This year’s California wild flower super bloom is extra super! In San Luis Obispo County, one of the quickest and easiest places to see it is Shell Creek Road, on the corner where it meets Highway 58. Here, you can get close up to the bright yellow swath for some gorgeous photos. It looks like someone spilled yellow paint! This spot is only 20 minutes from Santa Margarita, and you can stop at The Porch in town for lunch and a quick bathroom stop.
These photos were taken in early April, 2023. We saw many California Poppies, Coastal Tidy Tips, California Goldfields, Baby Blue Eyes, and some Arroyo Lupines.
As time goes by, the Arroyo Lupines bloom more, and some of the other flowers die back, so the landscape starts to look more blue and purple. These are taller plants with small flower blooms all along the stem, and they are a relative of the Texas Bluebonnet. In Texas, you’ll see these wild flowers blooming every spring along the freeways and in many fields.
If you want to go further to see a great expanse of flowers across a large valley, drive 30 more minutes from Shell Creek Road into the Carrizo national monument to Soda Lake. Here’s there a lakeside boardwalk, an overlook giving you the ultimate wild flower view, and plenty of bathrooms. This is an amazing view!
From here, it’s just 10 more minutes to the Carrizo Plain National Monument nature center with more bathrooms, maps and tons of info.
Happy flower gazing!
Vega Vineyard & Farm
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