Anza-Borrego wildflowers draw increase in visitors

BORREGO SPRINGS — The recent rains have brought an abundance and variety of desert wildflower blooms to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which in turn has attracted larger than normal crowds in recent days.

Although wildflower blooms are influenced by a variety of factors, such as changing weather conditions, the existing blooms are expected to peak in about mid-March and likely remain in place into the latter half of this month.

“Lots of places are seeing flowers bloom that haven’t before,” said ABDSP Ranger Steve Bier. “You can’t step out of your car without smelling the desert flowers.”

The rains have transformed the sparse desert landscape into swaths of colorful and diverse flora, a sight that is typically observed but once a decade, Bier said.

While certain areas of the park are more resplendent with wildflowers than others, visitors are easily able to take in “magnificent” views from many of the park’s designated trails, Bier said.

The 585,000-acre park contains 92 different plant families, 346 genera and hundreds of flowering species.

In comparison to previous years, the region in and around the park has seen rainfall this year wellabove its yearly average of about 3.7 inches, according to information provided by the National Weather Service.

For the months of December through February, the Borrego Springs area has seen a total of 5.5 inches of rain, more than double last year’s 2.39 inches, the NWS reported.

Would-be park patrons are encouraged to visit on weekday mornings, since parking areas have been filling up fast on weekends, the park announced in its wildflower update Tuesday.

Recent grading on Coyote Canyon Road has made it passable for two-wheeldrive vehicles to venture as far as Desert Gardens, while those with fourwheel drive vehicles have added trails and vistas to explore.

Drivers looking to stay off the dirt road can park at the pavement’s edge and head toward the flats, where desert lilies, dune evening primrose, lupine, desert chicory, patches of sand verbena and an increasing number of desert sunflowers are in bloom.

The park’s visitor center is also a good destination point, where volunteers and botanists provide wildflower updates from their daily excursions into the park’s fields, while Henderson Canyon is also notable for its “Flower Fields.”

Along with the flowers comes a corresponding increase in insects of both the beneficial and harmful variety, as well as the birds that feed on them.

“A lot of birdwatchers too,” Bier said.

This time of the year also happens to coincide with lambing season for bighorn sheep, with ewes and their lambs coming down from the canyons in search of water, Bier said.

The sight of bighorn sheep in areas frequented by park patrons can be an exciting moment and may prompt visitors to want to close in for pictures, but park rangers are advising visitors to give the sheep and lambs a wide berth.

“Following close along with the bighorn sheep will cause them to get skittish and separate from the lambs,” Bier said.

For more information about Anza-Borrego Desert State Park or the wildflower blooms, call the visitor center at 760-767-4205 or the wildflower hotline at 760-767-4684.