This isolated plain bordered by the Temblor Range, the San Andreas Fault, and the extensive petroleum deposits of the McKittrick field, explodes with color each spring as runoff from winter rains fill Soda Lake and awaken dormant wildflowers. Goldfields, owl's clover, and tidy-tips paint the 50 mile long by 15 mile wide plain for about six weeks. Administered by the US Bureau of Land Management, it was designated a National Monument in 2001, yet still allows livestock to graze
on this large remaining tract of native grassland.
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