What's Happening in Lancaster, CA…

The ridges and hillsides in Lancaster are now filled with bright orange poppies as they reach peak bloom. Most of them can be seen on the east side of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and will last through the end of the month and into the beginning of May.

Jean Rhyne, an interpreter for the park, said she would rank the poppies a ‘super bloom’, or a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.

In addition to the poppies blooming at the reserve, there are lacy phacelia which are purple in color, fiddleneck flowers with a yellow tone, and filaree which are pink. Other flowers that are expected to bloom soon are cream cups and goldfields.

The best times for visitors to the reserve are on days during the middle of the week and early in the morning on a sunny day. Days with overcast skies cause the flowers to close. It is also recommended that visitors stay on the trails and do not sit or lie down in the fields themselves. Brochure printing can be used for such occasions, so visitors know more about such flowers and have greater details on planning an ideal visit.

There is a parking lot that has a fee of $10, but Lancaster Road outside the park also has places for parking, for which there is no fee.