A particularly wet winter in 2016–17 brought a superbloom to the Anza-Borrego Desert, but this year we’ve been seeing something even more out-of-the-ordinary: a mid-winter bloom. As of early March, the park says you can find patches of flowers in the northern part of the park at Henderson Canyon Road, the entrance to Coyote Canyon and the Cactus Loop Trail at Mamarisk Grove; and in the southern section at June Wash and Vallecito Wash.
In a typical year, you can expect to see desert gold poppies, phacelia and a variety of tiny “belly flowers.” As for where to see them, Henderson Canyon is the easiest to reach, though each canyon—like Borrego Palm Canyon and Coyote Canyon—offers different varieties (check the website for variety and trail information as the season progresses).