California Poppies
California Poppies are the official state flower of California. Early explorers who saw fields of poppies mistook them for gold. California became the golden state, foreboding the Gold Rush that followed later. The Gold Rush days are long gone, but poppies still color the hills and attract people from all over.
The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve has the highest concentration of poppies. Meadows and rolling hills burst with color when the orange poppies and a wide variety of yellow flowers mix to create dazzling splashes of color. The sight attracts many landscape photographers. It is one of California’s most impressive natural miracles, lasting only a few weeks.
Come visit this natural wonder and see how California got its name.
How to get there
Driving through a Poppy Field
Conveniently located, the area is reachable via a small detour from North Los Angeles.
From I-5 take the CA-138-E exit toward Lancaster/Palmdale and follow the road for 23.5 miles. This will take you to the spots north of the Poppy Reserve along Highway 138. Backtrack on 138 and turn south onto 170th Street. At the intersection with Lancaster Road, turn left and follow it for about 2.6 miles until you see the entrance to the Poppy Reserve on your left.
GPS position
Poppy Reserve:
Highway 138 and dirt road 155:
How to photograph the California Poppy Reserve
Storm Clouds over Poppy Field
I had the misfortune of arriving during a strong rain. The weather forecast had predicted a day of constant rain, but I chose to stick around and wait. Unfortunately, most poppies had closed their bulbs while it was raining. However, the dramatic storm clouds and the fantastic light added a lot of drama to my pictures.
During my visit, the Poppy Reserve itself was not in full bloom yet. I chose an area just north of the Reserve, along Highway 138 (see GPS coordinates above) for my photographs. Sadly, a public debate rages to repurpose this land for ATV usage. Let us hope the naturalists prevail over the off-road enthusiasts. The Poppy Reserve, although designated as a park, may not offer the best shooting options for you. They have many public trails, leading you close to the flowers, but aren’t the only game in town. Explore the entire area, but observe all posted signs. Most land is private and off-limits for the public.
I took a short drive on a public dirt road (check the mirror in the picture above) and parked my car right in a poppy field.
During my visit, I observed two other people. One woman was only taking macro shots and a pro photographer was peeking through his camera, mounted firm to a tripod. The woman did not document the magnitude of the event. A couple of pulps at the supermarket ? could yield similar results. The pro shooter was clearly a landscape photographer. We exchanged a few happy words about the sudden storm clearing and went about our business.
I took a couple of shots at tripod level (standing up), but I prefer the photographs from ground level. The tripod shots look similar to the photograph I took from inside my car. I took the other two photographs balancing my weight above the wet surface on my feet and my left hand, holding the camera in front of my eye, less than one foot from the ground. In some situations, I would use live view so I could hold the camera low or stick my arm through a fence.
Tripods are wonderful but inflexible tools. Once you found a perfect composition, go ahead; attach your camera to a tripod if you must. Keep in mind, however, that during the day a tripod is hardly ever necessary and only limits your creativity.
Finding a good composition with your camera attached to a tripod is tough. Peeking through the viewfinder, I may look like a contortionist to casual observers, but it gives me the flexibility to discover.
Best Time of the Day and Best Season
Depending on the weather, you can see poppies between March and early May, with the peak bloom usually happening sometime in April.
Time required
Two hours are more than enough to scout the area and find some excellent compositions.
Equipment
- Wide-angle lens
- Macro Lens
- Polarizing Filter
- Lens Hood or a sheet of paper to provide shade and avoid flares
- A flash unit to brighten the foreground
- Tripod and Cable Release
- Protective Rain Gear for you and your camera
- Knee protectors for kneeling down
Fees
The Antelope Poppy Reserve charges an $8 entrance fee.
Difficulty Getting There
Many of the flower patches are on private property. Carefully read the signs posted at every dirt road you enter. Most roads are off limits to the public and you can get into serious trouble for trespassing.
Close Locations
- Fort Tejon State Historic Park
- Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
- Calico Ghost Town
- Getty Center
- Red Rock Canyon State Park
- Kramer Junction
- Silver City Ghost Town
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11 Comments
Beautiful with the storm clouds!
Those clouds are unreal, very dramatic. Poppies are the prettiest things. I didn’t know that’s where the “Golden State” derived. I did think it was the Gold Rish.
“Rush,” I mean.
Great work as usual Andre. The image with the clouds is superb. Hope all is well.
These are some of the best pictures I’ve seen of the poppy preserve. As good as these are, they don’t do the preserve full justice.
Still, these pictures are wonderful.
Watch for Rattle Snakes! I live very close to here and we see them often. Please, be cautious.
Fantastic pictures. I was very interested in photographing this location. I have trip to SoCal planned in mid-July, but would the poppies be blooming then, or is that too late? When is the ‘ideal’ time to see them? I would guess spring (now), but am not sure. Thanks.
Hello Paul. The peak of the bloom usually varies based on weather conditions and the amount of rainfall the area got through the winter. Normally the peak is around mid April. Since we had a lot of rain late this year, it will be later than normal, maybe as late as May. But I’m July everything will be gone.
Ah, that’s what I figured. Thank you, I’ve had a couple friends insist I go down to see this, so I was happy to stumble across your post, looking for other things. I appreciate the info, I’ll have to plan another drive down there!
Hello Paul,
no problem. Glad I could help. Don’t worry though, if you follow the link in the resources to the official park website, you will see that this year the bloom is not good at all and that they suspect the entire season will be pretty bad.
If you are in SoCal, you may want to check out the Carlsbad Flower fields instead: http://www.theflowerfields.com
Oh, good to know. What a shame!