Find Wildflowers April to August

From Washington Trails magazine, a guide to finding flowers April through August. Hike suggestions, the best time to go and tools and tips for your flower hunt.

From hike ideas to every wildflower hunter's tools and tips, we've got your summer guide to seeking out the blooming beauties.

Print and Go Guides

: Month-by-month wildflower guide from the May/June issue of Washington Trails magazine.

Download and print the Washington Trails magazine month-by-month visual guide to wildflowers to take on your next hike.

You can also download this full-color guide to 50 common mountain wildflower species in the Cascades and Olympics. You can view the 8-page guide as a PDF here.

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Hikes for Wildflowers

Try these hikes for great wildflowers, but be sure to check recent Trip Reports for trail conditions and bloom updates before you go.

Cady Ridge, Okanogan-Wenatchee Nat’l Forest
13-mile (rt) ridge hike to big wildflower meadows and views of the Cascade Crest and Glacier Peak.
Best time: July & August.

Dog Mountain, Columbia River Gorge
7.5-mile loop through slopeside meadows of balsamroot, paintbrush and a myriad of others.
Best time: April & May.

Cowiche Canyon, Oak Creek Wildlife Area
Bursting with early-season color, wander along Cowiche Creek through a basalt canyon.
Best time: April & May.

Coldwater Lake, Mount St. Helens NVM
Stroll along the North Shore Trail as far as you like, where daisies, aster and penstemon abound.
Best time: May & June.

: Cady Ridge - where wildflowers put on a show! Photo by Kim Brown.

Skyline Divide, Mount Baker Wilderness
9-mile round-trip with more wildflowers, glaciers and alpine views than your eyes can compute.
Best time: July & August.

Mazama Ridge, Mount Rainier National Park
From Paradise, climb 900 feet to a ridge walk with expansive views and bursting with summer color.
Best time: July & August.

Snowgrass Flat, Goat Rocks Wilderness
Explore wide, slopeside meadows off the PCT, brimming with lupine and views of Old Snowy.
Best time: July & August.

To find more wildflower hike ideas, check out our summer wildflower feature and go to the Trip Report search page and do an Advanced Search for "wildflowers blooming."

Where and When to Find Wildflowers

During early spring, start hiking in the lowlands at places like Anacortes’s Whistle Lake, where lilies emerge in April. Eastern Washington and the Columbia River Gorge tend to have wildflower blooms in April and May, when alpine meadows are still buried under feet of snow. Watch for early bloomers like trillium, violets, lilies and skunk cabbage.

During the high months of June through August it’s hard to go wrong, as wildflowers are in riotous bloom pretty much everywhere, so this is a time to do your favorite hikes. Our three national parks are obvious choices, where you can see mountain vistas as well as wildflowers.

The shoulder months of September through November are the most challenging for flower hunters, but still there are spots where wildflowers are in bloom. Many species like the aster and gentian families bloom in late summer and may be found in high meadows right up until first snowfall.

Wildflower Hunter's Tools and Tips

: Wildflowers begin blooming early on the Catherine Creek trail. Photo by Susan Saul.

A good guide is a must. Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest by Turner and Gustafson (Timber Press) should be your first. Well-organized and packed with color photos for helpful identification and detailed descriptions, it’ll fit in any backpack.

Every wildflower hunter should carry a good quality magnifying glass. The Hastings Triplet Magnifier from Bausch + Lomb has three lenses that lets you use one (or combine two or three) to get magnifications from 5X to 20X.

Lots of kneeling to look at wildflowers can be rough on the knees. Be kind to yourself by bringing something soft to kneel on. Strap-on knee pads can be convenient for frequent kneeling, or small foam pads like those sold at gardening supply stores.

A wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses will protect your eyes. Sunglasses with polarized lenses will cut down on glare and reflections. Eye protection is particularly important at alpine elevations.

Excerpted from the May/June 2012 Washington Trails magazine. Text by Ray Izumi. Wildflower guide specimen photos by Ray Izumi, Tami Asars, Holly Weiler and Joshua McCullough.