The Collection
Tap any photo for full details — species, family, elevation, and field notes.
Where They Grow
Every marker is a real GPS location from the photo's EXIF data, colored by elevation zone. Click one to see what was blooming there.
About This Guide
This catalog compiles wildflowers, shrubs, and a few other conspicuous organisms photographed along the Big Sam 50‑Miler loop across two trips. Species were identified from field photographs using the PlantNet API cross‑checked by eye, and grouped by elevation zone using each photo's actual GPS altitude.
The Emigrant Wilderness is less botanically surveyed than neighboring Yosemite, with no dedicated published wildflower flora — so a careful, photo‑anchored catalog like this has real reference value. Confidence ratings reflect how certain each identification is: High means diagnostic features were clear; Medium means the genus is secure but the species is inferred; Low is tentative.
Safety note: red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) is not safe raw, corn lily (Veratrum californicum) is highly toxic, and wolf lichen (Letharia vulpina) is poisonous. This guide is for identification and appreciation, not foraging.
The Route
- Loop distance
- 50+ trail miles
- Elevation range
- ~6,300 ft – ~9,700 ft
- High point
- Brown Bear Pass, 9,700 ft
- Photographs cataloged
- –
- Unique taxa
- –
- Photographer
- Brent Brown