Wildflower Report from Picacho Peak State Park, AZ

[Douglas Sherman]

Guy Schmickle and I went to Picacho Peak State Park near Tucson, AZ Wednesday and Thursday. I have been there many times in the spiring but have never seen a super bloom before. This one is spectacular. The poppies are cascading down the slopes of the mountain so that it looks like streams of gold. Unfortunately, there are thousands of people there because the local news outlets in Phoenix and Tucson are showing videos. Here are a few images of the bloom. The temperatures are supposed to climb into the 80's next week so don't wait too long before you go because the flowers will wilt away at those temperatures.

Dawn light before the poppies open up.

Late day light before the poppies close.

Small Saguaros along the Nature Trail, Picacho Peak State Park, AZ

 

[Sunny Sra]

Douglas,
These are great, especially the 2nd one with the green Saguaros. Thanks for sharing these

 

[JimFox]

Wow Doug!

These are great images! And wow! That's quite the poppy display!

I missed this park on my way to Colorado, so I am not sure what the size of it is, and how well those thousands of people spread out in it. It looks like there aren't any people in these 3 images. How hard is it to avoid getting people in the photos?

Hmmm....it's a 13hr and 40 min drive from here in Colorado.

 

[MonikaC]

I'm glad you got to see a super bloom.....and I'm anxiously awaiting more shots from you & Guy!

 

[Ben Egbert]

Beautiful set, I did not expect to see wildflowers this early given the wintry weather we are still having here in Utah

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Douglas,
These are great, especially the 2nd one with the green Saguaros. Thanks for sharing these

Thanks for the kind words, Sunny. I really appreciate them.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

I'm glad you got to see a super bloom.....and I'm anxiously awaiting more shots from you & Guy!

Thanks so much, Monika. The problem here is that without much cloud cover, there is a lot of contrast. It would have been nice to have had a nice solid overcast to create soft light.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Beautiful set, I did not expect to see wildflowers this early given the wintry weather we are still having here in Utah

Thanks, Ben. We are far enough south of you that the temperatures are much warmer. They did have snow at this location about a week ago, but the flowers rebounded well after the temperatures warmed up.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Wow Doug!

These are great images! And wow! That's quite the poppy display!

I missed this park on my way to Colorado, so I am not sure what the size of it is, and how well those thousands of people spread out in it. It looks like there aren't any people in these 3 images. How hard is it to avoid getting people in the photos?

Hmmm....it's a 13hr and 40 min drive from here in Colorado.

Thanks for the kind words, Jim. This is like Lake Elsinore a couple of years ago. It is next to impossible to find a parking spot by late morning. I can't imagine what it will be like this weekend. My recommendation is to get there early. We were there an hour before sunrise (they open at 5:00 am) and could park wherever we wanted. All of the campgrounds were full. We stayed in Marana which is 25 miles away.

If you want to photograph near the road or near a parking area you will have to wait to avoid people.

 

[AlanLichty]

Great color show Doug. Those saguaros look like they are about to burst with the amount of water they are storing. The desert floor looks almost lush.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

The wild flowers look great with the Saguaros among them. Nice set Doug

 

[Jeffrey]

Inspirational! I'll be at the Gilbert Ray campground just south of SNP next Wednesday night. I wonder if I can sneak over to this place.......

 

[Douglas Sherman]

The wild flowers look great with the Saguaros among them. Nice set Doug

Thank you so much, Jameel.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Inspirational! I'll be at the Gilbert Ray campground just south of SNP next Wednesday night. I wonder if I can sneak over to this place.......

I hope you can get there, Jeffrey. The best places to look for photographs are 1) along the Nature Trail, 2) If you park in the Raven parking lot, walk west along the trail bordering the road. When you come to a side trail going to the left, take and there will be a large patch of poppies where you can explore compositions. The image below was taken from there. 3) Go all the way east to the end of the road and a loop parking lot. Hike up into the hills for some great scenery. The second image above was taken there.

 

[BlackRockArt]

Guy Schmickle and I went to Picacho Peak State Park near Tucson, AZ Wednesday and Thursday. I have been there many times in the spiring but have never seen a super bloom before. This one is spectacular. The poppies are cascading down the slopes of the mountain so that it looks like streams of gold. Unfortunately, there are thousands of people there because the local news outlets in Phoenix and Tucson are showing videos. Here are a few images of the bloom. The temperatures are supposed to climb into the 80's next week so don't wait too long before you go because the flowers will wilt away at those temperatures.

Dawn light before the poppies open up.

View attachment 57317

Late day light before the poppies close.

View attachment 57319

Small Saguaros along the Nature Trail, Picacho Peak State Park, AZ

View attachment 57320

Doug, what a beautiful spring sight, this is much better than the weather we are getting in the Bay Area, Norther California.

Oliver