Frequently Asked Questions About Yosemite

WILDFLOWERS

When are the wildflowers best?
Wildflowers vary according to location, time of year and the preceding winter and spring weather. The best wildflower displays are:

• Mid-March into April in the foothills outside the park: In the best years there are carpets of California poppies, baby blue eyes, western redbud, etc. Highway 140 through the Merced River Canyon can have a spectacular display.

• Mid-June into August in Yosemite's higher elevations: The meadows at Crane Flat and along the Glacier Point and Tioga Roads present beautiful wildflower displays most years.

Yosemite Valley never really gets a "carpeted" display of wildflowers. Perhaps the heavy grazing pressure and soil compaction the Valley meadows received many decades ago has caused this. However, the dogwood tree blossoms in early May are usually a nice display as are the bushy western azalea of late May into mid-June. All summer there are little pockets of flowers scattered about Yosemite Valley.