We are in the final stretch of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival AND our tulips are beautiful! Shown at the start of this post is a photo of RoozenGaarde field taken on April 23.

This is a photo of Garden Rosalyn taken on April 25.

With it being the last two days of the festival, we know traffic will be busy! Here are some suggestions to minimize your wait in line:

• Use Exit 230 (Highway 20) from I-5 and go west, then turn left on Best Road. From there proceed south on Best Road until you get to Mc Lean Rd. Now you are in the middle of tulip country. A left on McLean Rd. takes you to the turn offs for our four gardens (Garden Rosalyn, RoozenGaarde, Tulip Valley Farms, and Tulip Town). Straight takes you to beautiful crop fields grown by RoozenGaarde.
• Or, use 221 at Conway and go west on Fir Island Rd. There is an info booth at the Fir Conway Lutheran Church and they can help you with navigation and directions.
• We love to have you in downtown Mount Vernon, BUT tulip fans who take Exit 226 will all have to cross a bridge over the Skagit River that creates a bottleneck (one lane each direction). So, it means time waiting in traffic to get to the roads leading to the tulip growing area.
• When you leave, we suggest you reverse your route.
• Secret entrance to watch for at RoozenGaarde: if you are headed west on Mc Lean Rd., watch for parking at the back entrance to RoozenGaarde. This will save you the time to wait in traffic to get through the Beaver Marsh and McLean Rd. intersection. There will be a sign that says RoozenGaarde parking. You get to come in the back way to the garden.

This is a picture of Tulip Town taken on April 24:

We suggest you buy tickets in advance — pre-purchased tickets help you move through the entrances at each garden. Go here for complete information on ticketing for our gardens.

This is a picture of a RoozenGaarde field taken on April 27:

We have lots of activity still going on for the festival — art shows, appearances by our festival artist, Woodfest (in Sedro-Woolley), tea and tulips, boat tours, farms and nurseries to visit and a petting farm ran by our local 4-H club in Conway.

Here is a picture of Tulip Valley Farms taken on April 27:

We hope you find your favorite gem in our Magic Skagit Valley. Explore the Heritage Flight Museum (started by Apollo Astronaut Bill Anders), or the Quilt and Fiber Museum or the Skagit County Historical Museum.