Bloom Reports from the Anza-Borrego Desert: 2025-2026
Table of Contents
Latest Summary of Bloom Status
Bloom Reports from Individual Hikes This Season
Links to Other Webpages on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms
Background Information for Bloom Reports from the Anza-Borrego Desert
Older Bloom Reports from 2009 to present
Latest Summary of Bloom Status Summary as of 25 March 2026
This report was written on 17 October 2026, long after the desert floor bloom season ended in March 2026, in order to document the rest of the 2025-2026 bloom season. We used information in emails up to 25 March 2026 for this summary.
The desert floor peak bloom was in the first two weeks of February 2026.
On 15 February 2026, the plants along the Villager Peak Trail were in full bloom. However, on 22 February 2026, just one week later, plants in Borrego Palm Canyon were past peak bloom, with landscape shots dominated by dried Aristida adscensionis. Encelia farinosa plants often had more finished flowers than current flowers, as did Hibiscus plants. There were no good flower displays of any plant other than Encelia farinosa in a number of places; a few Phacelia distans and P. cicutaria patches; and one Parish's poppy patch.
On 5 March 2026, most plants were past peak bloom at The Slot / West Borrego Mountain, but there were still some fun species in bloom.
On 8 March 2026, Jim Roberts found that there were still over 86 species in bloom on the Bow Willow / Rockhouse loop.
On 11 March 2026, Adam Schneider enjoyed finding 93 species in the Canyon 41 / Moonlight Canyon Loop, although that is a species list, not a bloom list.
But there were five days in a row with Borrego Springs high temps over 90 degrees, from 24 February 2025 to 1 March 2025, and every day in the last half of March, beginning 12 March, had a high of over 90 degrees. Those temperatures quickly fried all the desert annuals.
With those temps, it was too hot for us to hike even the higher elevations in the Borrego Desert, so our desert hikes, at any elevation, ended on 15 March 2026.
Bloom Reports from Individual Hikes This Season The latest bloom reports are given first (i.e., the reports are in inverse order of time). As detailed immediately above, you can see a map of where the hikes were from any linked iNat post of the species in bloom. For many more bloom reports, see Anza-Borrego Wildflowers Bloom Report by Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen.
26 January 2026: Canyon 41 by Tom Chester, Ted Caragozian, Jeff Field, Miranda Kennedy, Mark Stevens, Randy Ricketts, Don Rideout, Jim Roberts, and Tom White. 64 native species in bloom; see bloom list in the report.
25 January 2026: South Anza Borrego by @planetaverde303. 34 blooming species posted at iNat.
21 January 2026: Agua Caliente Moonlight Canyon by Tom Chester, Ted Caragozian, Jeff Field, Don Rideout, and Jim Roberts. At least 56 native species in bloom; see bloom list in the report.
16 January 2026: Mason / Oriflamme Valley by Tom Chester, Nancy Bee (Baumeister), Kate Harper, Don Rideout, and Jim Roberts. 33 native species in bloom; see bloom list in the report.
11 January 2026: Ella / Smoke Tree Wash Loop; Arroyo Salado by Tom Chester, Don Grimm, Kate Harper, and Don Rideout.
6 January 2026: Plum Canyon, by Tom Chester and Don Rideout. 29 native species in bloom.
2 January 2026: Cove Area by Tom Chester and a group of ten other people. 40 species in bloom posted at iNat; the total was probably higher.
30 December 2025: Anza Borrego 2025-12-30 Botanical Report by @planetaverde303. 10 species in bloom.
28 December 2025: Canyon North of Henderson Cyn by Tom Chester, Blake Bass, Pam Blake, Ted Caragozian, Kate Harper, Margaretha Kloos, Karen Parke, and Cathy Wiley. 42 species in bloom, all native.
22 December 2025: Mine Canyon by Tom Chester and Kate Harper. 27 species in bloom, 25 native.
17 December 2025: Pholisma Branch of Mine Canyon by Tom Chester and Don Rideout. 31 species in bloom, 30 native.
12 December 2025: Pinyon Mountain Road by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, Steve and Gaylee Rogers. 34 species in bloom.
5 and 8 December 2025: Coyote Creek Area from Di Giorgio Road to Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields by Tom Chester and Don Rideout, and Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields by Tom Chester.
5 December 2025: Anza Borrego 2025-12-05 Botanical Report by @planetaverde303. 14 species in bloom.
26 November 2025: Palo Verde Canyon by Tom Chester and Don Rideout. Just three species in bloom, with only a single plant for two of them.
23 November 2025: Henderson Canyon Road Flower Fields by Tom Chester, Jeff Field, Don Rideout, Jim Roberts, and Mark and Rebecca Stevens.
17 November 2025: Coyote Creek Di Giorgio Road to First Crossing by Tom Chester, Ted Caragozian, and Don Rideout, Ted Caragozian. 37 species in bloom.
16 November 2025: South Anza-Borrego by @planetaverde303.
12 November 2025: Pinyon Mountain Road Area by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, Jim Roberts, and Abbyann Sisk. 39 species in bloom!
3 November 2025: Anza Borrego, by @planetaverde303.
23 October 2025: Culp Valley / Borrego Springs by Tom Chester, Ted Caragozian, Walt Fidler, Don Rideout, and Jim Roberts.
18 October 2025: car trip from just north of Canebrake to Blair Valley by @planetaverde303.
17 October 2025: Culp Valley Campground / Pena Spring Area by Tom Chester, Jeff Field, Jim Roberts, and Tom White.
5 October 2025: Monsoonal Car Trip along S2 from Scissors Crossing to Bisnaga Alta Wash by Tom Chester, Craig Denson, Don Rideout, Mark and Rebecca Stevens, and Cathy Wiley
28 September 2025: car trip from Yuha Desert in Imperial County to lower Blair Valley by @planetaverde303.
10 September 2025: car trip from Borrego Springs to Salton City, and back via SR78 by Tom Chester and Don Rideout.
1 September 2025: car trip from the San Felipe Valley to Indian Gorge / Torote Canyon by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, and Jim Roberts.
Links to Other Webpages on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms Anza-Borrego Wildflowers Bloom Report by Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen, often with daily wildflower updates.
All iNaturalist observations in the Borrego Desert since 15 August 2025, 3,574 observations of 267 species (numbers are as of 20 October 2025; click on "Filters" to change the dates).
Wildflower Updates from the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park official site, with wildflower information on it. When they start producing current wildflower reports, click on the link near the top with the word Update, which might be updated weekly.
DesertUSA Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Reports
Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute Wildflowers and their Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Hotline: (760)767-4684. "Information on this recording is updated regularly."
Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline (Reports begin the first Friday in March)
Go to:
Copyright © 2008-2026 by Tom Chester, Don Rideout, Jim Roberts, Carla Hoegen, Fred Melgert, and Kate Harper.
Commercial rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce any or all of this page for individual or non-profit institutional internal use as long as credit is given to us at this source:
http://tchester.org/bd/blooms/2026.html
Comments and feedback: Tom Chester
Updated 17 October 2026