HEMET - (INT) - Up to 3,000 visitors a day have been checking out the wildflowers at Diamond Valley Lake.

But the Metropolitan Water District, which owns the lake and surrounding hills, has been forced to close a hiking trail because people were getting too close to the popular blooms of orange poppies and blue lupines.

The trail is reopening this weekend under the watchful eyes of docents.

California’s bloom of wildflowers is especially rich this year, the result of more rain than usual since December. The “super bloom” of wildflowers has transformed the inland valleys desert into a panorama of colors.

Richard Minnich, a professor of geography, has written a book on California’s wildflowers.

“We are seeing a large bloom of wildflowers because rain has followed a long period of drought. Drought gets rid of weeds that compete with flowers. We had five years of drought, then rain, and so wildflowers have taken off,” Minnich said.

Story Date: May 2, 2017