by Colin Eldridge
Last summer, the Lake Fire wreaked havoc in the San Rafael Mountains. This year, we get to watch the wonder of regeneration as wildflowers bloom through the charred soil, as oaks send up new shoots from the base of burnt stands, and as the black hills turn green again.
On a recent excursion to Figueroa mountain, the scene was tragic yet beautiful; a lush multicolor groundcover of wildflower blooms contrasted with dead stands, next to completely black and charred hillsides. It will take a long time for the ecosystem to fully recover from this devastating fire, but we are beginning to see nature at work.
During the excursion, we ran into amateur botanist Mike Reynolds, who was surveying a cliffside for local flora. He informed us that the wildfire made it rough for a lot of the local native species, like the bigberry manzanita. These slow-growing shrubs that can be several decades old don’t typically bounce back after a wildfire. Luckily, however, serpentine rocks insulated and protected native species from the fire in some areas, including some of these slow-growing manzanitas, but also several dudlia succulents, chaparral yuccas, various wildflowers, and wild onions. On the cliffside where we found Mike were multiple half-burnt manzanita shrubs and yuccas that seemed to be surviving and making a comeback.
Unfortunately, many of the burnt stands of pines (particularly gray pine, coulter pine, and a few jeffrey pines) may not make a recovery, as the fire completely scorched them from head to toe. However, several coast live oaks that appeared dead were sending up shoots from their roots, which is a good sign.
These photos were taken on April 6th, 2025, along Figueroa Mountain Road. The road is just a short 40-minute drive from Cachuma Lake, and part of the lake is visible from higher points on this road.
Enjoy this album of our excursion to Figueroa Mountain. All photos were taken by Colin Eldridge. On mobile, swipe left or right to see the next image. On desktop, hover over the right or left edge of the image and click the arrow. To see the full gallery with captions, click or tap on the center of the image. You can also view the full album on our Facebook page.
If you can identify any of the species in these photos, let us know by emailing info@clnaturecenter.org.
Figueroa Mountain Wildflower Bloom + Fire Regeneration
Colin Eldridge
Colin is an avid naturalist and writer. He contributes to the Neal Taylor Nature Center as a docent, web designer, and photographer. He has also worked on co-creating and updating multiple Nature Center exhibits, such as the plant room, the “Going Batty” presentation and more.
