They’re gone.

The glorious California poppies that painted miles of hills along the 15 Freeway a blazing orange for weeks have wilted under the sizzling spring sun — and more than 90 percent of the flowers are gone.

On Monday, April 8, temperatures soared into the mid-90s in Lake Elsinore, epicenter of the social media-inspired wildflower migration that drew tens of thousands from across Southern California — and beyond the region — to a humble place called Walker Canyon.

In some areas, tumbleweeds are more prevalent Tuesday, April 9, in Lake Elsinore than poppies. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

A field of orange poppies in Lake Elsinore had turned to tumbleweeds and wildflowers without petals Tuesday, April 9. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

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The wildflower superbloom is over at Lake Elsinore as visitors stroll through Walker Canyon on Tuesday, April 9. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

Visitors learn Tuesday, April 9, that the field of orange poppies are now gone from Lake Elsinore. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

Daisies, in various stages of life, sway in Lake Elsinore on Tuesday, April 9. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)



The color of Lake Elsinore’s hills Tuesday, April 9, are a stark contrast to a few weeks ago when the superbloom was in full swing. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

Agoura Hills resident Irina Karra said Tuesday, April 9, that she didn’t mind Lake Elsinore’s browning hills after the superbloom ended. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

Orange poppies once blanketed this Lake Elsinore hillside, but Tuesday, April 9, it was clear the superbloom had ended. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

Some visitors to Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon remained Tuesday, April 9, though the superbloom was now over. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)

By Tuesday, April 9, the superbloom in Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon had wilted away. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)



In the wake of soaring spring temperatures, more than 90% of the California poppies at Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon have wilted. And on Tuesday, April 9, the hillsides were no longer painted a blazing orange. (Courtesy of Joe Sherrock)

More than 90% of the poppies at Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon are gone, and the rest are wilting. This California poppy was wilting in the early morning sun on Tuesday, April 9. (Courtesy of Joe Sherrock)

Three weeks ago, the hills at Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon were covered in orange California poppies. The wildflower superbloom drew tens of thousands of visitors from all over Southern California to see the rare site and take selfies. (Courtesy of Joe Sherrock)

“That really did a number on them,” Dustin McLain, chief of parks and resources for the Riverside County Park and Open-Space District, said of the heat.

McLain said botanist Ana Sawyer surveyed Walker Canyon on Tuesday morning, April 9, and found that more than 90 percent of the poppies were gone. Others were wilting fast.

Weary officials of the little Riverside County city that was overwhelmed by the unprecedented migration declared an end to the local bloom in a news release. And Nicole Dailey, assistant to the Lake Elsinore city manager, said in an email that the city will no longer offer weekend shuttles to the viewing site.

“The extreme beauty of our hillsides that drew attention from around the world is now diminishing quickly,” Mayor Steve Manos said. “And our residents sure are eager for things to get back to normal.”

Things were anything but normal the weekend of March 16-17, when an estimated 150,000 people descended on Lake Elsinore, hundreds of cars parked illegally on the 15, portable toilets at Walker Canyon were overflowing, and freeway and surface streets were mired in gridlock.

That led to the decision to close Walker Canyon to cars and to provide buses to shuttle visitors to the site. Ridership on those buses has steadily declined, falling to 12,062 the weekend of March 30-31 and to 4,658 this past weekend, city officials said.