Looking for cherry blossoms in Seattle?
The cherry blossom season is just about to begin here in Seattle. These spring-heralding flowers start to bloom in the Emerald City starting near the middle or end of March and lasting for about two weeks. To help you get your best shot for Instagram, we rounded up the best places to see the cherry blossoms in Seattle.
Everyone in Seattle turns out to celebrate this much-needed sign of springtime, so some of these spots can get pretty crowded. You can also find cherry blossoms in your own neighborhood; scroll to the end of this article for our best tip for finding cherry blossoms near you.
Here are the top five places to see cherry blossoms in Seattle this spring:
1. University of Washington
The University of Washington is perhaps the most famous place in Seattle for cherry blossom viewing every spring. Starting around mid-March, you’ll want to head over to the university to see the quad explode with pink blossoms. For updates you can follow the UW Cherry Blossoms Twitter account
2. Washington Park Arboretum
The Washington Park Arboretum is a beautiful place to explore year-round. In the spring, you can walk along the arboretum’s Azalea Way to see blooming cherry blossoms, azaleas, dogwoods, and more springtime flowers.
3. Green Lake
You’ll be able to find quite a few cherry blossom trees blooming along Green Lake’s 2.8-mile paved path this spring. If the weather is nice, it’s also a great place for a picnic.
4. Seward Park
Seward Park is another lovely option for seeing cherry blossoms in Seattle this spring. You can also drive north from Seward Park along Lake Washington Boulevard South to see more cherry blossom trees with the lake in the background.
5. Seattle Center
Every spring, cherry blossom trees bloom at Seattle Center. The best time to go see them is in April for the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival. This year the free festival takes place on April 14-16. Read more about the festival on the Seattle Center website.
Hot tip: you can also use this map of Seattle trees that was created by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to find cherry blossoms near you. As you can see on the legend in the upper right corner, the blue dots represent the Prunus (cherry/plum) trees in the city. Many Seattle neighborhoods are full of side streets and residential roads that explode with cherry blossoms every spring, so go and explore (while being respectful of private residences, of course).