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Wildflowers in California just a short drive away: Here are nearby Instagram-worthy spots

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Wildflowers in California just a short drive away: Here are nearby Instagram-worthy spots


Spring, even in drought years, is the time for California wildflowers to burst forth in their finery.

We start our search with our local rivers and their tributaries, looking north to south: the American River, Cosumnes, Mokelumne, Calaveras and Stanislaus rivers. Follow those river valleys east into Sierra foothills, linking to Gold Rush sites, cute towns with mining and logging history, and restaurants and watering holes perfect for a midday layover.

Keep in mind the factors that lead to magnificent flower displays; adequate recent rainfall, elevation (Delta wildflowers will be blooming long before those in higher Sierra locations), daytime temperatures and exposure to sunlight (flowers on river valley sides facing south will bloom long before shadier locations).

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Let’s hit the trail, depending upon your destination and springtime temperatures, you will find California poppies, fiddleneck, lupine, Indian paintbrush, purple vetch, blue dick, western redbud and a host of other varieties.

How to take the best wildflower photos

Take tools for exploration, in addition to camera and binoculars. Download smartphone apps like AllTrails or TrailLink for finding hiking trails, and LeafSnap, a wonderful app that IDs wildflowers and trees; making you an instant botanical wizard. Follow the etiquette of explorers: don’t pick the flowers, stay on existing trails and don’t trample flower fields. It may be inviting to photograph your pals lounging in lovely flower displays, but don’t. Pack out all your trash, leaving only footprints and taking only memories.

For the fabled American River, where gold was discovered in 1848 in Coloma on the South Fork, start in Sacramento with the American River Parkway, a 35 mile paved biking and hiking trail, that heads upriver eastward into the Folsom Lake State recreation area. You’ll find wildflowers in many rocky places, including the immense piles of cobblestones that remain from the dredge mining that took place along the river until the mid-1900s.

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Fields of California poppies blooming near historic bridges

Perhaps our most spectacular discovery came one year ago, with the additional discovery of a grand historic suspension bridge. From Sacramento, we followed Interstate 80 almost to Colfax, and went east on Iowa Hill Road to the North Fork of the American where the new bridge parallels the old Iowa Hill suspension bridge, circa 1928, with hiking and flower-finding opportunities stretching along the river.

We found the mother lode of California poppies on the Windy Point Trail, 1½ miles up the other side of the valley. A two-mile hike took us into 20+ acres of California poppies just above the American, a spectacular golden blanket of color. A few miles further east is Iowa Hill, where over $20 million in gold was mined in the 30 years after 1853.

For the Cosumnes River, a natural place to start is the Cosumnes River Preserve, just north of Thornton, with 4 miles of easy walking trails along both the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers. Here you’ll find a large variety of waterfowl, as well as wildflowers including California poppies, Indian paintbrush, purple vetch and more. Pack a picnic lunch, take your binoculars and enjoy peaceful hours! 

The preserve’s trails lead you down to the Cosumnes and the Mokelumne Rivers, through riparian forest teaming with birds as well as wildflowers in season. Here in 1862, epic Valley floods wiped out San Joaquin County’s second largest city and port, Mokelumne City, washing all its wooden buildings miles downstream into the Delta (the city was never rebuilt).

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Further east along the Cosumnes, just above Rancho Murieta, follow the old Michigan Bar Road across the old bridge into gently-rolling foothills and turn east on S. Shingle Road (be forewarned, a road where high clearance is an asset); we found lots of wildflowers last spring.

Visiting California Gold Rush towns

Journey east to the upper Mokelumne River; at Pardee Reservoir; cross the old dam and follow the beautiful Stony Creek Road east up to Jackson. Stony Creek is a favorite, scenic in its own right, as you cross the creek on the new bridge — be very observant — and spot the old Jackson Creek Bridge, built 1880, abandoned in 1955.

It’s slowly moldering away just down the creek, hidden in foliage. Continue up the steep road, then descend into Jackson, a well-preserved gold rush town. Take in the old National Hotel and other historic sites on Water Street. Touring south on Highway 49, approaching the Mokelumne, go east on Electra Road, where fields of bright orange poppies grace south-facing hillsides.

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Don’t overlook our local Calaveras River; a fine place to start is the bike trail that runs from University of Pacific to Brookside, where a wide variety of wildflowers can be found. Hike the trail that runs down the Calaveras behind Brookside’s grand homes, and imagine the river as it was 150 years ago.

Finally, check out the Stanislaus River, and its historic Knights Ferry Covered Bridge. The town was founded when gold was discovered; in 1849, Dr. William Knight established a ferry. Soon after, a toll bridge was built but washed away in the huge flood of 1862. The new bridge was finished in 1864, higher and built to last, the longest covered bridge in the state at 333 feet. It’s now part of a lovely state park, its trails perfect for seeking wildflowers. Knights Ferry features a number of historic buildings; fun to walk the old gold rush-era remnant.

Remember that these rivers flow into the San Joaquin and Sacramento River Delta, and the Delta has many special places. A recent discovery, using the AllTrails app, is the Delta Meadows Trail between Locke and Walnut Grove, which take hikers several miles into Delta waterways much is they looked 150 years earlier.

