Explore local trails, experience beauty of area’s wildflowers

DAVID McMARTIN/Acorn Newspapers ARID BUT BEAUTIFUL RIGHT NOW--For all the trouble and inconvenience the rains brought residents of Southern California, the area is now graced with the charm and beauty of wildflowers.

Nature lovers still have time to hit the local hiking trails to revel in the colorful display of native wildflowers in full bloom this spring. Cooler weather and late rains have prolonged the show, although some of the grasses and wild oats have dried out and gone to seed, and the season’s earliest flowers are finished for the year.

The National Park Service provides "What’s Blooming" in the Santa Monica Mountains at www.nps.gov/samo/bloom/ that offers up-to-date overviews of outstanding park sites supplied by volunteer naturalists.

You don’t need to be a hardy hiker or take a long strenuous walk to observe wildflowers. In many instances, it’s only several yards from the parking lot and a few paces down the trail.

Several park sites recently visited by Acorn staff members were fantastically flowerful, including the Backbone Trail from Kanan Road (at Newton Canyon) to Latigo Canyon Road, Charmlee Park on Encinal Canyon Road, the Mishe Mokwa trail on Yerba Buena Road, the Pentachaeta Trail on Triunfo Canyon Road and the Backbone Trail again from Kanan Road at Newton Canyon hiking toward its junction with Zuma Ridge.

Species having bonanza years include blue larkspur, globe gilia, fiesta flower, fairy lantern, Indian paintbrush, wooly blue curl, Mariposa lily, Chinese houses and numerous varieties of phacelia. The rare Lyons Pentachaeta, a small golden daisy-like plant on a very slender stalk, appears extensively along the trail named for it, accessed in Westlake Village across the street from the Oak Forest Mobile Home Park.

Currently the tall, stately Yucca plants (known as Our Lord’s Candle) are flowering out, as are foothill and notable penstemons and a number of clarkia species including Elegant clarkia, farewell-to-spring and purple clarkia, which are coming into flower along sunny trail sides. On the Mishe Mokwa trail hikers should be on the lookout for the white pitcher sage, rarely encountered elsewhere, and the uncommon giant chain-link fern fringing the creek near Split Rock.

Traveling from the Kanan Road trailhead towards Zuma Ridge, hikers can glimpse an entire slope of bush lupine pinned against a distant backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. Farther along this trail, Upper Zuma Falls was found to still be flowing, and binoculars will bring this impressive waterfall into closer detail.

As always, hikers should be alert to rattlesnakes. An Acorn staffer stepped over a small one on a narrow trail at Charmlee Park just recently on a cool overcast day.

In some areas trails are heavily overgrown due to the winter’s rains, so caution is advised both in terms of scanning for rattlers as well as potholes or ruts created by runoff and/or horse hoofs. (Always observe "Trail Closed" signs as the park service has closed trails badly damaged by the rains that might pose hazards to hikers, equestrians or bicyclists.)

Ticks are still a problem and, especially if hiking with a dog, a thorough post-hike check is recommended. Pockets of standing water have led to mosquito infestations. Mosquitoes usually appear at dusk, so long pants and long sleeves or insect repellant is recommended. Hikers should carry water, binoculars and a camera. A wildflower field guide for identification purposes is optional but can be a great help.

Remain on official trails only and don’t venture off-trail due to the risk of becoming lost or disoriented. Wildflower hiking with children is a great way to introduce kids to nature study, but remind them that picking plants isn’t permitted.

Call the National Park Service at (805) 370-2301 for other details.