I recently did one of the classic Seattle area day trips: driving up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival to see the tulip fields in full bloom.
For those not from the area, or those merely enticed by the beautiful photos, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is the largest tulip festival in North America. Skagit Valley is located roughly an hour and a half north of Seattle. Whenever the tulips are in bloom, Seattle social media is filled with posts including the gorgeous colors. Four gardens (at least in spring 2024) participate in allowing visitors to roam their fields and gardens.
The following tips are from my experience at the Tulip Festival when I went with my good friend and her seven month old. Out of the four gardens we chose to go to Roozengaarde as that seemed to be the largest field. It has a mixture of display garden and actual tulip fields, and seemed the most accessible (or at least had the most information on their website) for bringing a stroller. Tickets seem similarly priced for all gardens at an average of $15 per person, although it varies a bit by whether you buy them ahead of time, or if you go on a weekend vs a weekday.
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Tips
Tip #1: Go Early
Having a baby means my friend operates on an earlier schedule than my childless self, so when she suggested leaving Seattle at 8:30 a.m. I almost died. However, the timing actually ended up being perfect. 8:30 allowed us to escape whatever rush hour traffic might have existed, and even with a stop for coffee we arrived at Roozengaarde around 10 a.m., an hour after it opened.
At 10 a.m. there were people at the farm, but not a crushing amount. By the time we left at noon there were beginning to be hordes of people. Going early meant we avoided some of the crowd in the fields, but also got to park closer in the parking lot and avoid the traffic going to the area. Go as early as you can, as I only imagine it got worse as the day went on.
Tip #2: Go on a Weekday, if you can
One of the main reasons I had never been to the tulip festival were the warnings of bad traffic headed to the fields. Once you get off I-5, everything consists of small two-lane roads which can become easily jammed with a large influx of traffic. We went on a gorgeous sunny Thursday and had none of the traffic issues, but I can see how it becomes a disaster on the weekends. If you have to go on a weekend, I would follow tip #1 and go as early as possible and hope for the best.
Tip #3: Be prepared for the conditions
We got extremely lucky by having a beautiful day to take in the tulip fields. Seattle has had an unusually dry April, which led to the paths in between the fields being dry and easy to traverse. I can certainly see this being an issue if it’s rained at any point recently, so make sure you pack boots and if you’re planning on bringing a stroller make sure to keep the possibility of mud in mind.
Also, make sure to time your trip to the blooms! The official website has a Bloom Status tracker which shows you how advanced the tulips are in their bloom cycle. Of course Mother Nature varies year by year, but mid-April is your most likely sweet spot. Mid-April is also still very much in the rainy part of the season for Seattle, so if you’re local keep an eye on the weather forecast for the most optimal day.
Tip #4: Follow directions
I mean I guess this isn’t really a tip, but if the sign says to not go in the fields, don’t go in the fields! We all want that beautiful unblocked shot of the colorful landscape, but trampling on the flowers to get that isn’t the way to go. I luckily didn’t see any of this behavior when I went, but the frequency of notices make me think it’s more common than it should be.
Luckily, Roozengarde makes it easy to get those photos of being amongst the tulips by having little cutouts at the end of some of the rows. There you can really get close to the blooms without the danger of trampling the flowers.
Tip #5: Go ahead, enjoy yourself!
I brought a selfie stick and a remote control for my phone camera so I could get different angles of the tulips. I felt a little silly until I saw people dressed up in full on cottage-core (with baskets and hair ribbons!) and others dressed up for a family photo. So, go bring your best camera and floral outfit and have fun! As long as you’re following the farm’s directions, take advantage of the gorgeous backdrop and go get that new Tinder photo.
But even if you’re not in it for photos, take a few moments and just appreciate the beautiful array of vibrant colors. You don’t have to go to Europe for beautiful floral fields, you can find them right in Seattle’s backyard.