For insight: historic bridges, bridgehunter.com hikes, AllTrails or TrailLink apps wildflowers, LeafSnap app.

Contact Tim, tviall@msn.com; happy travels in the west!

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California Now Offers Free Passes to State Historic Parks (Just Don’t Miss the Deadline) | KQED

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California Now Offers Free Passes to State Historic Parks (Just Don’t Miss the Deadline) | KQED


An annual pass that’s usually $50 is free in honor of Juneteenth — and to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Historical buildings are visible at Sonoma State Historic Park, Sonoma, California, May 31, 2026. Until July 6, Californians can download the state historic park pass for free and use it as many times as they want through the end of 2026. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)

“California doesn’t hide from hard truths and uncomfortable history – in fact, we embrace it and learn from it,” Newsom wrote.

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Until July 6, Californians can download the state historic park pass for free and use it as many times as they want through the end of 2026. The pass gives free entry to state historic parks for up to four people.

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The Historian Passport grants entry to more than 30 state historic parks, including parks like Olompali and Malakoff Diggins which, rather than just providing outdoor recreation, also have an educational emphasis on the state’s history.

Jack London State Historic Park in Napa Valley, California. (Ablokhin via Getty Images)

Many of these parks tell the story of the state’s cultural or indigenous history, from missions and museums to temples and the site that sparked the California Gold Rush.

Newsom made a similar move to make state parks free for Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, in response to Trump’s decision to eliminate the holiday from the list of fee-free days at national parks across the country, replacing it with his birthday on Flag Day.

How to get your free Historian Passport for up to four people

You must make an account with the state’s reservation site ReserveCalifornia.com to obtain a Historian Pass. Then, visit the site’s Advance Passes page and select “Special Edition Historian Passport” from the dropdown menu, which will show as costing $0. No payment information is required.

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After checking out, you’ll receive an email with an attached PDF version of your Historian Passport.

The state recommends you print off this PDF to present at any California state historic park for free entry, although you may just be able to show the image on your phone too.

Bear in mind that cellphone service may be poor at many state historic parks, so it’s worth screenshotting the PDF to save it as an image on your phone in case you’re unable to search your email.

Looking for free entry to other state parks that aren’t included in the Historian Passport? Consider checking out a parks pass from your local library, which provides these passes as part of the California State Library Parks Pass program.

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Northern California State Historic Parks to visit for free this year with a Historian Passport

Bay Area

Sacramento area

Sierra foothills

KQED’s Carly Severn contributed to this report.





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In-N-Out drive-thru DUI arrest gets California man 3 years in prison

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In-N-Out drive-thru DUI arrest gets California man 3 years in prison


A 33-year-old Northern California man was sentenced to three years in prison after he was found passed out drunk behind the wheel in the drive-thru of an In-N-Out Burger, marking his seventh arrest and conviction for driving under the influence.

According to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, California Highway Patrol officers were alerted to the June 2025 situation by a store employee.

Responding officers approached the vehicle and reported smelling urine and vomit, along with the odor of alcohol inside the car, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A menu is displayed in the drive thru at an In-n-Out restaurant in California.(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Officers arrested the man, identified as Carlos Alvarez of Salinas, on suspicion of felony DUI.

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This was his fourth DUI conviction in the past 10 years, The Times reported.

It was not immediately clear what sentences were imposed in Alvarez’s prior DUI convictions or whether he has previously served jail time for any of the other felony convictions.



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Two California students swept out to sea and drowned while napping on beach

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Two California students swept out to sea and drowned while napping on beach


Two college students died after being swept out to sea from a Santa Cruz beach as massive waves and dangerous rip currents inundated the California coastline in recent days.

Authorities confirmed this week that Harshita Nair, 21, and Mahial Sran, 20, were killed after the sudden swell at a Santa Cruz beach last Wednesday. Nair died last week while Sran died in a local hospital on Sunday.

The incident came a day after a five-year-old girl in southern California was killed when turbulent waters swept the child, who was walking with her mother and brother, out to sea from the shore of Treasure Island Beach in Orange county.

Authorities have urged people to take precautions while visiting beaches throughout the state as the coast faced treacherous conditions with the continuing king tides, a non-scientific term describing the highest tides of the year.

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On 10 June, local authorities in Santa Cruz responded to a beach for an ocean rescue of two women who had been pulled into the water. A team of about eight rescue swimmers helped pull Nair and Sran from the water, and they were taken to local hospitals by ambulance and helicopters.

It was the fifth rescue firefighters had undertaken on that mile-long portion of coastline from Yellow Bank Beach to Bonny Doon Beach, the San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit of Cal Fire said in a statement online.

Kyle Breton, a Santa Cruz county volunteer fire captain, said in a video that officials believed the two friends were napping near a rock archway between two beaches when the water came in and swept them out.

Sran was a student at San Jose State University and Nair attended the University of California, Berkeley, the universities confirmed to media outlets.

In an obituary, Nair’s family remembered her as a “cherished sister, granddaughter and a treasured friend” who “always found a way to lift others up”.

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“Harshita was truly full of life – radiating energy, warmth and joy wherever she went. She had a deep love for adventure and embraced every moment with enthusiasm and courage. Her spirit was contagious, her laughter uplifting and her presence comforting.”



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