This weekend thousands of tourists frolicked through fields of poppies in southern California, posting photos tagged #superbloom. But for the town of Lake Elsinore, the influx of visitors quickly became a #poppynightmare.

Nestled in the hills of western Riverside county, Lake Elsinore ground to a halt when at least 50,000 people flocked to the area, trampling flowers and creating hours-long traffic snarls on Interstate 15 and city streets around the trailhead. Things got so bad that the town was forced on Sunday to bar access to Walker Canyon, one of the most popular sites for poppy seekers.

“This weekend has been unbearable in Lake Elsinore,” the city wrote on its Facebook and Instagram pages, adding the hashtag #poppynightmare. “We know it has been miserable and has caused unnecessary hardships for our entire community.”

A photoshoot in the poppy fields near Lake Elsinore. Photograph: Etienne Laurent/EPA

Social media is being partly blamed for the super bloom bonanza, with thousands of photos pouring on to Instagram over the weekend. Some of the most popular posts soon drew critical comments: “Trampling the flowers for a photo? Now they shut it down,” wrote one user. “Not worth it for a pic.”

Meanwhile Lake Elsinore’s mayor, Steve Manos, has been on a social media blitz of his own, posting regular Facebook video updates on what he dubbed “poppy-palooza”. They show bumper-to-bumper traffic and cars illegally parked on the highway, as well as offering advice for how visitors can avoid the crush.

Kirstin Burrows, who has lived in the town for three years, said the weekend had brought the worst crowding she had ever seen. “The last super bloom, two years ago, was nothing like this,” she says. “This bloom is so much larger and getting so much press, it’s destroying the area.”

Burrows said her husband had tried to get to a work event on Sunday, typically only a 45-minute drive, but he turned around after sitting in traffic for an hour and a half. “There really is no solution for dealing with this influx of visitors,” she said.

The super bloom has blanketed Walker Canyon in orange flowers. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The crowds also faced another obstacle: rattlesnakes, who are waking up from hibernation this spring and are at their most active. At least one visitor was bitten, while another visitor was injured by scrambling up rocks off the paths.

Super blooms can have big impacts on small towns. In 2017, the last time that southern California rains brought crowds to see the colors, the town of Borrego Springs experienced a “Flowergeddon”, running out of bathrooms, gasoline, and food. This year, Borrego has been better, but other places are feeling the burn of crowds.

On Monday morning, the canyon reopened – with extremely limited parking. In the city’s latest Facebook video, visitors can be seen streaming past Mayor Manos and into the canyon as he urges people to consider visiting on a different day: “We are full.”