Visitors flock to Pacifica for vibrant wildflower superbloom

PACIFICA, Calif. - One of nature's rare treats, a wildflower superbloom, is in full display in the Bay Area along the Pacific coast of San Mateo County.

The marvel is free for everyone, but parking can be a pain.

Though not a major tourist destination, Pacifica has found itself with throngs of visitors, who are bent on seeing the so-called super bloom, a veritable explosion of spring flowers.

At the tip of Pacifica's Mori Point, goldfields, tidy tips, and poppies, are interspersed by contrasting dark grasses, all overlooking the Pacific.

"It's amazing. It's stunning. I've never seen anything like it; just this blank of flowers, so many different varieties. The ocean, the hills; it's really spectacular," said Helen Yeni-Komshian of Palo Alto.

Deborah Israel had to see it twice.

"I was here last Sunday, and it seemed like the yellow was a little more full in. But now the purple flowers are starting to kind of peak up, so it's a little bit of a different look than it was last Sunday. But it's still really gorgeous," said Israel.

Some neighbors have complained about all the tourist parking. But that's the price of living  next to a national recreation area.

"I can understand people not liking the extra traffic in their neighborhood, but this is too beautiful not to share," said Yeni-Komshian.

The term superbloom was originally coined to describe rare blooms in the deserts of California and Arizona, where long dormant seeds germinate and blossom at the same time. In those areas, the super blooms are so massive and contrast so much with desert colors, the stark difference can easily been seen by earth orbiting land observation satellites.

"It's unusual. It's amazing," said Nemi Grubisich. "It's like you could see miles of those. You know, super bloom with different colors, white, yellow, purple, you name it."

Mori Point is welcome to all and sits to the south of Pacifica on Mori Point Road off Highway 1.