A scenic trail that takes trekkers through fields sometimes carpeted with flowers surrounding Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet will reopen to the public next week, but only for a season.
The 1.3-mile Wildflower Trail is scheduled to be available starting Wednesday, offering visitors an opportunity to see nature blooming with the onset of spring.
"We generally keep the trail open until late spring, so people have a couple of months to enjoy it,'' Metropolitan Water District of Southern California spokeswoman Rebecca Kimitch told City News Service.
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Other trails around the lake, mainly the 5.9-mile North Hills Trail and the 21.8-mile Lakeview Trail, are available year-round and have remained open during the coronavirus public health lockdowns.
In March and April 2019, the Wildflower Trail was among numerous walking and hiking paths in Riverside County where that year's "super bloom'' could be viewed. The bloom came on the heels of a series of late winter storms that dumped torrential rain in the region.
Deep blue arroyo lupines, purple canterbury bells, yellow rancher's fiddleneck and pink red maids are some of the poppies common to the area, instigating widespread vegetative growth.
The MWD, which owns and operates the Diamond Valley Lake reservoir, cautioned that social distancing and one-way travel on the Wildflower Trail, which runs in a complete loop, will be observed, and if staff determines there's overcrowding, access may be limited.
The trail is part of the Southwestern Riverside County Multi-Species Reserve, which covers about 9,000 acres, connecting Diamond Valley Lake to Lake Skinner in Winchester.
According to the MWD, while on the trail, visitors will need to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes, which are emerging from winter hideaways this time of year.
The trail will be open to the public Wednesday to Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Access is available via the marina parking lot at Domenigoni and Searl parkways.
There is an $11 parking fee, and a $4 trail fee, according to the MWD.
More information is available at www.dvlake.com.
