If you live in Southern California and want to visit flower fields where the blooms are almost certainly guaranteed, then you want to go to The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch to see their rows and rows of colorful ranunculus! Don’t forget to bring your camera to snap some beautiful photos!
The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch
Another year and another trip to The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch! The flowers are just so pretty, I can’t NOT go! I went last year with my husband and we also visited the San Juan Capistrano Mission and had dinner nearby, so if you’re looking for more things to do, definitely check out last year’s Carlsbad Flower Fields post. My husband didn’t want to go again this year, but my best friend was SUPER excited to go with me!
2021 Update: The Flower Fields are OPEN!
The Flowers Fields are about a 2 hour drive from Los Angeles and are located in Carlsbad, CA. This year, instead of taking my husband, I took my best friend because she might have more patience for picture taking. Not that the husband is bad … but his patience does wear thin at some point. Usually around lunch time.
I wish I could say that it was an afternoon spent running through the flower fields, but unfortunately, you can’t do that and instead, the afternoon looked more like this:
Which resulted in a LOT of flower photos. It’s so hard to choose the best ones – there are so many!
Of course, we also broke the rules and jumped into a couple of the flower trails and took a few photos. I had to! But it was right on the other side of the rope and I stayed on the dirt, did NOT step on a single plant and did NOT pick any flowers.
There’s also a small playground for the kids and a Sweet Pea maze. It took us a bit, but we eventually found our way out. It’s really taking all of me not to use an amazing pun right here.
And then, of course, we took even more photos with the flowers!
And when we were tired of looking at photographing flowers, we grabbed some lemonade and sprinkled ice cream cones to cool off.
And before we left, we purchased a few bouquets to take the beautifulness home with us!
No, we didn’t purchase ALL of those! But it was nice to know they were freshly picked and right off the truck.
If you decide to take a trip to check out The Flower Fields, I have a few tips for you:
- Wear sunscreen. I’ve messed this up both years and regretted it.
- Bring a hat. My little DIY yellow pompom hat might have saved my life. Even if I did almost lose it in the wind a half dozen times.
- Leave early enough in the morning so you can visit the jewel of the California missions, the San Juan Capistrano Mission on the way back. Check out last year’s Carlsbad Flower Fields post to learn more about the mission and a recommendation for a great Mexican food restaurant for dinner to avoid the traffic.
- Bring your camera! (Don’t forget to charge the battery!)
- And dress in layers or bring a sweater. It was HOT when we left Los Angeles, but Carlsbad is closer to the coast and my sweater was definitely appreciated.
- The Flower Fields are open until May 8th – so hurry and go or plan to check them out next year.
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