wildflower season?

I'm heading to Oregon and Washington for the second half of May. Are wildflowers blooming during this time and if so, where would be some good areas to go? I'm planning to be on the coast and Columbia River Gorge as well as North Cascades Park, but have plenty of freedom to go other places. Thanks for any help you can provide!

The Gorge should have flowers out, but the North Cascades don't see flower blooms until the end of July at the very earliest.

Dog Mountain is a reasonable bet for that time of year. It is a serious, although not too long, hike up and out of the gorge, but the views are epic. Others may want to chime in, but I believe late May and early June are typical times to catch flowers.

If you're looking for individual flowers, you'll find plenty along the waterfall trails in the Gorge, but for masses of color the upper part of Dog Mountain is probably about it for that area. As John mentions, the views are spectacular, but the trail will give you a bit of a workout; I highly recommend walking sticks/trekking poles for the descent.

In Washington, you'll find some lovely fields of lupine blooming at Weyerhauser headquarters in Federal Way, a little south of Seattle. Also at Weyerhauser is the Rhododendron Species Garden; depending on how the weather plays out this spring, late May could be very good or a little late for the best rhody bloom there.

If you venture to the eastern side of the Cascades in Washington, you should find some nice areas of balsamroot and lupine in the low to mid elevation areas at Blewett Pass (Hwy 97 north of Ellensburg) and around Patterson Mountain just west of Winthrop (just east of North Cascades NP).

Late May is a great time for the coast in both Washington and Oregon.

Thank you guys for the advice. Hopefully I'll be able to find some good stuff! Greg- your book has been very helpful.

Just what the doctor ordered:
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/seasonal-hikes/spring-destinations/10_great-desert-hikes
:D