The purple downingia at the Main Vernal Pool. The creamy white blooms of chamise along the Multiuse, Granite Loop, Vernal Pool and Punta Mesa Trails. Blooming on the Santa Rosa Plateau . The lovely blue downingia is producing patches of color and a pleasant smell along the boardwalk at the Main Pool. Grasses are producing a brown ring at the edge of the Pool, and slender tarweed is forming a yellow ring just outside that.
Trails are all in excellent shape, having been recently mowed or trimmed.
Since most trails here have very little shade, be prepared for a dose of sun and heat if you hike in mid-day. On the other hand, when the marine layer is strong, it can be quite cool on any trail, but especially the Vernal Pool Trail, with temperatures in the 50s, and the cold wet wind stealing all one's heat away. Ticks and adult rattlesnakes are present. Staying on the main trails will drastically reduce your chances of seeing either varmint. So far, they are bad only sometimes in shaded wind-sheltered areas.