Visiting Carrizo Plain National Monument Elkhorn Road & Hurricane Road Scenic Adventure

Carrizo Plain National Monument is one of California's best kept secrets, only a few hours from Los Angeles. The Carrizo Plain made the news during its wildflower super bloom in the Spring of 2019, otherwise few know about its natural beauty and historic roots. It is a great destination for visitors to explore nature, the environment changes drastically in appearance during the different seasons. In December, the plain’s vegetation takes on earth tones contrasted by the white glistening bed of white salt of Soda Lake after it dries out in the summer months. The lake is 3,000 acres, the largest remaining natural alkali wetland in southern California and the only closed basin within the coastal mountains. There are historic remains of dry-land grain farming homesteads and farming equipment as well as ranching activities. The Monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management along with other partners. The plain is home to diverse communities of wildlife and plant species, is an area culturally important to Native Americans such as the Chumash, and is traversed by the San Andreas fault, which has created and moved mountain ranges, carved valleys and is marked by a subtle alignment of ridges, ravines and pools.