It had been nine years since I was last in the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness so I thought the time was well overdue for a return visit. The Wilderness was officially designated in 1984 and contains almost 40,000 acres of prime habitat. To get to the Tenaja Falls trailhead, you go past the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, turn right on Tenaja Road and then right again on Cleveland Forest Road. Route S704 passes the Tenaja trailhead, the Fisherman's Camp trailhead and finally the parking area of the Tenaja Falls trailhead, where a hiker has the option of either going north to the falls and a couple of miles further upcanyon, or, as I did, of going south downcanyon along San Mateo Creek. There were so many flowers blooming along the trail that I was only able to make it the two miles to Fisherman's Camp, and this gallery is a long one as a result. Fortunately I had Steve Boyd's Vascular Flora of the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness Area along with me to help out with identifications. This is one of the loveliest trails that I know of in Southern California. Thanks to Jane Strong for the rattlesnake ID and Hartmut Wisch for the katydid ID. An asterisk indicates a non-native taxon, and the symbol ^ is for a taxon that was new to me when I photographed it on this field trip.

Creek monkeyflower
Mimulus guttatus
Phrymaceae

Blue dicks
Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum
Themidaceae

Chamise
Adenostoma fasciculatum
Rosaceae

Thickleaf yerba santa
Eriodictyon crassifolium var. crassifolium
Boraginaceae

Golden yarrow
Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. confertiflorum
Asteraceae

Willow-herb
Epilobium ciliatum ssp. ciliatum
Onagraceae

Two-tone everlasting
Pseudognaphalium biolettii
Asteraceae
[Named for Frederic Theodore Bioletti, 1865-1939]