If you follow desert wildflowers, you NEED to visit Carrizo Plain National Monument in April. This is the land that wildflower dreams are made of.
Although not technically in the desert, Carrizo Plains is just over the hills from the western Mojave. It’s a great place to stop if you are traveling between the desert wildflowers and the California coast.
It’s not necessarily an easy place to visit, though. All the roads in the national monument are dirt. They are rough, often washboard, and if it rains, forget it. Then the roads become impassable, a morass of mud. It is about 50 miles from one end of the monument to the other. No matter how you cut it, it’s a lot of dirt road back road. High clearance vehicles are highly recommended.
It’s worth the extra effort. Huge swaths of color paint the rolling hills surrounding you. You step out into sweeping fields of flowers, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, lost in the poppies. It looks like a monoculture until you get out of the car, and walk. Then you find other rare beauties hiding in plain sight.
The most striking sensation though is the smell. The delicate fragrance of these endless fields of flowers is one of the most delightful scents I’ve ever experienced.
Camping here at night is incredibly peaceful. Greeting a dawn filled with color on both land and sky, then watching the sun slowly light up the blossoms is an amazing way to start the day.
Carrizo Plain is in California’s great Central Valley. The land was once a tapestry of native plants and grasses, home to pronghorn antelope and kit foxes.
Now the entire Central Valley is filled with oil fields and BigAg. There is not much left of the original ecosystem. At 246,812 acres, Carrizo Plain is the largest remaining piece of native grassland.
In 1988 the Nature Conservancy began to purchase the land. President Clinton declared the area a National Monument in 2001. It is now managed through a partnership of the Nature Conservancy, the BLM and California Department of Fish and Game.
As the last remnant of a once vast savannah, Carrizo Plain is home to more endangered species than any other place in California. Residents include the San Joaquin Kit Fox, the Giant Kangaroo Rat, and the California Condor.
Carrizo Plain is a special treat for birders. Not only are there condors, but this is also the largest protected habitat left on the Pacific Flyway.
Carrizo Plain is on the San Andreas Fault and is one of the easiest places around to see the geologic change wrought by the fault. Check out the offset shutter ridges in the Temblor Range or take a walk up Wallace Creek to witness those changes.
The monument is rich in cultural sites, too. Although badly damaged by vandals, 4,000-year-old pictographs are found at Painted Rock. Painted Rock is a National Historic Landmark and sacred to many Californian Native American tribes.
The Wilderness Society even wanted to nominate Carrizo Plain as a World Heritage Site. Local opposition, though, defeated that effort.
Although the Carrizo Plain has many fine features, the flowers remain the main draw. Words cannot express. They are unbelievable.
I really, really, really wanted to stay and camp one more day, but my little truck had other ideas. I reached the northern boundary and turned around to hit 50 more miles of dirt road back road. Within 5 miles the “check engine” light went on.
I didn’t want to turn back. I continued on a couple more miles. I really, really wanted to stay. Then common sense kicked in. With 45 or so miles of rough road ahead, it was no place to get stuck with car trouble. My AAA tow insurance won’t go there. I had to turn back to pavement and say good-bye to Carrizo.
As soon as I made it back to civilization and access to a mechanic in Santa Maria, the check engine light went off. The little girl didn’t break down, she was just telling me she was tired of the rough stuff and done with dirt road back road for a while. I’m relieved, but I look forward to next April and the delightful display of wildflowers sure to be found in Carrizo Plain.
This is heaven.