Death Valley Wildflowers photo by Richard Elliott

For many tourist visiting Death Valley National Park, April and May signal the end of the season before summer’s oppressive heat settles in.  Usually, the big draw before seasons end are the blooming wildflowers.  This April is not a banner wildflower bloom, unlike Death Valley’s famous 100-year bloom, in the Spring of 2005.  On a scale of one-to-ten, many are ranking this year’s bloom around 2.5.  Although not a remarkable wildflower bloom, the wildflowers are blossoming.

Park rangers are telling visitors that the best blooms are down in the Ashford Mill area.  The drive along Badwater Road to the Ashford Mill site offers limited wildflower species along the roadside.   

The Dante’s View drive is another zone with several colorful species of ground-level and bushy wildflowers present.  Although there is not an abundance of wildflowers, the hillsides and below sea level landscape appears a little more greener and fresher-looking than usual.

In other news, all the improvements in the national park, which were made possible through funding from the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act (ARRA), are completed, with the exception of the long-term remodelling of the main Visitor Center and museum.  A large mobile trailer unit temporarily serves as the Visitor Center at Furnace Creek Ranch, next to the historical “Old Dinah” tractor and wagons static display, just south of the Furnace Creek entrance.  The new Visitor Center and museum is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012, complete with a new park film for visitors and new displays. 

Through dual efforts of the national park service and CalTrans, improvements were completed that enhanced public safety and access.  Those projects were the new parking lot with striping, restrooms, installation of protective railing at the canyon edge and exhibits at Father Crowley Point and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes receiving similar improvements.

Other park improvements include the restored Cook House at Scotty’s Castle, destroyed by fire in 1991, and 37-miles of roads rebuilt and paved in the Scotty’s Castle and Ubehebe Crater areas.  Soon, over 100-miles of roadway will be resurfaced, extending the service life of the roadways.   The Texas Springs campground at Furnace Creek has been stablized and has undergone needed repairs.

Of note, according to the Death Valley Visitor Guide 2011, for each dollar collected as Entrance and User Fees, Death Valley Natioal Park gets to keep 80% to pay for projects or products that directly benefit the visiting public.  So, we shall continue to see improvements in this fabulous national park!

Hey, Death Valley National Park and CalTrans–Great job!  Thanks for a safer, more informative and enjoyable park.

This image is from 2005's wildflower boom, which is considered a 'once in a lifetime' event.

While it won’t be nearly as awesome a display as back in 2005, the rain from a few weeks ago will likely create a nice bloom this year.

“It definitely won’t be a big bloom,” said Park Ranger and Naturalist Charlie Callagan. “It could be OK, but it won’t be great.” (Las Vegas Review Journal)

So, if you’re looking to do something in the Mojave this spring, I’d suggest checking out Death Valley’s wildflowers, especially around Furnace Creek.

It would require continuous rain in both fall and winter to create the conditions that made the 2005 wildflower boom so pervasive.