| Wildflower Destinations > Central Oregon |
Rooper Road & Lawrence Grassland
Wasco County, Oregon
Bureau of Land Management & Nature Conservancy
Fees: none
Activity: drive + hiking
Elevation: 3170'-3540'
Current status (as of 11/17/24): not blooming
Notes: The first part of Rooper Road — the east end, at Highway 218 — is one of the easiest places to find John Day desert parsley (Lomatium minus); just look for pink flowers in the swaths of chunky basalt that look like roads or lava flows through the sagebrush. You'll find lots of cous biscuitroot (Lomatium cous) here too, as well as several other desert parsleys.
Peak wildflower bloom along Rooper Road & Lawrence Grassland is typically from early April through mid-May, but there may be some flowers blooming from mid-March until the end of May.*
Typical year: 
Featured plants: Lomatium minus, Lomatium cous
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* The dates given on this Web site for each location's blooming season are only estimates and can vary from year to year. Weather conditions in the winter and spring can shift these dates by up to a month, especially in the mountains. For the latest updates, check the Oregon Wildflowers or PortlandHikers Facebook groups, or browse the most recent postings to iNaturalist or Instagram.
