Fields filled with tulips in brilliant reds, sunny yellows and audacious oranges are positively captivating. And while many travel north to the Skagit Valley for its famous Tulip Festival, folks who live in southwestern Washington know the search for spring color can be much closer at hand.
That’s why they head to DeGoede’s Bulb Farm and Gardens in Mossyrock.
DeGoede’s has 40 acres of tulips, all equally gorgeous. Spend your day traipsing among Blushing Beauties in apricot and red, taking in the brilliant red of a Peking tulip, and investigating the sunny yellows of daffodils blooming nearby.
Of course, a tulip tour could easily be just a small part of a bigger Lewis County trip. Take one of a variety of scenic loops to reach Mossyrock, dipping past Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville and the Mt. Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum en route from Seattle. Extend your trip with a tour of the Mt. Rainier National Park, a venture to Mount St. Helens or a tour through the Yakima Valley wineries. Then, before and after you hit the fields, spend a morning antique-hunting in Centralia followed by a late-afternoon steam-train ride on the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad.
—David Volk
