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by Hilltromper staff

May 5, 2015—It's National Wildflower Week! That means it's time to check out the native blooms that are going off in spite of this tedious drought. We've been lucky enough this spring to go on lots of wildflower tromps; here are our top five of the bunch.

Ponderosa and Forest Trails at Henry Coe State Park

1.5 miles, moderate to steep (Ponderosa); 3.7 miles with insignificant elevation gain (Forest)
Henry Coe is a bit of a haul—easily an hour away from downtown San Jose—but with its huge views and Ponderosa pines, it feels like being transported to the Sierras, which in our book makes the trip a bargain. Our late April adventures were from the Coe Ranch Headquarters entrance (basically, follow E. Dunne Rd in Morgan Hill eastward into the mountains until it stops). The Ponderosa Trail is just 1.5 miles, though it climbs very steadily at first. The treats here, besides fantastic views of the Santa Clara Valley, are low-growing wild Douglas irises—loads of them, just hiding in the grass—and lots of purple owl's clover. The oak trees in this park are spectacular, too.

The Forest Trail, accessible from HQ via Corral Trail (and equipped with handy laminated natural history guides available from iron boxes at either end), meanders along the north side of a ridge. Both Corral and Forest have lots of globe lilies; Forest Trail also had quite a few Chinese houses. We also saw some larkspur, some brodiaea, red maids, purple owl's clover and lovely throngs of vetch (alas, a nonnative) beneath gorgeous, picturesque valley oaks. Add to this mix lupine, lots of buttercups and mariposa lilies, both the yellow and white-with-pink butterfly varieties, especially abundant on our return route via Spring Trail. No complaints here whatsover! The Pine Ridge Association maintains a terrific up-to-date What's Blooming List right here.

Russian Ridge OSP

Locally famous for its wildflowers, Russian Ridge also features gorgeous views of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean and, at the upper reaches near Summit Road, trails that are gentle enough for children. Our correspondent went on a wildflower walk at Russian Ridge a few weeks ago and saw tidy tips, blue-eyed grass, winecup clarkia and many more flowers. Recent snooping around Flickr revealed a spectacular array of flowers in full bloom last weekend, which bodes well for the coming weeks. Checkerbloom, globe lily, blue dicks, mule's ear, tomcat clover and many more were scattered among the fields and shaded hollows of Russian Ridge. Worth checking out.

St. Joseph's Hill OSP

2-4 miles; moderate elevation gain
It was in late March that we ventured to this park, one of our favorite spots near Los Gatos, knowing that its mix of shade and sun-blasted hillside, and smattering of serpentine soil, would make for a great wildflower walk. It did not disappoint. As the chronicle of our Los Gatos wildflower tromp reports, we saw loads of blue dicks and blue-eyed grass at lower elevations, some gorgeous Indian warriors and some pale (Fernald's?) wild irises as we climbed, as well as most beautiful jewelflower and woolly sunflowers at higher elevations. We're not promising that kind of abundance now, but there's likely something good going on.

New Almaden Trail at Almaden Quicksilver County Park

3 miles, moderate elevation gain
Starting at the McAbee entrance, at the park's northeastern corner, we made a long skinny west-to-east-and-back loop along New Almaden Trail, Mine Hill Trail, Cinnabar Trail and back to New Almaden Trail. The fun started with a mess of fiesta flowers clambering all over the fences at the park entrance and went on to a golden field of poppies along the short stretch of McAbee Creek Trail. But it's along Mine Hill Trail that things really get going, with Ithuriel's spear, fiddlenecks, Indian paintbrush, a few sky lupine, mules ear and some globe lilies. There were a couple of larkspur just before the junction with Cinnabar Trail, and we saw a late shooting star too. This was in early April, so many of these may be on the wane, but we're hoping some of the cooler weather and recent smattering of moisture will revive the scene. If nothing else, this is a beautiful jaunt through a park that completely envelopes you and makes it entirely possible to forget that civilization lies just one valley over. Note: Charles Rettner of the terrific Quicksilver Wildflowers website tells us that there's still some blooming going on: "both yellow and white mariposas are out, seep spring monkey flowers, globe lilies and still plenty of poppies," he writes, adding, "I even found some jewelflowers!"

Skyline-to-the-Sea Bypass Trail at Rancho del Oso

4 miles, moderate elevation gain
The hour-plus drive from the Valley to Rancho del Oso, 30 miles south of Half Moon Bay on Highway 1, is not to be taken lightly. But it is a really nice, get-completely-away day trip that offers a taste of something completely different: Monterey pine forest, fresh ocean air, Indian paintbrush, mission bells, Pacific hound's tongue, Pacific pea and the general magic of the Waddell Valley. Plus it's an excuse to stop in Pescadero on the way home for an old-school dinner at Duarte's or a picnic at the Pescadero Country Store.