Super bloom visitors land helicopter on flowers, to dismay of officials

Flower lovers are going to new heights to get to this year’s super bloom.

On Tuesday, park officials with the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve said that a pair of visitors had set a helicopter down Monday amid the fields of orange blossoms in Lancaster and then proceeded to walk around.

“We never thought it would be explicitly necessary to state that it is illegal to land a helicopter in the middle of the fields and begin hiking off trail in the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve,” officials said in a Facebook post along with the hashtag #Don’tDoomTheBloom.

“We were wrong.”

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A couple landed the helicopter and walked out onto the fields of flowers, the park said. When a law enforcement officer began approaching, the pair ran back to the chopper and flew away.

Staff members are working to identify the helicopter and its pilot, said Russ Dingman, a spokesman for the reserve.

“This could have been a serious incident. Luckily no one was injured,” he said.

Many of the state’s massive wildflower blooms run the risk of being destroyed by visitors. Last week, Lake Elsinore closed access to its poppy fields in Walker Canyon after throngs descended on the delicate blooms.

Order was restored over the weekend when the city put in place new rules to deal with rampant crowds.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra