Tips for Visiting the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

I’m sure that you’ll agree with me that there are few things in this world as beautiful as a field of full of flowers. The people of Skagit Valley, Washington agree and love their blooms so much that they host annual festivals to celebrate with other flower-lovers.
This month’s guest of honor: tulips.

About an hour’s drive north of Seattle lie the fertile fields of Skagit Valley. Every year the local farmers grow acres of gorgeous blooms for everyone’s enjoyment. The town of Mount Vernon (home to the Tulip Festival) has a calendar of events during the month of April, with their Tulip Festival Street Fair from April 19-21. Skagit Valley has a long list of activities to choose from, and if you would prefer to have a guide that will plan your trip/route as well as provide information as you go, there are Skagit Valley Tulip Tours available as well!

While there are many tulip farms in the Mount Vernon area, the two main visitor-friendly farms are: “Roozengaarde” and “Tulip Town“. Roozengaarde even offers a “Bloom Map” to show you what’s currently blooming (and stays up-to-date!). I admit that I have only been to Roozengaarde so far (and have had great experiences), but we plan to visit Tulip Town this year to mix things up! The prices, attractions and amenities seem to be pretty similar/competitive between the two, so it doesn’t seem like you can go wrong with either location.

The rows of lush colors stretch as though they go on forever — they’re so beautiful!

I would also like to mention that you should be respectful of any signs asking you not to walk in between the rows of flowers. I know that it’s hard to resist the temptation, but there will be employees monitoring the fields that will ask you to leave if you disobey.

When planning your trip to The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, these are the tips that we wish we had known before our first visit:

GET. THERE. EARLY.
If you want to avoid crowds/traffic, I highly recommend arriving as early as you can manage. The traffic is insane because the farms only have little two-lane roads once you get through the small town of Mount Vernon. The line of cars will back up onto the freeway before you even reach the exit – it’s crazy! The farms open at 10:00am so you’ll want to plan your trip to arrive closer to 9:30am to find parking, pay for admission and possibly take photos before hundreds of other people wander into your shots.

Bring Cash
While both main farms accept credit/debit cards (and checks!?) to pay for admission and for any gift shop purchases, it’s so much more efficient to pay with cash (the credit card machines take longer to process payments, therefore backing up the lines!). Arrive prepared: admission is $10 per person on weekends and $7 per person on weekdays.

Wear Waterproof Shoes
I foolishly wore sandals on my first trip to Skagit Valley and ended up squishing into the ground everywhere, ruining my shoes, my feet got filthy and I was limited in where I could walk due to frequent and LARGE mud puddles (not necessarily deep, but definitely wide!). This is the perfect opportunity to wear your rain boots, “duck” boots (such as L.L.Bean, Sorel and Sperry), or any knock-around shoes that you don’t care about getting muddy/dirty.

(You see what I mean?? #rookiemistake ^^ 😂 )

As an added bonus, there may still be daffodils available for your viewing pleasure in neighboring fields. They’re all just such happy flowers and our first foray into the spring season!

I can’t wait to put freshly cut blooms all over our house!

Leave me a comment about your favorite experiences in Skagit Valley – I’d love to hear about them!

xx, Natalie