Red Hills Wildflower Bonanza

Photo Journal

The theme for 2023/24 winter and spring has been one of consistent weekend storms. The just-above-average yearly totals spread out so evenly made this an epic year for wildflower blooms at the Red Hills Area of Critical Environmental Concern. We enjoyed a mid-April four-mile hike with our friends Julie and Jill and their doggo Fritz. The nutrient-poor serpentine soils only allow specially-adapted plants to grow in these hills. Several of the larger ephemeral streams were still running well for this time of year, but many of the smaller ones were merely damp under their rocky channels. The dampness made for an explosion of monkey flowers! In total we saw more than 20 species of wildflower!

Be sure to check out Geotripper's great geology summary of the area, then check out our complete photo album from the hike!