Walker Canyon Poppy Fields

          Walker Canyon is every bit as magical as it looks!  This is one of those places where the pictures can’t do it justice.  The mountains are literally covered in poppies.  It’s not just the mountains that you can see, they go really far back.  Every bit in the distance in some places are poppy covered as well.  You can hike all throughout them on dirt trails.  Because we had so much rain this year in California, the flowers are just popping up everywhere.  I guess they are used to drought.
          If you are looking for a place to see natural flowers for spring, I recommend coming here.  It’s located in Lake Elsinore, California.  It’s about an hour and a half away from L.A.  You have to come super early though.  It gets so crowded and the highway gets backed up.  There is literally traffic from all of the people coming to see the poppies.  We managed to avoid a lot of it because we left at 8am.  It doesn’t look like it in my pictures but there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of people here.  We hiked pretty far back to escape the crowds and do more exploring.  Most of the people just stay by the entrance, take some pictures and leave.  But of course they have to trample all over the flowers first.  I mean it wasn’t as bad as you might be hearing, but it is definitely happening in some areas.  If it’s sunny, be sure to bring sunscreen! Also, don’t forget water.  In the midst of writing this post, I am reading that the city shut down the poppy fields, due to too many people.  If you are planning on visiting, avoid weekends and check Lake Elsinore Instagram account to see if it is open.  Also, leave early!!