Where to go to see spring flowers.

One more CO location that one can reach by car is around Gothic north of Crested Butte and Gunnison. This area is very lush and has some pretty tall vegetation that flowers in the springs. Graded gravel road accessible to any vehicle.

To be more specific on a couple of my other selections: On the Flat Tops, head up Coffee Pot Road to Deep Lake (NFS CG if you're interested). It's a long 29 mile graded road, so maybe spend the night up there. Check out the meadows to the west, esp. around Heart Lake. On Grand Mesa, the best flowers are to the west of the Scenic Byway (CO 65) on the graded road to Land's End. As you drive out the road, you'll pass through various microclimates that mean different flowers as you get toward the edge of the Mesa. We also head out Land's End road and turn left on FR 109 and go out to Flowing Park reservoir and mountain bike the trails out there. Can be challenging to ride in the "spring" (June or July) as the flowers are so tall and thick, it can be hard to see the trail! I've taken a couple of bad spills out there. Maybe I was to busy looking at the flowers rather than concentrating on riding!

I think the two most flowery spots we've visited in CO are on hikes around Maroon Bells. About 1/2 mile east of Buckskin Pass is a high meadow (12,000') that we've been to multiple times. But at 12 miles round trip and an elevation gain of 2400' from Maroon Lake, it makes for a long day of hiking. Plus, add at least an hour in the meadow to take pictures. For almost the entire hike, you'll be looking up at Maroon Bells, and as you climb, you'll see them from different angles. Even if it weren't for the flowers, the hike is worth it to see the contrasting red rocks with the verdant green of the tundra.

The other spot around Maroon Bells is on the west side of West Maroon Pass at around 11,800'. This is an easier area to reach, with a round trip of maybe seven miles and an elevation gain of "only" 1400'. While this is an easier hike for us, from Glenwood it's longer only due to location of the trailhead on the other side of Schofield Pass. (We take the much longer but safer route over Kebler Pass instead.) But if you're camped in the Crested Butte/Gunnison area and don't mind a hike, this is one to take. To reach the trailhead, just continue above Gothic. And if you make it to the fields of flowers, go ahead and climb another 600' and one mile to West Maroon Pass.

I may be secretive about my favorite boondocking locations or my favorite fishing holes, but I'm glad to share my favorite flower areas.

You can't go wrong with the suggestions of Ken, 4runnerguy, and 2gypsies have given about western Colorado. We especially like the high meadow areas south of Ouray, on the highway to Silverton. During the ten years we lived in Ouray, this was our, go to spot when we had visitors. Depending on the snowpack, it can easily be late June or into July. Can't remember if it's Country Rd 17 or 25. actually is CR 31 (just looked it up, LOL) Anyway on the south end of the area known as Ironton Park, just north of the old Idarado Mine buildings, the CR takes off to the east and circles in behind the mine buildings. The other end comes out on the top of Red Mountain Pass. Great scenic drive with the abundant wild flowers being a bonus. Vegetation in this part of the world is very altitude dependent. Early spring look in the lower altitudes, later in the summer, go higher.

Here is a photo of the head shaft building, Yankee Girl Mine, on CR 31, the road goes around it to the left and on around the hill in the distance. A Montrose couple, bought the mining claim and then leased it to the Ouray County Historical Society for a very nominal fee for many years. Most excellent of them. The high meadow with all the flowers is just around the mountain. The meadow is about 10,000 ft in elevation, so all you flatlanders like me, take it easy on the exorcise till you get use to the thin air and to me, no oxygen. LOL My wife does fine but she grew up in Woodland Park, CO and the Spring area




A number of good guide books available in any west slope bookstore, be it Ouray, Silverton, Montrose, Durango and Grand Junction. Very handy to have a couple of them as their describe the back roads and trails. The Jeep trails vary from very easy to " you have to be out of your mind to drive them" types of roads. LOL

In all our travels, nothing compares to the superbloom of Death Valley...

Death Valley Superbloom

Nothing compares to the mountains of Colorado; in particular, the Silverton/Ouray area along the Jeep trails (some are even o.k. with two-wheel drive). We once counted 26 species in a 2-foot section!

Big South Fork Recreation Area, especially the Leatherwood Ford area, is outstanding.

The spring wildflower pilgrimage in GRSM National Park is great.

Spring wildflower pilgrimage

Many years ago Lady Bird Johnson wrote about the flowers in Texas. Don't remember where specifically. Refer to the following for more:
https://www.wildflower.org/ladybird/

Death Valley is currently having a Super-bloom and the flowers are awesome!

Ahhh flowers..green grass...leafy trees... Meanwhile in MI, we are getting dumped on AGAIN....
Please post pictures...it's been so long.

Grand Mesa, Flat Tops, American Basin. All in Colorado. Of course "spring" doesn't happen until June or July, but the displays are amazing. And it's not just one or two kinds of flowers. I've counted over a dozen different flowers in a square yard. Seen the Hill Country displays many times, and they don't hold a candle to these locations (and I wouldn't exactly call Brookgreen Gardens "wildflowers").

Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC. (Myrtle Beach) you can google it