Tiburon Peninsula in full bloom

After an unusually wet winter, California is awash in color, with Blackie’s Pasture and the Old Rail Trail showing off rich orange hues of the California poppy and brilliant purples of pride of Madeira. The state is seeing desert superblooms, with the Department of Parks and Recreation noting the events occur after particularly wet seasons — typically following years of drought — when annual wildflower seeds that had been dormant finally germinate and burst through the soil to form large, dense landscapes.

Elliot Karlan photo / For The Ark