Pacheco State Park: Wildflower Wonderland

The online buzz about wildflowers (at least in hiking circles) has been growing over the last couple of weeks. On Friday, I decided to join the fun by visiting Pacheco State Park, an idea that spontaneously came to me while reading Dan's Outside.

The park entrance is south of Highway 152, roughly halfway between Gilroy and Los Banos. San Luis Reservoir and several windmills border Pacheco to the east. It took roughly 45 minutes to reach the park. If construction crews ever finish the nightmare 152/156 interchange, the trip should be shorter.

After paying my five-dollar day use fee, I grabbed a color map and a black-and-white wildflower guide (organized by color). As I started south on Spikes Peak Trail, I kicked myself for forgetting my crayons.

I feared I would be having to search high and low to spot even a single flower in bloom (as I had in Santa Teresa and Henry Coe a few weeks ago), but my fears were unfounded. In less than five minutes, I came across my first wildflower: a California Buttercup.

I was so focused on the bright yellow petals that it took me a few seconds to realize the entire field was covered by Buttercups. As I continued along, I began to notice other wildflowers. I pulled out my guide and tried my best to identify them. (It helped to picture them devoid of color.) There were Common Fiddlenecks...

Common Checkerblooms...

and Blue Dicks...

(Full Disclosure: I had help from Bay Area Wildflowers to identify these flowers.)

As I reached the first trail junction, I met an elderly woman walking her dog. She asked if I had seen the wonderful display of wildflowers on the way up. I said I had. Then she said that according to Carol Leigh's website, I could find another beautiful patch of wildflowers along Dinosaur Lake Trail. I said I would venture there to see it. She was the only person I saw on the trail all day.

I turned south at the junction and followed Pig Pond Trail. I soon reached a pond that bore no resemblance to any pig I had ever seen.

I continued along Pig Pond Trail, continued south along Canyon Loop West (a nice single-track trail), and turned west onto South Boundary Loop. At Spikes Peak (elev. 1,927), I finally caught a glimpse of San Luis Reservoir.

Anybody who reaches the peak will be richly rewarded with a bounty of wildflowers. The hillside looked as though it had been covered with brightly colored confetti. The hills and meadows were dotted with orange, white, yellow, purple, and blue flowers. It was breathtaking and also the perfect place to soak in the view and the silence.

After a short rest, I continued south along Spikes Peak Trail. The trail itself began to disappear as grass and wildflowers overran the man-made path. By the time I reached the southern half of South Boundary Loop, the trail was gone. Only a gate in a distant fence gave any indication of the way.

I followed the South Boundary Loop as best as I could, in a counterclockwise fashion. Soon, I reached Bear Hide Lake, which likely resembles a bear hide from every vantage point except the one I was standing at. From there, it was a one-mile uphill trek to Canyon Loop East, where I turned east and headed towards Salt Creek.

I crossed the barely-flowing creek and continued east along an unmarked trail that I assumed was Dinosaur Lake Trail. A series of switchbacks led past the windmills I had been seeing in the distance all day. One out of every ten was turning.

The relatively level trail wound its way north through a meadow until it made a sharp turn and steep descent towards Dinosaur Lake, which looks exactly like a giant Triceratops, but only if you spin around five times fast and cover your left eye.

Once I crossed Windmills Road, the trail offered a wonderful view (and the best view all day) of San Luis Reservoir.

This little stretch of trail was also the last place where I saw wildflowers in overflowing abundance. The final mile was an anti-climatic walk back to the parking lot.

Before getting in the car, I did a quick tick check to make sure I didn't bring any unwanted friends home. (Ticks may look cute, but they're evil.)

Because of heavy and constant traffic, it was impossible to get directly onto 152 West. I eventually gave up and drove a mile down 152 East until I found a safe place to make a U-turn.

If you're a wildflower hunter, be sure to visit Pacheco State Park in the coming weeks. The park will hold its Fifth Annual Wildflower Day on Saturday, April 5.

You can check out a few more photos from my hike on Flickr. To see better photos taken by folks who recently visited the park, be sure to view the images Randy52 and Jeppmet captured.