Avi Kwa Ame National Monument ~ Late Bloomers of Autumn

Photographs by Kim Garrison Means.

OCTOBER 2025

October is a beautiful month to visit Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, especially since we've received so much recent rain! The desert is now elegantly dressed in green and golden hues with accents of royal purple. Rabbitbrush, golden bush, snakeweed, desert marigold and goldeneye are a few of the fancifully-named plants that brighten the landscape with yellow blooms this time of year. There is so much water, you'll also see opportunistic bloomers (that usually like to flower in spring or summer, but are taking advantage of the abundance of rain) like creosote, desert purple sage, and giant four-o'clock bush. All of this autumn abundance is great news for our resident creatures — from rabbits to ravens, woodpeckers to woodrats, badgers to bobcats, everyone has more food and water to enjoy.  Come on over and take a stroll, hike or scenic drive down one of our back country roads, or take a picnic lunch and a camp chair and watch the action that comes with all of this abundance of nature!