Top 10 | Great Place to See Wildflowers

Experience the Best Wildflower Destinations

All summer long, the fields, valleys, and riverbanks burst with colorful wildflowers.  From the deserts to the mountains, from the shore to the lake, you’ll find spectacular displays of color.  If you love wandering through fields of blooms, read on.  You’re sure to find the perfect RVing destination on this list.

01

Tongass National Forest, Alaska

This beautiful Alaskan forest covers almost 17 million acres and is a beautiful destination for wildflower viewing during the spring. Visitors can enjoy a boardwalk through an estuary, which affords views of yarrow, wild geranium and more. Within the forest visitors can also enjoy a variety of different species of flower, including bog orchids. These are just the beginning of the many options for enjoying wildflowers within this forest.

02

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona

After a wet winter, you’ll find fields of poppies, lupines, and owl clover in this desert ecosystem.  Visit in March or April to see ocotillo, paloverde, and the blooms of the organ pipe, saguaro and other cacti.

03

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, California

Located near Lancaster the Antelope Valley in the Mojave Desert is one of the best locations to see the beautiful California Poppy. Within the valley there are fields of poppy's for visitors to admire. High-desert state reserve, with lots of trail through the most prolific areas.

04

Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, Colorado


In mid July, Crested Butte puts on a wildflower festival that’s unlike any other.  You can hike, ride horses, or take a jeep tour through lush alpine meadows, surrounded by thousands of wild blossoms.  Don’t miss the chance to see stunning bunches of Colorado’s famed wild columbines!

05

Great Smoky Mountains Wildflower Pilgrimage, Tennessee


Every year in April, the Smoky Mountains are the prettiest place on earth.  This park, that’s often known as the “wildflower national park,” puts on a special show in the spring when ephemerals (short-flowering plants) burst with color.  Take one of their wildflower walks and look for trilliums, lady-slipper orchids, crested dwarf iris, fire pink, columbine, bleeding heart, phacelia, jack-in-the-pulpit, little brown jugs, and violets, just some of the over 1,600 different varieties of flowers.

06

Sewanee Herbarium at Sewanee University, Tennessee


The trails of Shakerag Hollow at the Sewanee Herbarium lead through shady groves of nut-bearing oak and hickory trees.  You’ll find gorgeous spring flowers, beautiful woodlands, and plenty of happy bumblebees, darting from bloom to bloom.  Don’t miss the springtime blooming dogwoods!

07

Bluebonnet Festival, Chappell Hill, Texas


You’ll see Indian Paintbrush, Black-eyed Susans, and the world-famous Texas Bluebonnets at this fun and lively festival, held each year in mid-April.  Texas Hill Country is awash with beauty in the spring, particularly in March, April and May (the bluebonnets reach their peak in April).

08

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Texas


This exceptional center has sixteen unique gardens devoted to wildflowers and butterflies.  You can wander through the theme gardens with their 23 demonstration beds, see the Ann and O.J. Weber Butterfly Garden, and stroll through the South Meadow with its rainbow of blooms.

09

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington


You’ll find hillsides of purple lupine, mountain heather, asters, and penstemon at this scenic mountain park.  Visit between June and July for the best blossoms, and get out on a short hike for a full dose of color. Keep an eye out for special plants like green hellebore, fanleaf cinquefoil, pussytoes, and lacy maidenhair ferns.

10

Olympic National Park, Washington

This Washington park has many types of ecosystems, including rain forest and more. The Quinault Rain Forest has some very beautiful species including trillium and salmonberry for wildflower enthusiasts to enjoy. Visitors can hike throughout the park, on trails through the rainforest, or on trails traveling into the mountains to see alpine species. One species to keep an eye out for is the Piper's bellflower which is unique to the Olympic Mountains.