This Easy 1.7-Mile Trail In Southern California Is Covered In Wildflowers In The Springtime
By Natasha Kayes|Published April 05, 2024
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Natasha Kayes
Author
I was born and raised in sunny Southern California and will never tire of the West Coast, although I spent several years living in Southeast Asia, about as far from California as you can get. Wherever I am in the world, I love straying from the beaten path, experiencing local life, and discovering hidden gems - camera in hand. The beach is my happy place and when I am not there (or writing), you will usually find me baking, watching movies, and cuddling my pugs. I have traveled around the country and around the world, and it never, ever gets old. Being able to combine my passion for travel and my love of writing is nothing short of a dream.
It is almost never a bad time to explore the outdoors in Southern California, but if you love flowers as much as I do, spring is especially enchanting. And there is one magnificent spring destination that I am determined to get back to soon, and one hiking trail in Santa Margarita that I really want to explore – the Wallace Creek Trail in Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Carrizo Plain is a large, 50-mile-long grassy plain along the northern border of Santa Barbara County with some surprising and fascinating features.
In addition to being one of the beautifully wild and untouched areas in Southern California, Carrizo Plain is known for its spectacular displays of wildflowers in the spring, which usually begin to appear in March.
Of course, the amount of colorful blooms depends on the amount of rain we get during the winter season, but it is a pretty consistent place to see them. In years when we have a superbloom, this is one of the most incredible places to be (trust me, I have seen it myself!)
The area can be explored via dirt roads, a handful of developed trails, and cross-country hiking. One of the easy trails is also one of the most interesting.
The Wallace Creek Trail is a self-guided interpretive trail that leads visitors along a portion of California’s infamous San Andreas Fault. The marked trailhead is found near the parking area east of Soda Lake. You can pick up maps and a tour pamphlet at the visitor center.
On this trail, you can stand directly on the fault and can see the result of an intense earthquake along the fault in 1857. Continued geologic activity has created a large offset, evident by two sharp bends in the creek Wallace Creek, with the upstream and downstream sections now shifted apart by over 400 feet. And, in fact, the land keeps moving at a rate of about 1.3 inches per year!
Carrizo Plain is a lovely, untamed place to explore, and there are more challenging hikes you can take if you can’t get enough. You can also camp overnight so you can keep the adventure going!
While you are here, make sure you take another short and flat hike along another unique feature of the plain, Soda Lake, a salt lake that is usually full after a good rainy season.
Keep in mind that there are no services in this remote area and little to no cell service, so use caution when roads and trails may still be wet or muddy. You can find useful information and visitor center contact numbers on the Bureau of Land Management website. Have you been hiked the Wallace Creek Trail during spring? We would love to hear from you. Check out our other article on the Soda Lake Boardwalk Trail and if you love hiking, consider signing up for AllTrails+ for trail navigation, offline maps, and much more!
