Hills ablaze with poppies - Valley's reserve opens early

Valley Press ^ | on Saturday, March 12, 2005 | JULIE DRAKE

[beyond the sea]

I'm getting high just looking.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Do not go out Avenue D. My wife and I just got back(3/12/05 @ 3:00 PM) and there are very few flowers. I don't know what happened. There are a moderate amount on the Avenue I side. Sorry! Maybe it is too early?

I'll check in a couple of weeks and report.

[Serenissima Venezia]

Thanks for the info - after reading this, we got in the Cobra, put the top down, and headed from Bakersfield over to the California Poppy Reserve. It was packed - with people and poppies! Beautiful!! Orange poppies are far as the eye could see on the hills around the reserve (being cheap, we parked on the side of the road outside of the reserve. I've found in the past that there are usually more poppies outside the reserve than inside, for some reason...)

I would've like to go the Ave D route that someone mentioned, but coming from Bakersfield, it was closer to just follow the crowds.

If I can figure out how to post pics, I have several of blazing orange hillsides!