Will California experience Super Bloom in 2025?

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Every spring, wild flower lovers and nature photographers wait eagerly to see if one of California’s most stunning natural glasses happens: Super Bloom.

If conditions are ideal – when you are thinking about abundant winter rain, mild spring temperatures, a bit of luck, the state’s rolling hills and desert landscapes have plunged into the waves of vibrant California Poppies, Bluebells, Lupin and other native blooms.

However, superblooms do not occur every spring season, and the number of flowers throughout the region varies from year to year. Californians may remember that 2023 was a particularly rainy, snowy year, thanks to being one of the wettest winters in the state’s history, thanks to the combination of several atmospheric rivers and Hurricane Hillary. Record-breaking precipitation sparked a statewide superbloom event (even flower abundance could even be seen from space).

In 2024, the same spots that had experienced Super Bloom the previous year bloomed with wild flowers, but most did not reach the same level of strength or wide coverage, while other spots that did not explode with wild flowers in 2023 saw a stronger show. For a true superbloom to occur, it must be dormant for several years and the majority of the seeds accumulated in the soil must bloom at once. This means that several destinations across the state that have not had superflorescences in the past few years are likely to be seen in the future.

The question is whether this year will bring about another flower explosion or are we in a more calm season?

In 2025, the southern half of the state (generally enriched) received sub-average rainfall, so there are very few superblooms flying out there. Already, the California State Park Service said this year’s Wildflower Bloom is “expected to be restricted.” However, the northern half of the state looks more promising. There are no officially confirmed superblooms yet, but there are still possible wild flower carpets to appear in the area.

There is everything you need to know about the 2025 California Super Bloom phenomenon and wild flower season.

Where to see California’s Super Bloom or Wildflower Displays

Superbloom usually occurs in areas that received adequate rainfall in the previous winter. Superblooms are rarely expected this year, but these locations show promising signs of good wildflower displays in 2025.

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park has always been one of the most anticipated places in California to see Super Bloom. Death Valley is considered one of the least popular places on the planet, with some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on the planet have been captured in the park. But about every 15 years, when all the stars are in the right conditions, Death Valley is energized with the full power of Super Bloom. When a Super Bloom occurs, the desert is painted in gold, purple, pink and white flower shades.

Irish Hills Natural Reserve

Located in San Luis Obispo County, this reserve was already beginning to bloom and could see an incredible display in the event of a predicted storm. Here you might see milk processing, chocolate lilies, hummingbird sage, shooter stars, buttercups and California golden violets dotted on oak-covered trails and rocky outcrops.

Joshua Tree National Park

One of the state’s most visited national parks, Joshua Tree is about 3.5 hours’ drive from Los Angeles. Here, visitors will be able to spot wildflower classics like Golden Poppies and gorgeous desert flowers such as thorny pears, evening prims, mohabian asters and desert paintbrushes. Lower elevation flowers usually start to pop up in February and March, but higher elevation flowers may not appear until June.

Mount Tamalpais State Park

Mount Tamalpais State Park is a Bay Area icon, featuring redwood groves, fern-lined canyons and golden grasslands. Trails such as Matt Davis, steep valleys and Katalak Falls usually offer good opportunities to see the blue eyes of Lupin, Indian paintbrushes, checkerbloom, Douglas Iris, buttercups and west.

Trione-Annadel State Park

This large trail system at Sonoma Country State Park passes seasonal streams, hidden ponds and volcanic rock formations, making it a go-to spot for outdoor adventures. And during the spring, you can see lupin, poppies and sticky monkey flowers on the hillside.

Mohab National Reserve

The 1.6 million acres of Mojave National Preserve is one of the biggest properties in the National Park System portfolio, but also one of the sites that we haven’t visited, making it an ideal place to see wild flowers in relative solitude. Mojave received an unusually large amount of rainfall in 2023, but this year it is likely that a wildflowering photogenic splash will be seen. Visitors are looking forward to unique desert flowers like Bigelow’s Monkeyflower, Mojave Trickly Poppy and Desert Pincushion.

What is Super Bloom?

California is famous for its wild wildflowers that bloom every year. Their appearance could spy on the iris, skyle pine, bluebell, dessert lilies and perhaps the most famous flower (the official state flower) of the California poppy. But Super Bloom is legendary. They occur when high concentrations of seeds of wild flower that have been dormant for several years in the California desert bloom simultaneously due to the concurrent rainfall following an unusually rich rainy season. There is no actual scientific definition of what constitutes a Super Bloom. Rather, the idea of Super Bloom is cultural and therefore extremely popular.

The conditions for growing Super Bloom are fine and delicate. But once all the conditions of Super Bloom are met, the effect is breathtaking and the Larkspur, Poppy and Clover blowing blows are blown away by the statewide winds.

The best time to see Super Bloom

Super Bloom does not occur every year. They are a rare phenomenon that usually occurs only once every 10-15 years. However, the last three Super Blooms in California occurred in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

Superbloom season usually peaks from February to May to May (usually occur simultaneously), often mid-March. However, the timing of a Super Bloom often varies from region to region.

Central coast: Mid March to mid-April
Los Angeles County: Mid March to early April
Mojave: April and May
Sierra Foothills: From mid-March to late April
Bay Area: Late April to mid-June
High Sierra: June and July

During the months when Super Bloom last blooms in California, people and countries across the state travel to experience them. In 2019, some locations such as Lake Elsinore experienced as many as 100,000 visitors per weekend.

How to see Super Bloom

Botanist Karen Wiese recommends flower viewers bring their Wildflower Guide to visiting California. She also recommends bringing a handheld magnifying lens at 10x magnification to better see the colours, patterns and features of the bloom. Given the hats and sunscreen, bug repellents, sturdy hiking shoes, water and the heat of the California desert, a lightweight poncho would also be recommended. Travelers interested in guided experiences can check out the California Native Plant Society. The California Native Plant Society has a chapter in the Sierra that offers expert-led walks and field trips.

Needless to say, visitors should stay on the trail, steal garbage, and not pick wild flowers. In 2019, so many people visited California’s remote locations, the event was called “Super Bloom Apocalypse,” and Lake Elsinore had to preemptively ban travelers during the wildflower season, with Poppies blocking the growing canyon along with nearby parking lots.

As the season progresses, check out the Wildflower Hotline run by the Theodore Paine Foundation. Every Friday from May to May, the hotline offers free online and recorded updates (818-768-1802, ext. 7 for the latter) and is located in the best places to see spring wildflowers in South and Central California.

This article was originally published in 2023 and was recently updated on March 20, 2025, and contains current information.