Enjoy the super bloom: Here's where to see poppies in Southern California

There are several other poppy viewing opportunities throughout Southern California during the super bloom.

So, you want to see fields of orange flowers, but don’t want to drown in the poppy apocalypse in Lake Elsinore, California?

You have several other poppy viewing opportunities in Southern California if you're steering clear of the mega-popular Walker Canyon, which Lake Elsinore officials temporarily closed Sunday after thousands of people trying to see flowers and take selfies caused gridlock on Interstate 15 and city streets around the trailhead.

Wherever you go, please respect the flowers. When you pose for a photo by lying in the midst of them, you crush that entire field of blooms.

More: Rare visual spectacle: Super bloom of flowers next to runways at Los Angeles airport

Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve

Poppies are currently blooming on the east side of the preserve, located in the Mojave Desert near the city of Lancaster. You might also see the orange flowers along Pearblossom Highway, which begins west of Victorville and eventually reaches the preserve, Cornett said. If you go, the state Department of Parks and Recreation reminds visitors on its website not to take photos in the flowers. Walking in the poppies creates dirt patches and could earn you a ticket, it says.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Amid the epic super bloom in California’s largest state park, you'll find desert gold poppies on the lower hillsides along Coyote Canyon, says ecological consultant James Cornett. Yellow Pariah’s poppies are also blooming in the Texas Dip area of the park. Check out the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association’s flower reports for near-daily updates on which flowers are blooming and where. There's also a wildflower hotline at (760) 767-4684.

More: California 'super bloom' brings wildflowers to the desert

Malibu Creek State Park

About 25 miles from Los Angeles, this park is currently home to California poppies and purple lupin. An online update notes they're currently blooming along Crags Road Trail as well as on the hillsides above the site where "M*A*S*H" was filmed.

Point Mugu State Park

Purple phacelia and poppies bloom along a south-facing hill in Point Mugu State Park near Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park.
Purple phacelia and poppies bloom along a south-facing hill in Point Mugu State Park near Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park.

Poppies are blooming in several areas across Point Mugu State Park, including near the Satwiwa Native American Indian Natural Area. According to an update posted to the park's website Mach 5, wildflowers can be found along La Jolla Valley.

Santa Monica Mountains

Poppies and other flowers are also growing along the trails in Triunfo Creek Park, and Paramount Ranch is bursting with huge patches of poppies, according to the National Recreation Area’s flower report. Dorothy Steinicke, who submitted a flower report for Paramount Ranch, referred to the Woolsey Fire, which burned almost 100,000 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains in November, and said, "it is pretty magical to see a place recover from what seemed to be a devastating fire." You can also find poppies in the upper portions of Cheeseboro Canyon.

More: Poppy fields in Lake Elsinore, California, shut down to public amid Super Bloom apocalypse

Yucca Valley

From Palm Springs, the closest place to see California poppies is along Highway 62, just as you enter Yucca Valley, Cornett says. These poppies should reach their peak in April, he added.

Ventura County Star reporter Cheri Carlson and Ventura County Star multimedia producer Anthony Plascencia contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Enjoy the super bloom: Here's where to see poppies in Southern California