Monumental Questions - What are the best trails for wildflower viewing in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument?

Nate Lillge • March 16, 2022

Snow Mountain Wilderness Wildflowers

Every January through May, the hillsides of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument become brilliant with color. Slopes many miles away appear orange with California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica) while close inspection of the ground at one’s feet shows many smaller, less noticeable flowers like common fringe pod (Thysanocarpus curvipes). Combined with the perfect temperatures this time of year, now is your chance to get out and enjoy the color and beauty! Here are some of our favorite trails for wildflower spotting.


Pope to Putah: This trail is located west of Lake Berryessa near Pope Valley. The trail winds through chaparral before entering oak woodland near Putah Creek. Warrior’s plume (Pedicularis densiflora), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja affinis), and golden fairy lanterns (Calochortus amabilis) are common in chaparral while poppies (Eschscholzia spp.) and mosquito bills (Primula hendersonii) are abundant in the oak woodland.


Stebbins Cold Canyon: While not included within the boundaries of the monument Stebbins Cold Canyon is surrounded by monument lands and is one of the closest access points to the monument. This is a very popular hiking area – hiking during the week or starting early on the weekend is the best way to avoid the crowds. This time of year it is easy to see why it is so popular – wildflowers, more wildflowers, and views. Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis), lupine (Lupinus spp.), and poppies (Eschscholzia spp.) dominate the display but there are many other species to enjoy. Woodland star (Lithophragma affine), Fremont’s death camas (Toxicoscordion fremontii), and mule’s ears (Wyethia glabra) are common.


Road 53: Heading into the hills west of Guinda, County Road 53 takes hikers through open grassland and into a riparian ecosystem before chaparral takes over. Manroot (Marah fabacea), larkspur (Delphinium sp.), California bee plants (Scrophularia californica), and checker lilies (Fritillaria affinis) are visible along with purple owl’s clover (Castilleja exserta) and many species of lupine (Lupinus spp.).


Redbud Trail: This is a relatively easy hike that provides a wide variety of ecosystems: oak woodland, chaparral, riparian. The wide variety of flowers one sees along this trail makes it worth the trip to the trailhead. Bird’s-eye (Gilia tricolor), warrior’s plume (Pedicularis densiflora), wallflower (Erysimum capitatum), larkspur (Delphinium sp.) and lupine (Lupinus sp.) are common.


Bear Valley: Bear Valley, located north of CA-20, is known for its amazing wildflower displays. Cream cups (Platystemon californicus), goldfields (Lasthenia spp.), fiddlenecks (Amsinckia spp.) and MANY more. When making the trip to Bear Valley, do not forget to look along the roadside on the drive in. You may see mariposa lilies (Calochortus luteus), bunchleaf penstamen (Penstemon heterophyllus), and tidytips (Layia sp.).


West Crockett Trailhead: This trailhead is at a higher elevation and located on the northern side of Snow Mountain Wilderness which means that it typically blooms later in the season than the rest of the monument. Flowers one can expect to see on this trail are columbine (Aquilegia sp.), red larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule), and large camas (Camassia leichtlinii).


These are just some of the trails you can explore to enjoy the flowers. Check out Tuleyome's trail guide which has details about many trails in the region, all of which have great wildflowers.


We hope you get out and enjoy the amazing wildflowers in Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Feel free to share your photos of wildflowers with us by tagging us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!


