, for that matter — begins on Highway 78 east of Escondido,
California, a road that winds into the quiet mountain town of Julian
and then drops down through picturesque mountain passes into the
Colorado Desert, where a good winter’s rainfall will yield an ocean of
wildflowers as far as the eye can see.

Head north to the hamlet of Borrego Springs, where Anza-Borrego
Desert State Park headquarters lies off San Diego County Road S-22.
From the headquarters, where you can pick up checklists and other
publications on local flora, radiates a series of hiking trails leading
into Borrego Palm Canyon and other nearby venues. The hikes range
from easy to difficult (especially at the higher elevations of the
canyon). If you prefer to stay in your car, however, you can follow
dirt or paved roads throughout the park, continuing on along Highway
78 into the wildflower-rich desert near the Salton Sea.
Call the park ahead of time at 760-767-5311 for wildflower reports.

The Pinal Pioneer Parkway
The Pinal Pioneer Parkway connected Tucson and Phoenix in the years
before Interstate 10 was built. Now a little-traveled back road, it’s a
much more picturesque route than the main highway, especially in
wildflower season. The parkway itself is a 42 mile-long stretch of
Arizona State Highway 79,beginning in the desert uplands on the north
slope of the Santa Catalina Mountains at about 3,500 feet and wending
northward to just above 1,500 feet outside the little town of
Florence. In winter, the parkway is lined with Desert Verbena, lupine,
Mexican Poppies, Globemallow, Chuparosa, Penstemon and daisies. Even
in dry years when other parts of the desert aren’t flowering, the Pinal
Pioneer Parkway always manages, it seems, to put on a good show.

The parkway is marked with signs pointing out some of the
characteristic desert vegetation — the Saguaro, for instance, and the
mesquite. Pack a picnic lunch and stop at one of the many roadside
tables. I always stop in at the Tom Mix Memorial, 23.5 miles north
of Oracle Junction, at milepost 116, to pay my respects to the late
movie cowboy.

California Highway 14

After a good winter rainfall, the high, windswept desert north of Los
Angeles blossoms with an astonishing show of color. To take in that
show, follow Highway 14 northeast of the San Gabriel Mountains to
Tehachapi Pass, a leisurely day trip that puts you in the heart of
California Poppy country.

Just outside Lancaster, in fact, you’ll find the Antelope Valley
California Poppy Reserve (15101 Lancaster Road; 661-942-0662), a
protected area of 1,700 acres devoted to the state’s official flower.
The reserve features more than 8 miles of easy trails, and many more
flowers besides the poppy.

If you have a few hours to spare, take Highway 18 east of Palmdale,
across to Apple Valley and Lucerne Valley. The area is a paradise for
wildflower aficionados, and beautiful at all times of the year.

U.S. 93
Connecting Phoenix with Las Vegas by way of the small towns of
Wickenburg and Kingman, Arizona, US 93 is a narrow, winding, and
sometimes dangerous route that threads across river valleys, desert
flats and mountain passes, encompassing an astonishing range of biotic
zones.

About 25 miles north of Wickenburg, for instance, you’ll come to the
Joshua Forest Parkway, where an ancient remnant stand of Joshua
Trees carpets the hillsides for a dozen miles in every direction.
Interspersed among them through the sandy soil, in season, are
wildflowers of many kinds, marigolds, primroses, filler and hyacinths
among them. The valley of the Santa Maria River near the little town
of Wikieup and the high plateau just south of Hoover Dam, where the
road crosses over into Nevada, are also good places to see both
Joshua Trees and wildflowers.

The spring of 2010 promises to be good one for wildflowers. Happy
hunting!

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About Lynn Bremner
Lynn Bremner is the Editor of DesertUSA.com and several other web
publications. She lives in the Coachella Valley, located in the Southern
California desert region. Lynn's desert adventures started out as
family excursions to the desert when she was 12 years. Over the
years the desert trips turned into a family business and she now
works full time for DesertUSA.com. Her father started the business
back in 1995 and it has become one of the most visited desert-
related web sites on the Internet. When not working, Lynn enjoys
photography, hiking, golf, writing and horseback riding.