Natural History Wanderings

Santa Monica Mts. National Recreation Area reports

Reports are that this is the best flower season the Santa Monica’s have seen in years.

Castro Crest Backbone Trail  4/7/17     The Castro Crest area is easily visited by travelling the Backbone Trail between Corral Canyon Road and Latigo Canyon Road. This is a great hike for flowers at this time in this year. There are some, like star lilies that are scattered along the length of the trail, we must have seen hundreds. There are others that seem clustered in their own ‘neighborhoods’. Some highlights are: The large quantities of twining snapdragon, in some places creating nearly a solid mass of them. The great masses of blue dicks that are interspersed with butterfly mariposa lilies. Patches of the tiny but vividly blue skullcap that line the trail in many places. The yellow johnny-jump-ups, cinquefoil, milkmaids and fiesta flowers that are in the shaded creekside places. There are large patches of woolly blue curls, of parry’s phacelia, Indian paintbrush and scarlet bugler. This is not a trail to be missed

Newton Canyon Backbone Trail 4/3/17     Climb up and over Tunnel 1 from the Newton Canyon Trailhead. About 15 minutes or into the trail you will find the most amazing stand of Hummingbird sage (aka Crimson pitcher sage) I’ve ever seen. It is on the right-hand side of the trail (upslope). There are several areas of it along the way.

See older reports and photos at What’s Blooming