-Nate Lillge; nlillge@tuleyome.org



Adventures and Engagement Director


Certified California Naturalist

RECENT ARTICLES

By Geoff Benn June 4, 2026
A beaver at Conaway Ranch We’ve got new footage from our game cameras at Conaway Ranch! This camera site was chosen by 4 th graders from Dingle Elementary during a recent field trip to Conaway. The camera is near the otter slide we’ve previously filmed, but is a few feet away from the entrance to the slide, allowing us to film the animals as they approach. We saw beaver, otter, a fox, a raccoon, and more! Click here to watch the video . Tuleyome works with Conaway Preservation Group to offer educational programs at Conaway Ranch, including programs for K-12 groups and the general public. If you have any questions about the game camera footage or our programs at Conaway, please reach out to Education Associate Geoff Benn at gbenn@tuleyome.org.
June 4, 2026
The current administration has released its proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year. It proposes drastic cuts to our public land management agencies. The proposed budget would significantly reduce funding for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including a 34% cut to its total budget, a 27% staff cut, a 76% cut to the National Conservation Lands, which encompass 38 million acres of protected public lands, a 61% cut to recreation management (including campsites and trails), and total elimination of funding for cultural resources and wilderness management. It also would shift priorities towards extractive uses of public lands instead of conservation and clean energy. The administration’s budget would also drastically cut funding to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), eliminate several offices, state and federal research stations (six in California) and transfer all fire fighting to BLM. Notably, in the face of all these cuts, the budget would increase funding for extractive industries; funding for timber sales would increase 450%. The reductions and policy changes would impair these agencies’ abilities to protect public lands, cultural resources, fresh water sources, and wildlife, while also impairing access to them and recreation on them. The President’s budget is now in Congress, where committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are amending and voting on the bills in preparation for full House and Senate votes. Now is the time to take action for our public lands and the environment by urging Congress to reject the proposed budget and maintain funding for BLM, USFS, and programs that protect and steward our public lands. Let your representatives know that you oppose the cuts to BLM and USFS and the rollbacks to our public land protections. And let them know why these special places are important to them. You can voice your opinions to Congress in multiple ways. You can: Call their offices Send a letter to Congress - we’ve pulled together a template for you to use, but don’t forget to let them know why public lands are important to you – download sample letter here Contact them on social media Meet with a representative in their District offices. Don’t know how to reach them, go to Congress.gov and find their phone numbers, addresses, district offices, websites and so much more if you’re interested. Now is the time to speak up for our public lands! Mary Lamborn (Communications Intern) and Sandra Schubert (Executive Director)
By Kristie Ehrhardt June 4, 2026
You betcha! Wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, is a common sight within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region. With its straight and sturdy stalk, bright green, frilly leaves and white, flat-topped flower clusters, it is identifiable even from the limited viewing scope of a traveling car. Queen Anne’s Lace ( Daucus carota ) belongs to the Apiaceae (carrot) family. All members of this family display flower clusters arranged in an upside-down umbrella shape called an umbel. It is native to Europe and is the plant that tasty cultivated carrots originated from. It was brought to North America for its medicinal purposes and has since naturalized across the continent in disturbed and natural areas in mountains, valleys and coastal areas. It can be so prolific that it outcompetes native plants and can also be mildly toxic to livestock. Queen Anne’s Lace is an herbaceous biennial (it doesn’t flower until its second year and then dies) that can reach up to four feet tall in optimum conditions. The stem of the plant is bright green, straight and sturdy and is covered in short, coarse hairs which is a very helpful identifier. I recently learned a clever and helpful quip that I will never forget: Queen Anne has hairy legs (referring to the hair along the stems of the plant)! The tiny, white flowers all originate from the same point and splay out in an airy, flat topped cluster (umbel). Another identifying feature is that oftentimes (but not always) the flower umbels often have a single dark purple flower in the center of the cluster. This purple flower is not always present but when it is it can be used to positively identify the plant as Queen Anne’s lace. The leaves are finely divided which gives them a lacy appearance and look almost identical to our cultivated carrot plants. Although wild carrots are edible, the whitish tap root isn’t as robust or flavorful as the cultivated carrots we are used to. Warning! There are plants such as poison hemlock that are incredibly similar looking so eating things in nature is never advised unless you can absolutely identify them! Poison hemlock has basically the same growth pattern as wild carrot however the stem of poison hemlock lacks the tiny hairs and mature plants have very definite purple splotches up and down the stems. All parts of poison hemlock are toxic but it is particularly potent in the seeds and roots. Poison hemlock is notoriously known as the poison that killed the Greek philosopher Socrates. Edible cousins of wild carrot include plants such as caraway, celery, parsley and parsnips. Although the root of the wild carrot plant is edible, contact with the sap may produce an allergic reaction in some individuals that are sensitive to it. Native pollinators such as butterflies and bees appreciate the abundance of flowers for their nectar. Wild carrot is currently blooming in all its glory so keep an eye out for it on your next trip to our favorite monument!