Since having kids, months seem to fly by and please don’t ask me what the actual day is today, I only know it’s a soccer day, or a late pickup day or a one of the teens is driving so we are down one car today kind of day. But also it is April and the tulip fields near Seattle bloom around this time. And we had two non-aligning spring breaks so stayed locally. I was invited by one of the teens to go with them to the see the tulips and as a parent my rule is when you get invited with teens, it’s a must to go because you never know when your next chance might be. Tulip season is dictated by weather and each field is different but it usually lasts about a month and it usually happens sometime in April. I like that the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has a great website that lists the fields, prices and opening times to help make trip planning easy.
So are the tulip fields near Seattle overrated?
If you’re not from this area, the tulip fields are about an hour away from the city in Mount Vernon known especially for potatoes and tulip bulbs. I tend to avoid crowds at all costs as well as those awful porta potties that are popular at this tulip festival. And I was a little apprehensive that I would not like this trip at all after the first five minutes. But it was perfect. The weather this April has been gorgeous. The fields were in almost peek bloom and we spent a few hours there without any complaints. We went to both Roozengarde and Tulip Valley and both fields complemented each other so well. And we ran out of time and energy before we saw all that we wanted to see.
Roozengaarde
The Roozengaarde tulip fields are spectacular and maybe the most visited in Skagit Valley. It boasts a 7+ acre display garden as well as over 50 acres of tulip and daffodil fields planted with over tens of millions of flowers. You can buy tulip bulbs and cut flowers here and food as well but we it was a bit busy and we had other food plans for the day.
Tulip Valley
Tulip Valley farm is a newer farm going into its third season in 2025. We stopped by this farm because it was the only one with U-pick tulips. It ended up having the most adorable cows that you could feed tulip leaves too if you bought a bunch of U-pick tulips. On some Friday and Saturday evenings during the tulip festival there are “Nightbloom” events with music and laser lights. They had kettle corn for purchase while we were there but the person in front of us bought the last bag before it sold out.
Tulip Town
We didn’t visit Tulip Town this time but it’s also very popular and has big fields of tulips too. It’s also one of the only places you can bring your dog to the tulip fields. Make sure you read the FAQ’s and keep your dog on a short leash and check before you go because these things can always change.
Where to eat and visit nearby
Nearby the tulip fields you can visit Bow (for pizza at Terramar or pastries at Breadfarm or any place in this little town really it’s just adorable and worth a stop even though it’s one of the tiniest towns you’ll ever visit), Schuh Farms, Snow Goose Produce (for ice cream-probably the most popular stop after the tulips) or La Connor.
We stopped at Whidbey Island Bagels (it was about a 10 minute drive from Tulip Valley on the way back north to Seattle) because they have the best Rosemary Chive Sea Salt bagel and it usually sells out before the end of the day.
(PS. if you love the area and it’s too late in spring for the tulips, you can visit so many farmstands nearby in the late springs, summer and early fall and I have a post about a Skagit Valley farmstand tour we did if you want to read more.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
3 thoughts on “Don’t forget to put the tulip fields near Seattle in April on your must see list”
Comments are closed.