If you’ve been on instagram, or watched the news, you’ll probably notice fields of poppies blanketing mountainsides and droves of people trying to take pictures in them.

The reality is most people are backing up traffic for miles around, trampling the flowers and desperately looking for angles to crop other people out of their shots. Oh, and don’t forget the incredibly cute outfit you just happen to be wearing that matches the vibrant sunset hue. It is entertaining to watch girls in long dresses and over sized hats with their friend dressed in their PJ’s carrying a camera walking along the highway to spend 10 minutes taking a photo before they walk all the way back to their car. Believe it or not, there are places these flowers exist without the mass droves of people and an adorable floral dress is not required, but if you have one, why not? Sadly, no, I will definitely not tell you where this is, but I will give you a few hints.

1. You’ll lose cell signal.
2. You’ll question if you’re lost about 17 times.
3. You’ll question if you’re actually still on a road or something that was last traveled during the gold rush.
4. You’ll ask yourself is that a bird or government drone?

After all that, you’ll get this… and not a single other soul for miles.

The poppy bloom lasts for about 4 weeks giving you plenty of time to take in the vivd landscape and there are more areas than just Walker Canyon to check out. The south entrance at Joshua tree is covered in wild flowers and the northern part of Anza Borrego has flower fields as well, including sunflowers at certain times of year. Another popular destination is Antelope Valley