California hillsides are exploding with wildflowers after epic rainfall. Here’s what it looks like from space

By Stephanie Elam, CNN

After one of the wettest winters on record, California hillsides are exploding with color. Swaths of yellow and streaks of orange, blue and purple paint the landscape this month as the state enjoys its extraordinary flurry of flowers.

It’s the superbloom.

Springtime road trips on California’s highways bring plenty of “oohs” and “ahhs” — not just from the spectacle of so much water in much fuller creeks, rivers and reservoirs, but also from the array of flowers putting on a show along the way.

The Golden State is also a lot greener right now, too — landscapes are so verdant and lush it almost looks like a dreamscape.

The wildflower takeover is dominating hillsides so intensely that the blooms are visible from space. Streaks of poppy orange and bright, lemony yellows can be seen in satellite imagery across canyons and hilltops that for years have been brown, barren areas, making the transformation that much more impressive.

These seas of color draw people out in search of the perfect selfies and frameable family portraits, but many venture off the trails and destroy the precious petals during their escapades.

During the 2017 superbloom, some parks “saw damages from people walking off trails — creating ‘social trails’ — that are still visible,” California Department of Parks and Recreation’s Jorge Moreno said to CNN in an email.

While California hasn’t closed state parks because of the superbloom, at least one town is demanding that tourists stay away.

Lake Elsinore has banned visitors to Walker Canyon after hundreds of thousands of people came each weekend during the 2019 season, trampling wild poppies and disrupting wildlife.