Park
Carrizo Plain National Monument
15 locals recommend
Location
17495 Soda Lake Rd
Santa Margarita, CA
Tips from locals
Three hundred years ago, California’s Central Valley was vast grassland where antelope and elk grazed and wildflowers swept the spring landscape. Today, amid urban and agriculture development, a remnant remains in the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Carrizo Plain National Monument is one of the best kept secrets in California. Only a few hours from Los Angeles, the Carrizo Plain offers visitors a rare chance to be alone with nature. Some visitors say you can "hear the silence." The plain is home to diverse communities of wildlife and plant species including several listed as threatened or endangered and is an area culturally important to Native Americans. This remote monument, traversed by the San Andreas Fault which has carved valleys, created and moved mountains, and yet up close, is seen in subtle alignment of ridges, ravines and normally dry ponds. Prominent features on the monument include the white alkali flats of Soda Lake, Painted Rock, vast open grasslands, and a broad plain rimmed by mountains. When conditions are right, numerous wildflowers can carpet the valley floor; although short lived it can be breathtaking.
Three hundred years ago, California’s Central Valley was vast grassland where antelope and elk grazed and wildflowers swept the spring landscape. Today, amid urban and agriculture development, a remnant remains in the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Carrizo Plain National Monument is one of the be…
A spring must, especially if we’ve had good rain! Google it, if it’s a super bloom year, go!
Carrizo Plain National Monument is best known for the super bloom that occurs after a wet winter. Those that catch it are lucky to find an isolated plain covered in yellow, orange, and purple flowers that flow over rolling hills. Stretching for 250,000 acres, Carrizo Plain has much more to offer than spectacular wild flowers. An area culturally important to Native Americans and early settlers, there is a number of historical sites scattered throughout the National Monument, accessible by car or foot. It is also home to fifteen of California’s threatened and endangered plants and animals.
Carrizo Plain National Monument is best known for the super bloom that occurs after a wet winter. Those that catch it are lucky to find an isolated plain covered in yellow, orange, and purple flowers that flow over rolling hills. Stretching for 250,000 acres, Carrizo Plain has much more to offer tha…