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It’s finally spring!! After the toughest winter in LA so far, or at least since I moved here, millions of Angelenos and I eagerly awaited the spring season.
A lot of people are familiar with the super bloom effect. Since Southern California hasn’t experienced the amount of crazy rain it had this year in a really long time, it’s no wonder landscapes in LA and Orange County are covered in lush green grasses and strikingly beautiful pops of color from wild flowers, including the golden poppy, California’s famous state flower.
Lake Elsinore is an hour and fifteen-minute drive from Central LA. Once you get closer, you will start to see the beautiful poppy fields before driving onto Nichols Road with its grandiose flower hills.
Getting in there was super easy. Parking attendants flagged you down to get to one of the parking lots in the immense field. Before heading on to the shuttle bus, there’s a stand for you to pay. It’s $10 per person, children and senior citizens are free.
The ride from the parking lot to Walker Canyon was about 15 minutes. After I got off the bus, I was shocked by the return trip line and it was only 11:00 am. I shrugged it off and walked uphill to witness the beautiful poppies in all their glory. More on the shuttle fiasco later.
The poppy fields were absolutely stunning. There was no security past the shuttle area, so you could roam around, prance and lie in the hills. Have you ever seen the Teletubbies? Having watched that show as a kid, I was always in awe of the landscape with the deserted rolling green hills. That’s exactly how I felt – minus the people. If you’re planning on going, please be courteous of the nature and don’t squash the poppies or pick them.
You can hike all the way up to the pike, which is a very easy hike for all fitness levels. After an hour of roaming around, snapping pictures and taking in the majestic views, I walked downhill to go back to my car. Walking ahead of me was a group of girls who looked like they were ready to lounge in their hotel in Palm Springs. All of them were wearing thin sole sandals and attire that suggested they were going to a white party. One of the girls had a huge soil stain on her white rayon pants! Please don’t do this. Thank God I wore sneakers and a good pair of black leggings.
Another girl in the group said she was ok with walking a mile. She was wrong. At this point, the shuttle line to get back to parking lot had grown at least another mile since 11:00 am. After weaving through countless families waiting in line, I proceeded to walk to the empty road that led to the parking lot. According to one of the guards, the road was closed because the owner of the land strictly ordered not to let strangers walk on his property, which is understandable. There was another road back to the lot, but the trek was not one, but five miles.
Here’s a photo of the massive shuttle line just to get back to the parking lot. You can see Interstate 15 in the center and paramedics trucks, porta-potties and sheriff cars on the left side.
I was left with two options: stand in line for two hours or walk five miles in the blazing sun. The whole thing felt like the Fyre festival. In case you don’t know, the Fyre festival was a “luxury music festival” on a private island in the Bahamas promoted by celebrities and influencers, which turned out to be a total scam.
It was surreal. While security did a nice job making sure everything was running swimmingly, I couldn’t believe they couldn’t manage to control the ebb and flow of people coming in. I read an article prior to going that the cops were forced to close the canyon due to the overwhelming amount of visitors. They compared the massive waves of people to Disneyland crowds. It was crazy. Well, what about Uber? The guard told me people tried that, but that most of the Ubers had to cancel the trips because of road closures and extreme difficulty to find the right pick-up spots for passengers. Your only way to an Uber was to walk beyond the closure barricades. I’m telling you it was like the show LOST!! Once you got in, there was no way out!! There was not even a water stand, just a big stereo blasting old songs to make the wait more amenable.
I braced myself for what was coming next and started walking. Ten minutes into the walk, I saw a group of people including the infamous Palm Springs girls glued to their phones desperate to get an Uber. One of them shouted in disbelief at the price to get back to the parking lot.
I walked by a Mexican family and asked the father how long until we reached the parking lot. He nicely responded ‘almost there’. Turns out he was talking about a different parking lot, the one on Lake Street. Once I reached the end of Lake Street, I finally turned onto Nichols Canyon road. Only 3 more miles to go. Yay! Although I was fine, I was almost out of
The father said this super bloom phenomenon hasn’t happened in the last several years, hence the unexpected hoards of people. They had gotten there at 8 am and were able to snag a parking spot at the closest Lake Street parking lot. I saw some pictures of last year’s super bloom and compared to this year, it was lackluster. There have been beautiful super blooms in the past decade, but only a few. Since 1962, Southern California has not seen this record amount of rainfall. As you may know, I lived in several places in the world and I’ve never seen as much rain in my life as I have this year.
They dropped me off on the shoulder of the I-15 at the Nichols Road exit. Not the safest place, but it was the only way given the extreme road closures and the crazy gridlock traffic. If you see the map below, they parked right at the end of Lake Street and I parked on Nichols Road. If you arrive after 10, the freeway screen signs will warn you that the Lake Street parking lot is full. Disregard this. Go through Nichols Road but drive towards Lake Street. I don’t know if it will be possible due to the vigilance of the parking attendants but it’s worth a shot!
Disregard the parking lot X mark. It was farther west, probably a 15-minute walk from the freeway exit.
I walked for 10 more minutes and came across the shuttle bus dropping off visitors. One girl said their wait time was two hours. Insane! Another girl who had just parked asked me how long it was to get back from the fields. After telling her my nightmare adventure, she immediately hopped back into the car heading to Lake Street to try to find parking. She was not enthused about the prospect of walking under the sweltering sun. Lake Street was by far the best spot to park!
Upon seeing my car I felt like I had been rescued from a desert island.
Tips:
💛If your schedule allows you, go on a WEEKDAY. Avoid the weekend at all costs but if you can’t, make sure you arrive before 8 o’clock.
💛Wear proper attire. Sneakers are a must. If you plan on getting a photoshoot done, at least bring a change of shoes. The poppies are all cascading down the mountains, so you’ll be walking uphill and downhill the whole time.
💛There are no stores or vendors here, so plan accordingly and bring at least one bottle of water.
💛Despite the crazy amount of people, the grounds were enormous. There’s more than enough space to get photos without strangers photobombing you.
💛Antelope Valley is another great spot to enjoy the super bloom. From the pictures, it seems less crowded, flatter and easier to access.
💛If you drive the Ortega Highway road, you will come across many lookout spots that will allow you to enjoy the views of Lake Elsinore and the stunning poppy covered mountains.
Have you ever seen the super bloom before?
