This may look like an ordinary poppy, but it is a protected species, so as with any flower in the park, do not pick! If you are lucky you might see the rare Red Rock poppy. In the spring, after a wet winter, there are wildflowers growing in the sand at the base of the iconic spiky Joshua trees. Photographer Edward Weston wrote, "Justly famed for its extravagantly eroded and riotously colored formations, Red Rock Canyon is a source of never-ending delight for photographers and desert lovers." Make note of the sun position and direction, so you can get the maximum colors and beauty of the rocks without heavy shadows. Sunrise and sunset highlight different aspects of the sculpted landscape making it a photographer’s dream. It looks as you are camping on another planet when staying at the Ricardo campground. The red in the 300-feet sandstone-curtained cliffs is iron oxide, otherwise know as rust staining. It has scenic fluted cliffs and whimsically-shaped rock formations that look as if they are sagging and melting, like something out of a desert-themed Alice in Wonderland. The park is located where the southernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada converges with the El Paso Mountains. Red Rock Canyon State Park in Southern California is such a treasure. Find a small arch, slip in between giant columns of rock, search for jewel-toned lizards or just hang out at a picnic table behind, maybe, a Red Rooster. You can interact with a dramatic landscape that would be intimidating in a larger park. It is the smaller state parks I find the most intriguing. Scurried up a smooth slope in Utah’s Zion National Park like a spider, sticking to the sandstone thinking “Ok, now how do we get down?” Watched Old Faithful erupt faithfully in Montana. I’ve stood over the Grand Canyon in Arizona and marveled at its mysterious depths. Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, Glacier - all with sweeping landscapes, buttes of vivid colour, mountains of grey granite or perhaps strange-shaped beings carved of stone. The big national parks in the west are awe inspiring. Purple: Mojave Aster Desert Lupine Indigo Bush Red-stemmed Filaree Lacy Phacelia Desert Five-spot.Red Rock Canyon State Park Little park with a big park experience Yellow: Bigelows Coreopsis California Coreopsis Red Rock Tarweed Goldfields Desert Dandelion Slender Keel-fruit Red Rock Poppy. Red Rooster, roughly 1 mile south of Abbott Drive, you can only enter Red Rooster are going southbound there is not accessible turn for northbound individuals. Red Cliffs Preserve 1/3 of a mile south of Abbott Drive on Highway 14. Hagen Canyon, ¾ of a mile south east of the Visitor Center just before reaching Highway 14. In past years the common areas for best viewing have been Ricardo Nature Trail in Ricardo Campground and Visitor Center Parking area. It is always a good idea to check in with the Visitor Center, or the Wildflower Hotline ((661)724-1180), to determine the best viewing areas of the season. Some areas are often better for wildflower viewing than others, it is strictly dependent on weather and pollination restrictions. Occasionally, on really good years it can extend into June if weather is still mild.ĭuring this time you can find flowers throughout all of the park. Wildflower season is generally from mid-March through April and into May. During a good season - meaning ample rains during the fall and the lack of a sudden heat wave Red Rock is painted with purples, yellows, golds, pinks, and a variety of other colors.Ĭommonly you can find many species of desert wildflowers in the area such as, Mojave Aster, Monkey Flowers, Yellow Primrose, Indigo Bush, and the exotic looking Desert Trumpet, to just name a few. Wildflower season at Red Rock Canyon can be a spectacular thing to behold.
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