April 23, 2013—Granted, it’s not in Santa Cruz or Santa Clara County. But Pinnacles National Park, recently promoted to park status after being a national monument for more than a century, is such a great place to visit during wildflower season that we couldn’t resist giving it honorary local status. The colors and shapes you’ll encounter here are like nothing else in the area. It’s also true that May is about the latest in the spring you want to hike at Pinnacles—any later than that and it’s just too hot.
In April look for poppies, fiesta flowers, black sage, bush lupine and larkspur. Later on, toward May, it’s showy clarkia, penstemon, orchids, mariposa lily and roses. Look for Indian paintbrush as well. Even the lichen at Pinnacles is pretty, in shades of spring green, rust and ochre. The Pinnacles website has an illustrated wildflower checklist that helps a lot.
The road to Pinnacles’ East Entrance is a treat if you like magnificent valley oaks and picturesque meadows. Also consider a trip through the nearby Panoche Valley on road J1, one of Al Frisby’s favorite springtime haunts. It’s one of the prettiest drives around and will take you very near Mercey Hot Springs on your way to Highway 5—also worth a visit, especially after wet years, when it’s said the hills turn rainbow-colored. (Butter and eggs in Panoche Valley. Photo by Al Frisby)
Find directions to Pinnacles here.
UPDATE: On April 24 Hilltromper lit out for the Pinnacles and some wildflower viewing. We found plenty of mariposa lily (top photo), Indian paintbrush, poppies and even some elegant clarkia on the Condor Trail—not to mention condors swooping around overhead during 4pm tea.
On the cooler Moses Springs Trail to the reservoir we saw wild clematis, or virgin's bower (left), sticky monkeyflower, little blue fiesta flowers and Chinese houses, photos of which were a blurry mess, so we can't show you here. But it was a sight well worth seeing. Up by the reservoir there were some Indian warriors around the banks. We saw tons of damselflies and dragonflies at the reservoir in the reeds by the banks and a very cleverly disguised little snake slipping through the shadows. All worth a visit. Go!
