In a word, it's great. Go if you possibly can. Best bloom in 30 years,
in national-park quality scenery, and without the crowds. You do need a
4x4 to get to the best blooms. The Kofa refuge is between Yuma and
Quartzsite, E of US-95.

We spent 3 days here last week (Mar 2-4), mostly in the northern part,
specifically in the Burro Canyon area. The park is just amazingly green
in the 'high' country -- you won't believe you're in western Arizona.
Looks more like Hawaii!

To visit Burro Canyon and vicinity, you'll need the official refuge map,
available at entry kiosks on all major roads into the refuge. Just N of
MP 92 on US-95, turn E on a graded dirt road that follows a phone line.
At jct. no. 22, bear right (if you have a 4wd HCV). This is one of the
prettiest stretches, with lots of flowers and wonderfully rugged
red-rock scenery. At 4.5 mi E of jct. 22, there's a closed road heading
S, up a canyon, with exceptionally nice poppy-lupine displays about a
half-mile in. Lots of nice campsites in this area.

At jct. 24, bear right and continue through more wonderful flowers and
red-rock scenery to the road-end. Supposedly there's a waterfall past
the windmill at the end, still running early last week, but we missed
it. More nice campsites in this area. Trust me, this is a trip you don't
want to miss.

You could get most of the way up Burro Canyon in a cautiously-driven
HCV. If you try, bear left at jct 22 (towards the microwave tower) and
follow the map. I wouldn't try the road between jcts 22 & 24 without a
4x4, as there are some steep spots and rock ledges that might hang up a
van or 2wd pickup. The graded Palm Canyon road is suitable for all cars,
and has nice flowers too, but no poppies. Plus the palms are way cool
(as is the canyon, literally).

http://www.dbg.org/ has a nice Kofa report dated 2-25-05 (look for
"Wildflower Infosite" sidebar, then scroll down), which was still valid
for our visit. Brittlebush were just getting started in the higher
elevations. Poppies, phacelia and lupines were in full bloom in big,
showy patches, with lots of other flowers in smaller numbers -- see the
refuge report for a species list. The bloom should be nice for another
week or two, unless it gets hot or windy. Note that the valley floor
flowers were mostly winding up last week. The good blooms are at
2000-3000 ft., considerably cooler & wetter than Yuma or Quartzsite.

In Quartzsite, try the Taco Mio for above-average Mexican food. It's on
the northside frontage rd, a half-block E of the US-95 overpass.
Macahaca & eggs for breakfast was the standout. The Super 8 motel is
clean and well-kept, but noisy.

Cheers -- "Poppy Pete" Tillman
Tucson