Arizona Wildlfowers 2023

I flew to Arizona to check out the wildflowers for a short trip this week. I saw a few great shows of wildflowers but it took some driving to find them. Some areas are experiencing a superbloom of flowers while others, especially near Tucson, are barely green. The best areas I found were the Superstition Mountains near Apache Junction just east of Phoenix, Organ Pipe National Monument near Ajo, and Highway 77 south of Globe.

I began my trip by driving down to Organ Pipe. I had come too early to see the great show in 2019 but this year was also worth the trip. Brittlebrush is blooming like crazy in some spots of the park and a field of lupine was blooming in profusion near the park entrance. There was not the variety of wildflowers seen in other years like 2005 but it was still pretty to see. Brittlebrush is booming along the mountain loops. The Coulter’s lupine in particular were right at their peak bloom. I took a hike on the Arch trail and found a few poppies blooming as well.

Lost Dutchman State Park between Phoenix and Superior was lush green this year. It made for quite the sight. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy the morning I was there so not much time to explore. The rain stopped by the time I got to the Peralta Trailhead on the backside of the park and it was full of brittle brush, I also found a ton of lupine atop one of the nearby hillsides. I then traveled to Globe and headed a little ways down Highway 77. Some nice fields of poppies were blooming on the hillsides.