Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.
Death Valley has come alive. A superbloom of wildflowers has painted the normally barren landscape of Death Valley National Park — one of the most extreme places on the planet and the hottest and driest spot in North America — in pretty pink, purple and yellow hues.
“This area that’s known basically for hot weather, sand and dirt has just become this amazing landscape of colors,” said David Blacker, executive director of the nonprofit Death Valley Natural History Association. “The smell is just amazing.” This year’s superbloom is the most spectacular that Death Valley has seen in a decade, according to the National Park Service. It’s a result of rainier-than-normal conditions throughout the region last fall and early winter. Abby Wines, acting deputy superintendent at Death Valley National Park, said that on average, Death Valley typically receives only about 2 inches of rainfall each year. “From November through early January, we had about two and a half inches of rain, so we had more than our annual average in just two and a half months,” she said. Wines said that some wildflowers usually emerge in the park every spring, but superblooms only occur after especially wet fall and winter seasons. The most extensive blooms — ones that can be seen at low elevations almost everywhere in the park — also need the “right” type of rain, according to Blacker. “We need multiple days of drizzly, foggy, gentle rain that soaks in, but not the heavy monsoon rains that wash out our highways and destroy our roads,” he said. “And then we need mild temperatures going into spring, because once the flowers come up, their big enemy is wind and heat.” The types of wildflowers that bloom in the desert are known as ephemerals. Unlike cacti, which store water to survive hot and arid environments, these flowers can exist for long periods of time in seed form in the soil. “You can think of it like drought evasion,” said Erik Rakestraw, a curator of botany at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. “In their seed form, it’s like they’re not even existing. They’re just laying in the soil.” In the proper conditions, the seeds will germinate. Then, after the flowers are pollinated, they’ll turn back to seeds and the cycle will begin again. “If there isn’t a good rain event next year, or even the year after that, or several years in a row, those seeds have evolved to just sit and wait it out,” Rakestraw said. For anyone hoping to catch this year’s superbloom, time is of the essence. Wines said the wildflowers at lower elevations are only expected to persist until mid- to late March. At higher elevations, blooms are forecast to emerge from around April to June. But both of those timing estimates depend heavily on weather, she added. Blacker said reaching some of his favorite spots to see wildflowers requires a hike, but most visitors will be able to see blooms all along Badwater Road, particularly the southern end. For less populated viewpoints, he recommended Mud Canyon or along Beatty Cutoff Road. Blacker maintains a wildflower report on the Death Valley Natural History Association’s website with updates on where the blooms are peaking. The National Park Service website also has information for those tracking the wildflowers’ progress. Wines said she has noticed an uptick in park visitors in recent days and weeks and encouraged anyone hoping to see the wildflowers to make the journey. “The next few weeks will be the peak of the bloom,” Wines said. “By the time the higher elevations are blooming, there will be lots of flowers and they’ll be beautiful, but they’re going to be interspersed with bushes and plants, and it doesn’t create the same visually stunning landscape that you can see right now at low elevations, where a rocky landscape has transformed into a wildflower field.” Picking the park’s wildflowers is prohibited, she added, asking that any superbloom seekers be mindful to protect the area’s pristine environments.
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