Warm Winter, Late Snow Doom Daffodil Hill For 2018
VOLCANO (CBS13) — For the first time in Daffodil Hill's history there will not be a season.
It's one of Amador County's largest tourist attractions, but unfortunately, the weather has put a damper on the season.
"We're sorry to announce that we are not going to be open at all this year," said Sheriff Martin Ryan of Amador County.
Warmer weather forced many buds to bloom too soon, and late snow dampened any plans to open.
"As time went on the flowers were just not going to make it, and we can see that they were broken down and some of them had already cycled out," he said.
The sheriff's family has been planting bulbs here in Amador County for generations. The fields usually bud more than 300,000 spring perennials.
"First year we can remember, my brothers and I can remember, we didn't open for a single day," Ryan said who owns the land with his two brothers.
Even if just for a weekend, they'd open up if 25 percent were in bloom, but this year they barely had 10 to 15 percent.
"We kept hoping that we'd have that opportunity to open," he said.
Plus, the mud and clay covered paths would be a slippery slope.
"It just got to the point where it really wasn't feasible," he added.
But that doesn't mean there's not more to do.
"We worry that people are going to forget about Volcano," said Amy Stuart who works at The Country Store.
That's right; Daffodil Hill is just one attraction in the historic town of 100 that can explode into the thousands on a springtime day.
"We've been here since 1852, and then there's the theater company and the art gallery and the St. George, the Union," she said.
So while there may be no Daffodil Hill this time, there's still plenty to do.
"Come spend some time up in Amador County it's a beautiful place anyway," the sheriff added.
Now all they can hope for next year is spring to bring back the golden season.
Daffodil Hill has been open and free to the public for almost 80 years.