Life in Death Valley: breathtaking wildflowers enjoy possible ‘superbloom’

Fields of gorgeous wildflowers are bursting to life throughout the typically barren landscape of Death Valley — in what experts think may be the early stages of a rare “superbloom." The rocky and brown environment of Death Valley National Park, in California and Nevada, only gives way to great expanses of vibrant yellow, purple and white flowers under perfect conditions. When this happens, it’s truly a sight to behold.

Although you can find a few scattered flowers in Death Valley almost every spring, during a superbloom there are thick meadows of flowers that stretch for miles across the desert.

Park ranger Alan Van Valkenburg

Death Valley is a famously inhospitable environment where anything alive struggles to survive. Rain is scarce, summer temperatures are extreme, and the bottom is usually barren except for a few resilient shrubs and lots of rocks. It is considered the driest place in the country and the hottest place in the world. The last superbloom occurred in 2005. Thunderstorms last fall resulted in significant rainfall in different sections of the park. Flowers started to bloom in December, essentially transforming the valley floor into a gigantic wildflower garden. But, experts say, if the El Niño rainstorms arrive as expected, this will just be the beginning and the superbloom will continue into April.

Death Valley