Postcards & Passports

Last Updated on July 17, 2025 by Tami

Want to immerse yourself in gorgeous mountain scenery? Plan a visit to view mountain wildflowers! You can’t beat vistas of colorful wildflower meadows against the backdrop of a rugged mountain range. The pure mountain air and birdsongs will enhance your back-to-nature moment. Whether you make an all-day hike of your wildflower excursion, or just go to see and photograph the blossoms, you’ll return home feeling blessed and refreshed.

Mountain Lupine

When to View Mountain Wildflowers

Learning when to view mountain wildflowers depends on where you are. In southern California, mountain wildflowers begin to bloom in early spring, by March usually. Likewise, high desert wildflowers typically bloom in the spring, but only after a certain amount of rainfall. At the higher elevations of Mt. Rainer National Park or the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, for example, you need to wait for snowmelt, which doesn’t occur until July. Luckily, many locations have websites that track when wildflowers are blossoming.

Here are a few website resources to help you learn when you can view mountain wildflowers:

• US Forest Service by state
• Desert Wildflowers
• National Park Service wildflower guide

Many wildflower viewing locations also hold wildflower festivals. For example…

• Wasatch Mountain Wildflower Festival  (free tours) Utah — July 12-20, 2025
• Crested Butte Wildflower Festival Colorado — every July
• Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Great Smoky Mountains NP — April 23-25, 2026

Wildflowers You Might Find

There are so many beautiful and exquisite wildflowers in the mountains! Some are delicate and shortlived like the Columbine or Avalanche Lily. Some are found in most locations, like the Indian Paintbrush, while others can only be found in limited locations. Here’s a sampling of what you might find:

Buffalo Pea

Yarrow

Sickle Alfalfa

Avalanche Lily

Leopard Lily

Fireweed

Lupine

Penstemon: Beardtongue

Utah Bluebells

Geranium kashmir white

Certainly, you will discover many more than displayed here. Common daisies, sunflowers, and poppies will most likely be among the mix as well. Variations occur as a result of differences in location, season, elevation, humidity, rainfall and soil types.

What Else Will You See?

Besides stunning mountain backdrops and the colorful splash of wildflowers, you are sure to see some wildlife too. Birds, chipmunks, squirrels, marmots and deer are the most common. Bats, foxes, bears, skunks, bobcats, raccoons and coyotes also frequent these wildflower meadows. At Sequoia National Park, my husband and I watched two young bears feeding amongst the wildflowers.

Of course, you should never attempt to approach wild animals or feed them. They have what they need for their nourishment and human food can be unsafe for them. It will also create a dependence on an unreliable food source, endangering them.

Deer eating Avalanche lilies in Mt Rainier National Park

Chipmunk

Mountain streams and waterfalls are also a common sight when seeking wildflowers. Enjoy all the beauty that nature provides!

Snoqualmie Falls, WA

Wildflower Superblooms

Every once in awhile, the stars seem to align and create what is known as a superbloom. A superbloom is actually created when wildflower seeds that remain dormant suddenly bloom all at the same time after a particularly wet season. They are rare but absolutely spectacular! Here is a photo of a poppy superbloom in southern California in March of 2019. As you can see, orange poppies covered the mountainsides for miles all around!

Superbloom of poppies in southern California

Superblooms can occur in the desert too. I enjoyed seeing this superbloom in the Anza Borrego desert in March 2017:

Anza Borrego superbloom

To have the opportunity to view mountain wildflowers during a superbloom, you will need to monitor both weather and location. There are websites that track superbloom conditions. Be patient. They don’t occur every year.

Tips for Viewing Mountain Wildflowers

There are many things to consider when planning a trip to view mountain wildflowers. You’ll need to consider the weather conditions, terrain, and amount of time you need to access wildflowers. Some of the best wildflower viewing might require a bit of a hike. If so, choose a trail that meets your hiking abilities. I have found plenty of places that require no more than a mile or two of walking. Here are my tips for viewing mountain wildflowers:

• Do your research ahead of time. Look for online threads where people post recent wildflower sightings and google “wildflowers near me.”
• Be aware that mountain weather conditions can change quickly and be prepared. A recent visit to Albion Basin in Utah started out sunny, but by the time we left it was overcast and raining.
• Bring plenty of water and/or snacks, and pack out wrappers, garbage, etc.
• You might also wish to bring a lightweight rain jacket or sweater.
• Bring your camera! I’ve learned my phone camera takes better close-up photos of flowers, but my Canon Powershot captures landscape scenes with greater clarity. Bring extra batteries as well.

Indian Paintbrush

• Look for off-the-beaten-path locations or go early to avoid crowds. You won’t be the only one enjoying the wildflowers!
• Don’t trample any flowers; stay on designated trails and preserve the beauty for all those who come after you
• Do NOT pick any wildflowers! Save some time to enjoy just sitting and taking in all the beauty.
• Many locations do not allow pets; check to be sure before you bring a four-footed friend.

Recommended Wildflower Viewing Locations

• Albion Basin above Alta Ski Resort, Utah Park in the Alta parking lot and walk up the trail under the Sunnyside ski lift. There will be flowers everywhere, but the meadow is about 1.4 miles up with an elevation gain of about 365 ft. No fees if you hike up from ski resort parking lot. Alta, Solitude, Brighton and Snowbird ski resorts all have guided wildflower walks as part of the Wasatch Wildflower Festival.

Albion Basin above Alta Ski Resort

• Pinnacles National Park, California Pinnacles is a beautiful national park to visit year-round, but its wildflower season in April makes that one of the best times to visit. Some of the best trails for viewing are Bear Gulch and High Peaks trails. There is a fee to enter the park, unless you time it to enter free on Earth Day.
• Mount Rainier National Park, Washington Drive up the scenic mountain road to the Paradise entrance. Entry fee required. Once you’re at Paradise, look for the Nisqually Vista trail. It is an easy 1.2-mile loop trail, paved and suitable for strollers and even wheelchairs. It’s close to the lower Paradise parking lot. On a clear day, you’ll also have an amazing view of the mountain. Wildflower season is July-August.
• Lambert Park in Alpine, Utah If you want to see large red poppies as a pop of color against the Wasatch Mountains, you’ll want to make your way to Lambert Park. It is easily found by searching for “Alpine Poppy Field” on Google Maps. There are several parking lots and a fairly well-marked trail (less than a mile, mostly flat). No fee. Poppy season is roughly May-June.

Poppies in Alpine Utah

What’s stopping you?

I hope this review has motivated you to go view mountain wildflowers wherever you can. They are unique, exquisite and delicate, and they are all beautiful. A mountain wildflower is a sign that spring always returns, even after the coldest winter.

“May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day.” – Native American Proverb