March 26, 2017: Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.

The poppies are blooming at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. Being my first visit, I can’t relate to previous years. Some reports say this is an "ok" year - not great, but not bad.

Anyway, I loved it. While getting about 3 miles of hiking in, I found the thickest poppy area in the southeast section of the reserve.

Arrive early. The park opens at 9 a.m., but by then a line of cars stretched almost out to Lancaster Road. I arrived at 8:45 a.m. and got into the parking lot. Visitors arriving later had to park on Lancaster Road.

When I left at noon, it took 20 minutes to exit. California Highway patrol officers were directing traffic. Vehicles were parked for over a mile on Lancaster Road west of the entrance

While driving in on Lancaster Road, there’s a couple of good poppy fields to the east of the entrance. After leaving, I drove north on 170th St. West and east on Highway 138. Additional poppy fields could be found on Highway 138 north of the reserve.

Please stay on the trails. Standing/sitting off the trail kills the flowers. Barren spots stand out all along the trails. One good one, below, looks like someone did a snow angel pose among the poppies.

Park rangers were losing their voices yelling “Stay on the Trail!”