#Superbloom or #poppynightmare? Selfie chaos forces canyon closure

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

#Superbloom or #poppynightmare? Selfie chaos forces canyon closure

California town bars access to site as stunning flowers draw at least 50,000 visitors

Katharine Gammon
Tue 19 Mar 2019 00.52 GMT Last modified on Tue 19 Mar 2019 02.26 GMT

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.”

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.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/18/super-bloom-lake-elsinore-poppies-flowers

[pansypoo53219]

1. very few humans can compete w/ nature. selfies are stupid.

[Blues Heron]

2. Aren't there zillions of miles of hills and vales throughout Socal?

why this one town, convenience?

[2naSalit]

3. This is

exactly what is happening to our National Parks and the small communities near them.