Wildflowers turn hills yellow behind a full Soda Lake at Carrizo Plain National Monument

Laura Dickinson
·2 min read
Fields of wildflowers paint the Temblor Range foothills yellow, orange and purple along Highway 58 and 7-Mile Road on April 1, 2023.
Fields of wildflowers paint the Temblor Range foothills yellow, orange and purple along Highway 58 and 7-Mile Road on April 1, 2023.

During a visit this week, the vivid flowers seemed to spread from any patch of bare ground, following the ridge lines of the Temblor Range and filling in gaps across the open scrubland below.

The public can view the lake and the surrounding hills from the Soda Lake Overlook, located across Soda Lake Road from the boardwalk parking lot.

Lakeside parking and a boardwalk are available on Soda Lake Road, approximately 15 miles south of Highway 58 or 40 miles north of Highway 166.

Soda Lake Road is passable, but bumpy with ruts in some spots. Simmler and Panorama Roads, which cross the valley floor, remain muddy and impassable, according to U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Bakersfield office.

Soda Lake, which is normally dry, covers about 3,000 acres, according the Soda Lake Overlook website.

“It is the largest remaining natural alkali wetland in Southern California and the only closed basin within the coastal mountains,” the website says. “Soda Lake concentrates salts as water is evaporated away, leaving white deposits of sulfates and carbonates.”

Tips from U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Bakersfield field office

When visiting Carrizo Plain National Monument, please keep the following in mind:

  • While hunting is allowed, target shooting is not.

  • All vehicles and bicycles must remain on roads.

  • All vehicles on the monument must be street-legal.

  • Off-road vehicle travel is not allowed.

  • All roads in the monument are dirt, except for about 16 miles of Soda Lake Road that is paved.

  • There are no services, gas, food or water available on the monument and cell phone service is spotty at best.

  • There is no trash service on the monument. If you pack it in, pack it out.

  • There is private property within the monument boundary. Ensure you know where you are.

At the Soda Lake Overlook, clean restroom facilities and ample parking are available 24/7, according to the U.S. BLM’s Bakersfield field office.

For more U.S. BLM information, call 661-391-6000 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday to Friday.

A panoramic view of Soda Lake Road and a full Soda Lake on April 1, 2023.
A panoramic view of Soda Lake Road and a full Soda Lake on April 1, 2023.
Fields of yellow wildflowers line the shores of a full Soda Lake in the Carrizo Plain National Monument on April 1, 2023.
Fields of yellow wildflowers line the shores of a full Soda Lake in the Carrizo Plain National Monument on April 1, 2023.
Fields of yellow wildflowers line the shores of a full Soda Lake in the Carrizo Plain National Monument on April 1, 2023.
Fields of yellow wildflowers line the shores of a full Soda Lake in the Carrizo Plain National Monument on April 1, 2023.
Women frolic among the wildflower fields in the hills along Highway 58 and 7-Mile Road on April 1, 2023. (The women were on a dirt trail behind the wildflowers).
Women frolic among the wildflower fields in the hills along Highway 58 and 7-Mile Road on April 1, 2023. (The women were on a dirt trail behind the wildflowers).