Bear Valley Wildflower Meadows is another location where you can be amazed by the spring flowers. "ratingValue": 3 I'll bet Walker Ridge is worth a ride right now, and the best wildflowers in Bear Valley are just south of Brim Rd./Bear Valley road intersection at Keegan Ranch so perfect for a Napa-Berryessa Knoxville-SR20-Walker Ridge-north end Bear Vly-Stonyford route. The ridges that bound Bear Valley (such as Walker Ridge) include large amounts of serpentine soils, and as they erode the alluvial fans in the valley in turn often have high levels of serpentine. CNPS 4.2. "itemReviewed": { Large flowered star tulip, Calochortus uniflorus. All photos are available for purchase in a variety of formats. Or just take a leisurely drive around the lake. (It’s not posted year-round, so keep an eye out for it.) This prevents automated programs from posting comments. Thursday, 03 March 2011 at 07:28 PM. Having trouble reading this image? densiflorus. Cattle, fences, irrigation, arable land and finally – endless urban sprawl have changed the valleys beyond recognition. Click on the photos to see a larger version. Lots of variety, not a lot of abundance of any particular species. LAKE-COLUSA COUNTIES >> It doesn’t take an expert to tell you that the spring of 2016 is an exceptional year for wildflowers in Lake County and throughout California. Here’s Purdy’s onion (from 2014), a relatively rare species. White form, Pale western larkspur, Delphinium hesperium ssp. Posted by: "bestRating": 5, CNPS 1B.2, Purple owl's clover, Castilleja exserta ssp. Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. Bear Valley is an amazing wildflower site due to a combination of several factors: Isolation: It is far out in the country and accessible via dirt/gravel roads. campestris, Clasping pepperweed, Lepidium perfoliatum, Cream sacs, Castilleja rubicundula ssp. Once you make the turn off Highway 20, you'll know you've stumbled upon something special. If you are lucky, you manage to see all this incomprehensible wealth. You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. Bear Valley Road, the dusty and magical trail that leads to Wilbur Hot Springs, provides spectacular displays of California wildflowers. In the middle of the 19th century the vast, desolate valleys of California still were living their natural life without much interference from people. From the cities of Davis or Woodland, head north on Interstate 5 (I5) to State Highway 20. Bear Valley in Colusa County is one such place. Wide spots for parking are not common, so take care to not block the road. Bear Valley Wildflowers Spring has sprung, and when the birds don't cooperate, wildflowers fill a bit of the void. The biggest hassle is that it can be a bit windy there. There are several native onion species in this section. But vast meadows of blooms are found all the 15 miles of Bear Valley Road, which at times parallels Bear Valley Creek. After a few miles you will come out into a more open hilly area, with rolling pastureland. Together, We Get Things Done", Copyright © 2016 Tuleyome. "@type": "TouristAttraction", The otherwise desolate open landscape now becomes merit – it lets to sense the grandeur of nature and opens sight to millions of fragile flowers. Posted by: Plains and hillsides are covered with brilliant colors. If you click on lightbox image below you will be able to scroll through the photos of the wildflowers that we’ve come across in visits here from 2014 through 2020. "@type": "Review", This discourages people from coming in masses and loving this area to death, even though it gets a lot of publicity some years. Please try again. You will find some species in March, particularly on the hills and ridges around the valley, but for the big flower displays you want to come in April. You have to look closely as you drive along, as these are very low and are found in only a few spots. For wildflower hikes, the best bets include the Redbud Trail in the Cache Creek Recreation Area on Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks, the Highland Springs Recreation Area and Toll Road in Highland Springs that is part of a state project to protect endangered wildflowers, and the McLaughlain Natural Reserve in the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area near Lower Lake. In the springtime months the area around Bear Creek is alive with wildflowers of all kinds including Tidy Tips, Pineapple Weed, Indian Clover, Owl Clover, Silver Puffs, Pepper Weed, Goldfields, Ithurial Spears, Yellow Sweetclover, several different species of Indian Paintbrush, vetch, lupine, Fiddleneck, Rock Lettuce, Yarrow, Larkspur, Wallflowers, Giant Death Camas, California Poppies, Popcorn Flowers, Cream Cups, Bird’s Eye Gilia, Chinese Houses, and many many others. Address / Directions: To get to Bear Valley take the Williams exit from I-5 and drive 18 miles west on Highway 20, turn right and go north on Bear Valley Road for 14 miles. Pull off the road here and park, and you can actually go onto the ranch property and get close up photos of the flowers. In 2020 the most common onion was Jeweled onion. "author": { Peak bloom will vary quite a bit depending on temperatures and rainfall patterns. "image": { Fortunately, at the top end of the valley you will find a “wildflower access” gate to a pasture in the Keegan Ranch, where they allow folks to come in and enjoy the wildflowers. Wavy leaf paintbrush (Martin’s paintbrush), Leafhoppers (on the tidy tips), Family Cicadellidae, Metallic wood boring beetles, Acmaeodera hepburnii and Acmaeodera acuta, Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, Thrips (on the tidy tips), Family Thripidae, Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis. Here’s a view of that pasture from 2020, when it was a mass of tidy tips and goldfields. This is a self-guided auto-tour trek best done in the spring between April and May. And birders...well, you won't be forgotten throughout the spring and the other three seasons! Some years the big displays just don’t occur, but you can still find lots of flowers in scattered locations. Bear Valley is located in Colusa County. Your comment has not yet been posted. Nestled by Yosemite National Park, Bear Valley is a sight to be held. I’ve also posted directions to the road later in this post. Nowadays little remains of the original landscape. }, the information of this post is very relevant Once you make the turn off Highway 20, you'll know you've stumbled upon something special.