Annual Wildflower Hike on the Darrington Trail

Before Dan and I started living full time in our 5th wheel, we enjoyed first, tent camping and, eventually, trailer camping in a small 22 foot travel trailer. When we lived in the Sacramento area, we would often camp, hike, and bike at the Peninsula Campground, located on the east side of Folsom Lake in a remote location, approximately 45 minutes from the closest town of Auburn or Placerville. The campground is nestled in low, rolling hills that for most of the year are dry and brown, like the rest of the surrounding area of the Sierra Mountains foothills. But for a short period of time each year, usually in late March through April, the hills turn a beautiful green, and the wildflowers explode. This is our favorite time of year to visit Peninsula, and we have made it an annual tradition to hike on the Darrington Trail (a 7.7 mile hiking and mountain biking trail) during this brief wildflower season. We have seen many varieties of flowers over the years, including buttercups, lupine, poppies, Indian paintbrush, wild iris, mule’s ears, fivespots, and larkspur. It’s hard to believe the difference in this area from early spring through the end of summer, and to be able to visit Peninsula Campground and the Darrington Trail at least once during these brief few weeks to experience the beautiful green and flowers is well worth it. Of course, while staying in Sacramento this Spring, we made it a point to make the drive for a day hike on the trail. What surprised us this time was how low Folsom Lake and the American River were. In all the years we’ve been going to this area, we’ve never seen it this low. In fact, at about the half way point on the trail, we came across an old concrete bridge that we had never seen before, never even knew it existed! It was fun to explore this area again, especially since we don’t know for sure where we will be next Spring. Here are some pictures Dan took along the trail.