This time of year you’ll spot blooming plants off in the distance, at the sides of the road and in the cracks of the driveway. You can call them weeds if you want. In the wide open spaces they’re known as wildflowers.

The best time to view them is before they are gone.

The spring show is beginning now, but it will be 2-3 weeks before the peak display. Saturday, most of the flowers among the lush grass at Horseshoe Lake in upper Bidwell Park were small, and some are even downright tiny. In large numbers, yellow flowers created contrast to the green, undulating paths.

Each week new flowers will bloom, creating a reason to take a hike every weekend through April.

Woody and Ann Elliot, both members of the local chapter of the California Native Plant Society, said they’ve already spotted successions of tidy tips and goldfields, which grow in drifts in shallow soil. In the same yellow color scheme, you’ll spot “butter and eggs” and “johnny nip.”

Wildflowers arrive when there has been enough wet weather and when the daytime temperatures warm, which is just about now. The flowers vary depending on where you go, and the soils in that particular area.

Jon Aull, education coordinator for the Butte Creek Ecological Reserve said he likes the upper Yahi trail for California brodiaea and larkspur, as well as purple owl’s clover, lupines and poppies. He said more flowers to view through March in upper park include purple milkweed and whitestem clarkia.

Bruce Road

Ann Elliott said you’ll see “spectacular succession” of early flowers along the side of the road right now near Bruce Road and Forest Avenue. However, walking access in this area is limited.

Upper Bidwell Park

For an easy look, Woody Elliott suggested parking at the Easter cross parking lot (parking lot B) and heading north. You’ll spot Fremont lilies, blue dicks and the earlier brodiaea. More will arrive each day and week.

Most of the hikes in the park are lovely, the couple said as they chatted while driving to a California Native Plant Society event in Southern California.

Peregrine Point

You can find wildflowers as well as the popular disc golf course by cruising four miles up Highway 32 toward Forest Ranch, and look for the adopt-a-highway sign on the right. Peregrine Point is on the left. Next, look for the signs for the South Rim trail, which offers a view of Big Chico Creek and the canyon, as well as wildflowers.

Yahi Trail

Another local favorite is the Yahi Trail. Park at Parking Lot E near Horseshoe Lake, then walk along Upper Park Trail to the diversion pool to find the Yahi Trail marker. The wildflowers thrive on the exposed Tuscan rock formations.

10-Mile Trail

The Elliotts also recommended 10-mile Trail, which you can reach from Highway 32 between Santos Ranch Road and La Castana Drive. Ann Elliott said there are many cut banks, which allow wildflowers to grow without competition from taller grasses. Similar conditions exist along the flumes in Paradise.

Old Humboldt Road

If you can overlook trash dumped along (old) Humboldt Road, you’ll find some great wildflowers, Woody Elliott said. Reached via Bruce Road, the bumpy old section of this road curves around and reconnects with Highway 32 a few miles east of California Park.

Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve

Right now at the reserve, long-tubed irises are in bloom, said Aull, who gets to check the wildflowers every day he is at work.

The reserve is open dawn to dusk daily and located about halfway to Forest Ranch, about 14 miles up Highway 32. Turn left at Fourteen Mile House Road. Aull said the best time to come is during a planned hike.

Wildflowers can be viewed from the meadow just inside the gate. Note that parking is outside of the gate.

March and April include many turkey hunting days, when hiking is not allowed for non-hunters. At least one day each weekend is available for casual hikes. Check the rules and turkey hunting dates at http://tinyurl.com/zvk95p3

Table Mountain

Table Mountain is a popular Easter Day destination for many families, so popular that the area can be packed and parking a problem. At slightly higher elevations, flowers tend to bloom a few weeks later than in the valley.

A weekday or early in the day will provide the most serene viewing.

From Chico, take Highway 99 to Highway 149, and head east on Highway 70.

Turn left onto Cherokee Road. Park in the gravel parking area on the east side of the road. Cattle roam the mountain. A gate allows people to enter the field. Look for the gate near the giant oak tree.

From Oroville, take Table Mountain Boulevard to Cherokee Road and follow to the top of the mountain.

Have a book in the car

The Elliotts and Aull both recommended “Wildflowers of Table Mountain, A Naturalist’s Guide,” by Albin Bills and Samantha Mackey as the go-to guide for this region. If you find it used, be sure to choose the second edition, which is in color. The book can be ordered through the Chico State Herbarium, http://tinyurl.com/hc7j6zw.

Having a wildlife book makes the experience much more rich, Aull said. “It makes you look more closely and notice things you would not notice,” by merely looking at the flowers.

“Getting to know things gives you more of a personal attachment.”

Don’t touch

It’s important to note that wildflowers don’t make good bouquets. If they did, they’d be in all of our store-bought flower arrangements. In fact, they wilt. Wildflowers are trampled by hikers, but at least the seeds remain for flowers for people to enjoy in the future.

Aull said it’s especially important to leave plants alone if you don’t see very many of this variety. The plant could be rare, he said.

Contact reporter Heather Hacking at 896-7758.