Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Where wildfires have gone in San Diego, wildflowers will follow

Fire-following poppies near Fallbrook, spring 2003
Fire-following poppies near Fallbrook, spring 2003

Now that San Diego County's historic megafires are extinguished, outdoor-oriented folks — and the just plain curious — are anxious to get out there and do some sightseeing. The full recovery of the natural landscape will take a decade or two for the chaparral-dominated zones and half a century or more (if ever) for the oak/evergreen-forest of the Cuyamaca Mountains. Obviously, there's no big rush either to marvel at the abrupt transformation we've just had or observe the long-term natural recovery.

From a recreational standpoint, the loss of opportunity for San Diegans is immense. The 25,000-acre Cuyamaca Rancho State Park was completely burned over, with only singed islands of old-growth vegetation and certain campground and picnic structures remaining intact. One of the brightest gems in the San Diego County park system, William Heise Park, was heavily damaged. Acreage in some of the county's open-space preserves was swept by flames. So were certain sections of municipal recreation areas such as Escondido's Daley Ranch, Poway's Iron Mountain, and San Diego Mission Trails Regional Park. A substantial fraction of the entire Cleveland National Forest was burned over.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Most of these areas will be closed for weeks or months to recreational use for assessment of fire damage and erosion potential. Stay out of these closed areas even though it may be easy to walk into them by way of unfenced boundaries. Once these park areas are open again, be sure to stay on established trails. Don't make new paths across the fire-denuded landscape or cut corners along switchback trails, even though it may be very tempting to do so.

The silver lining on the dark cloud looming over our county landscape is the promise of extravagant displays of fire-following wildflowers a few months from now. With the return of repeated soaking rains, which looks likely this winter season, the period between February and May could result in vast wildflower carpets coating hundreds of square miles of foothill and mountain landscape. The seeds of up to 100 species of ephemeral plants have been lying dormant in the ground in the fire-swept zones, ready to germinate as soon as the right combination of wildfire, ash, and soaking rain arrives.

If the rainfall comes up too short this winter season, the regenerative process will be delayed. For example, March and April 2003 saw a lavish bloom of native California poppies, Canterbury bells, popcorn-flower, and non-native mustard on slopes overlooking the Santa Margarita River just north of Fallbrook. More than two years had passed before the rainfall was sufficient to trigger the massive germination of seeds.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Fire-following poppies near Fallbrook, spring 2003
Fire-following poppies near Fallbrook, spring 2003

Now that San Diego County's historic megafires are extinguished, outdoor-oriented folks — and the just plain curious — are anxious to get out there and do some sightseeing. The full recovery of the natural landscape will take a decade or two for the chaparral-dominated zones and half a century or more (if ever) for the oak/evergreen-forest of the Cuyamaca Mountains. Obviously, there's no big rush either to marvel at the abrupt transformation we've just had or observe the long-term natural recovery.

From a recreational standpoint, the loss of opportunity for San Diegans is immense. The 25,000-acre Cuyamaca Rancho State Park was completely burned over, with only singed islands of old-growth vegetation and certain campground and picnic structures remaining intact. One of the brightest gems in the San Diego County park system, William Heise Park, was heavily damaged. Acreage in some of the county's open-space preserves was swept by flames. So were certain sections of municipal recreation areas such as Escondido's Daley Ranch, Poway's Iron Mountain, and San Diego Mission Trails Regional Park. A substantial fraction of the entire Cleveland National Forest was burned over.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Most of these areas will be closed for weeks or months to recreational use for assessment of fire damage and erosion potential. Stay out of these closed areas even though it may be easy to walk into them by way of unfenced boundaries. Once these park areas are open again, be sure to stay on established trails. Don't make new paths across the fire-denuded landscape or cut corners along switchback trails, even though it may be very tempting to do so.

The silver lining on the dark cloud looming over our county landscape is the promise of extravagant displays of fire-following wildflowers a few months from now. With the return of repeated soaking rains, which looks likely this winter season, the period between February and May could result in vast wildflower carpets coating hundreds of square miles of foothill and mountain landscape. The seeds of up to 100 species of ephemeral plants have been lying dormant in the ground in the fire-swept zones, ready to germinate as soon as the right combination of wildfire, ash, and soaking rain arrives.

If the rainfall comes up too short this winter season, the regenerative process will be delayed. For example, March and April 2003 saw a lavish bloom of native California poppies, Canterbury bells, popcorn-flower, and non-native mustard on slopes overlooking the Santa Margarita River just north of Fallbrook. More than two years had passed before the rainfall was sufficient to trigger the massive germination of seeds.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.