Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a 1,700-acre park famous for its springtime poppy-blanketed hills. The Reserve is located about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles along the western edge of the Mojave Desert grasslands.

After winters where there has been sufficient rainfall, the hills of the Reserve come alive with brilliant oranges (California poppies), yellows (goldfields), and purples (lupine). The duration and intensity of the colors vary from year to year and generally lasts from mid-February through May.

The Reserve has eight miles of walking trails along the gentle, flower-covered, rolling hills. There is a paved section for wheelchair access.

To find out the current bloom status and what flowers you can expect to find along each trail, call the hotline at 661-724-1180.

There is a $10 per vehicle parking fee ($9 for seniors).

The next stop on our super bloom tour of southern California brought us to the amazing Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, located a bit too close to L.A. (just an hour and a half) to expect the serenity we had experienced in Carrizo Plains.

Fortunately, we were not arriving on a weekend, when crowds as large as 60,000 descend upon this lovely 1,700-acre Reserve. We got there around 9:00 am on a Friday morning, driving right past the sign, “1 hour wait from here,” paid our $9 parking fee ($10 for non-seniors, so bring an old person), and easily found parking in the fairly large lot.

To quote Julie Andrews, “The hills were alive…” - but with dazzling color rather than the sound of music. The brilliant orange of the California poppies dominated the hillsides, intermixed with the bright golden yellow of Goldfields and the deep lush purples of lupines. It truly was amazing.

There are eight miles of walking trails that wind their way along the flower-covered hills. We hiked about 5 miles of them before deciding to relinquish our parking space and give someone else a chance.

This was a particularly good bloom because of all the rain. It started in mid-February and is expected to last through May. You can find out the current bloom status and what flowers are expected along each trail by calling the hotline at 661-724-1180.

I highly recommend it.

After leaving the Reserve, we drove back a short distance to a spot alongside the road where there were Joshua Trees surrounded by bright yellow flowers, a lovely juxtaposition

Now it was on to Trona Pinnacles, a place that couldn’t be more opposite from the crowded, colorful, rolling hills of Antelope Valley.