Celebrate Coastside Wildflowers

The winter rains have brought the promise of plentiful wildflowers this spring. Between showers it’s a good time to explore our coast to see them.

Blooms are already beginning to appear at Bean Hollow State Beach, where a mile-long trail from the Pebble Beach parking lot winds along a bluff above the crashing waves. This narrow strip of land between the ocean and Highway 1 was never cultivated, so it still shelters a wide variety of native plants—from the easily recognizable California poppy to the wild native Douglas iris and many, many more.

If you want to learn more about our local native plants or learn how to plant them in your own garden you will have an opportunity on 16 April, at the Half Moon Bay State Beach Coastal Wildflower Day festival.

At Francis Beach (at the end of Kelly Ave.) there will be activities for the entire family beginning at 10:00 am, including games, guided nature walks, a native plant nursery and demonstration garden, live music, artists displaying and selling their work, and a food truck where you can buy your picnic lunch.

If you want to combine service with your celebration, you can join an Earth Day restoration project at Dunes Beach (at the end of Young Ave.). Registration begins at 8:30 am. Volunteers will be given free parking passes, a light breakfast, and lunch.

For the first time this year the Coastside Trail between the beaches will feature art installations by Bay Area artists designed to invite interaction with visitors and provide insights into the relationship between human creativity and the inspiration provided by natural environments.