Wildflower spectacle far from over. Badger Mountain expert shows what to see now

Mid to late spring is the season for wildflower hikes and Tri-Cities has the Badger Mountain Preserve, one of the best regional parks to see the amazing variety and colorful splendor.

Rick Merrill, a local wildflower aficionado extraordinaire, has spent years identifying and documenting the wildflowers on Badger Mountain.

“Places like the Gorge or the Wenatchee foothills, are hours away, while Badger is practically in our backyard and it’s a quick trip to get to the trailhead.”

In 2020, he created a Facebook page to capture his trips and discoveries in a photo chronology titled Badger Mountain (Tri-Cities) Wildflowers.

“There are a lot more flowers besides the phlox, balsamroot, and lupine that everyone is used to seeing,” he said.

His colorful posts identify the date, and each of his amazing photos offer captions that identify the name of the wildflower and species.

Going up Sagebrush and Skyline trails to the summit and down the Canyon trial is a great choice for a quick trip. It takes you on both the north and south sides of the mountain, which have many distinct flowers that only grow on one side or the other.

If you only hike the Canyon Trail up and down, there’s a lot of flowers you won’t ever see.

Early morning and late evening are the best times for pretty lighting on the flowers and the surrounding hills.

The flower season on Badger goes from about the first week of March to the middle of June.

Peak time on Badger, usually around mid-April to early May, is when the largest number of flowers are present.

By the end of March a dozen or so different flowers are in some stage of blooming. By mid to end of April, more than thirty different species are blooming.

Flowers fade away in early June.

Merrill’s May 8, 2025 report

Walked the Trailhead loop on Saturday and the west Skyline to the summit and back on Sunday. Flowers were very restless Saturday (windy), while Sunday was beautiful.

Thirty-seven different blooms found along the trails, though many are fading or pretty much done with just a bloom or two remaining. But don’t despair. While the glory blooms of balsamroot, lupine, and phlox are on their way out, there are still more to come before the show ends.

Carey’s balsamroot still has lots of blooms, but is fading from its peak.

Carey’s Balsamroot along the Skyline Trail.

Yellow mounds of bright yellow Piper’s fleabane are in full bloom along the Skyline trail.

Cream colored puffballs (sometimes yellow) of the strict buckwheat can occasionally be seen, with quite a few in the short switchbacks by the Lake Lewis marker at the east end of the Skyline trail.

Spiny hopsage blooms are mostly yellow-green, but watch them turn a beautiful pink and magenta in the coming weeks.

Purple sage is showing up, and there is lots of cushion fleabane, but it’s beginning to fade a little. Purple sage is near the top of Badger Mountain on the Skyline Trail.

Look for the yellowish green spikes of Thompson’s paintbrush on the hillside next to the first flight of stairs at the trailhead.

And try and find the basin cat’s-eye, probably the smallest flower to be found on Badger.

Look for a scraggly looking plant with little dots of white here and there at the side of the trail. If you look closely, you might be able to see the flowers, but a picture and zooming in may be necessary to see the detail.

Lots of variety still to be found right now. Get out on the trails and enjoy the warmer weather!

What’s blooming on Badger Mountain this week

Full bloom: basin cat’s-eye, buckwheat milkvetch, cushion fleabane, nine-leaf biscuitroot, Piper’s fleabane, purple sage, redstem storksbill (non-native), showy Townsend daisy, small-flowered fiddleneck, spiny hopsage, strict buckwheat, tarweed fiddleneck, Thompson’s paintbrush, thread-leaf fleabane, thread-leaf phacelia, tumble mustard (non-native), upland larkspur, wing-nut cryptantha, yarrow, yellow salsify.

Early blooming: Loesel’s tumblemustard (non-native), Munro’s globemallow, slender hawksbeard, winterfat,

Fading: Bingen lupine, blue umber-lily, Carey’s balsamroot, clasping peppergrass (non-native), Columbian puccoon, false agoseris, long-horn plectritis, long-leaf phlox, Robinson’s onion, rosy balsamroot, sprawling milkvetch, tansy mustard, woollypod milkvetch.

You can get free access to Rick Merrill’s updates at Badger Mountain (Tri-Cities) Wildflowers

Merrill has identified 66 individual species of wildflowers on Badger Mountain. To see what is

currently blooming or to find out what has been blooming in the past, click on the “Media” folder and then the “Albums.”