Where to find cherry blossoms and trilliums in the Seattle area

Flowering cherry trees and trilliums are some of the first hints that the Northwest is shifting from its chilly mood to a more hospitable demeanor. So come out, come out, wherever you’re bunkering: It’s time to say an early hello to spring. Take a walk in search of cherry blossoms to ease into fairer weather.

But where, exactly? We asked outdoor-savvy folks for tips to help walkers make the most of their version of spring training. Here’s where you can walk among the blossoms in Greater Seattle.

Peak bloom is coming

The unofficial opening day for cherry blossom walk season arrives when the blossoms on the 29 cherry trees in the Quad on the University of Washington campus attain peak bloom — that is, when at least 70% of the blossoms have emerged, according to the school.

When is that? UW arborist Sara Shores offers this 2024 forecast: “We are considering the weekend of March 23-24 to be the full bloom weekend, with plenty of flowers in the week prior and after,” she said. Conveniently, the third annual U District Cherry Blossom Festival runs March 16 through April 1.

You can gauge the timing for yourself by visiting UW’s site dedicated to tree viewing, where there’s a webcam, a map showing cherry tree varieties on campus, transit info and more.

This is Seattle’s cherry blossom hub: Crowds are unavoidable; weekends are a benign madhouse.

Tom Eng, a trip leader and council member of the Foothills Branch of The Mountaineers, suggests combining a congested stroll beneath the cherry trees with a walk in the open spaces of the nearby Union Bay Natural Area, a 50-acre former landfill near Husky Stadium. The natural area offers no flowering trees, but lots of peacefulness and views across the water to Mount Rainier.

Not far to the south, Eng points out, is the Washington Park Arboretum, a 230-acre natural showroom where colors pop in spring and fall. Azalea Way, a major path in the heart of the arboretum, guides walkers for three-quarters of a mile past cherry trees in addition to dogwoods, magnolias and glowing displays of azaleas. “The colors in spring are just fantastic,” Eng said.

Keep going south for more cherry blossoms: Flowering trees can be found in Seward Park and along nearby Lake Washington Boulevard, in addition to nearby Jefferson Park.

For those outside Seattle, try Point Defiance Park in Tacoma or Downtown Park in Bellevue.

Trillium and more spring trails

At picturesque Yao Garden in Bellevue Botanical Garden, “there are no cherry trees,” said garden director James Gagliardi. But the garden does have the other harbinger of early spring, trilliums, in spades.

“The one species native to King County, T. ovatum, is all around our woods, and has been planted extensively in the Native Discovery Garden,” Gagliardi said. “It peaks late March to mid-April.”

Gagliardi says the garden also hosts early-spring plants such as salmonberry, skunk cabbage and red-flowering currant. For trilliums, The Moutaineers’ Eng also likes Paradise Valley Conservation Area in Woodinville and Kirkland’s Bridle Trails State Park.

Jake and Cathy Jaramillo are co-creators of “Seattle Stairway Walks,” their “up-and-down guide” to city neighborhoods. Cathy Jaramillo said “this is the time of year when we start heading out to check out what stairways have survived the winter rains. But it’s really an excuse to check out the budding blossoms along our favorite stairway walks.”

One of her top springtime picks is a North Capitol Hill loop around the Howe and Blaine stairs.

“Right at the start, alongside the descending stairs just off East Blaine Street and 10th Avenue East, you’ll pass Streissguth Gardens,” she said. “Dan and Anne Streissguth bought the acreage across the Blaine stairs from their home and then transformed it into a colorful paradise of cultivated plants and native plants.”

For cherry trees and more, Jaramillo also likes Seward Park. There, walkers can spot trillium and Indian plum along the Lost Lake, Woodpecker and Licorice Fern trails around this time of year.