Botanical Field Trips

Kern CNPS Field Trips are open to all. We welcome you to join us to see and learn about our native plants and their habitats, to learn to identify plants, or to photograph them. If you are skilled in plant identification, you can help us all learn.

These field trips include short hikes, but at a “botanical pace” as we stop to identify wildflowers along the trail. All participants are required by CNPS to sign a release of liability waiver.

We try to schedule field trips several weeks in advance. However, because wildflower blooms vary from one year to the next, we may reschedule or cancel a field trip on short notice.

Field trips are often scheduled on a weekend, but we do schedule trips during the week, especially if there’s a dramatic bloom occurring.

We post the field trip schedule in the Mimulus Memo, on this web site, and in our Kern CNPS Event email. (Note: If you opted not to receive email when you joined CNPS, you will not receive an email from us. You must “opt-in” to get our email.) The schedule will only describe the general location of the field trip. The exact location of where to meet will be provided by the trip leaders.

Please dress in layers, wear boots or shoes you can hike in and bring food and water.  You may also want to bring a hat, sunscreen, binoculars, cameras, plant list and useful references such as Kern County Flora and the Jepson Manual. We recommend wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts.

Participation is by reservation only so we know whom to expect, and how many will be attending each field trip.  Please email Lucy Clark or Megan Means at least two days before the field trip and indicate the names of those who will attend and their mobile phone number.

Please note that if you or your party can’t attend, it is critical for safety and planning purposes that you call or email the contact person and let them know you will not be there. Someone else may want to take your place.

All participants are required by CNPS to sign a release of liability waiver.

If you decide to leave a field trip early, please notify the trip leader so we can check you out.

We will provide more details on the location, where we will meet, and what to expect on the field trip to the participants a few days before the field trip.

Everyone is responsible for their own safety. Pay attention and watch for traffic if the field trip is near a roadway.


Spring 2023 Schedule

Note: This schedule is subject to change. You must contact the trip leader to participate. Weather, illness, or other events can cause the cancellation of a field trip.

Field Trip info updated as of 5/19/23 10.51


There are no further field trips planned at this time. Check this space for any new field trips in the coming weeks.

We will likely schedule a field trip to Mount Pinos for sometime in July, possibly mid week.

We may also schedule a field trip to the Kern Plateau or Sunday Peak, depending upon the road conditions.


Mentzelia pectinata on the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Mentzelia pectinata on the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Ephedra viridis (Mormon Tea), Sand Ridge 2014 Kern CNPS field trip.
Ephedra viridis (Mormon Tea), Sand Ridge 2014 Kern CNPS field trip.
Bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida), Sequoia National Forest.
Bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida), Sequoia National Forest.
Yellow gooseberry (Ribes quercetorum).
Yellow gooseberry (Ribes quercetorum).
Botanizing in Horse Meadow, mid-summer of 2018.
Botanizing in Horse Meadow, mid-summer of 2018.
Kern CNPS field trip to the Greenhorn Mountains in Sequoia National Forest.
Kern CNPS field trip to the Greenhorn Mountains in Sequoia National Forest.
2017 field trip in search of Bryophytes in the Kern Canyon.
2017 field trip in search of Bryophytes in the Kern Canyon.
Field trip to Tomo-Kahni State Park in 2022.
Field trip to Tomo-Kahni State Park in 2022.
Cynthia Powell posting an observation on Calflora at Lake Ming.
Cynthia Powell posting an observation to Calflora at Lake Ming.
Field trip to the Nature Conservancy’s Randall Preserve.
Toll House Ranch field trip on TNC property near Caliente, California.
Toll House Ranch field trip near Caliente.
Liliac Fairy Lantern (Calochortus amoenas) on a field trip in the Sequoia National Forest 2013.
Liliac Fairy Lantern (Calochortus amoenas) on a field trip in the Sequoia National Forest 2013.
Kern CNPS field trip to Piute Mountain 2013. Sequioa National Forest.

Previous Field Trip Locales

 

Atwell Island

Bittercreek NWR

CALM

Carrizo Plain National Monument

Fort Tejon

Hart Park & Lake Ming

Horse Meadow Campout

Hungry Valley SVRA

Kelso Valley

Kern Canyon Trail

Kern National Wildlife Refuge

Lockwood Valley

 

Kelso Valley

Kern Canyon Trail

Kern National Wildlife Refuge

Lockwood Valley

Mill Creek

Mt Pinos

Old State Road

Piute Mountain

Pixley Vernal Pools

Rancheria Rd

Red Rock Canyon State Park

Salt Creek (BLM)

 

San Joaquin River Gorge

Sand Ridge

Semitropic Ridge

Shell Creek Road (SLO)

Short Canyon

Squirrel Meadow

Sunday Peak Meadow

Toll House Ranch TNC

Tomo Kani State Historic Park

Tule Elk Preserve

Western Mojave Desert

Wind Wolves