Woodburn, Oregon: Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

The Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, located in Woodburn, OR, opened March 23rd and will finish April 29th, 2019. This is the 35th year you are able to experience these field of Tulips varying in colors and sizes, but my first time visiting.  The festival is dog friendly to leashed dogs, so I decided to bring Dakota. I just happened to find this place after spending a while on Google trying to figure out my next move.  I’m currently heading to my next travel nurse contract and driving from CA to WA. I originally planned on driving up the Oregon Coast, but the weather has not been kind. A storm is brewing on the coastal line so I decided to switch up my route and drive more in land.  Sometimes the best things come from detours.

Upon arrival to the Wooden Shoe Farm there is a $5 charge (cash or credit card) to enter the parking lot. From there you can walk around the gift shop or browse the crafts and food tents. There is also wine tasting! Some of these places only accept cash, don’t worry if you forget cash, there is an ATM machine available next to the gift shop.

Let’s be real, you will probably save that stuff for the end.  You’re there to experience the main event! The Tulips! You can access them two ways. First is to walk to them, it’s not far, but still a little bit of a walk.  The second is a complimentary trailer/hay ride that goes back and forth often ushering tourists from one end to the other.

It had been raining so I made sure to wear my rain boots and I’m happy I made that decision… There was A Lot of mud! I came April 4th and while there were a lot of tulips bloomed, many were still closed.  I would suggest coming a week later when more flowers have opened up, but it wasn’t crowded which made for a definite silver lining.

Tulips are one of my favorite flowers, so I could spend hours at a tulip festival.  There were benches and tractors laid out on the premise to sit on and bask in the beauty.  Of course it started to rain again, as it does in the PNW region, so Dakota and I caught the trailer back to the parking lot and continued on our drive North.