If you're looking for somewhere to drive the next few weeks, you'll want to check out Richardson Farm and its hundreds of thousands of tulips blooming over the next few weeks.

Head east on 173 out of Rockford. Go through Harvard, Woodstock, and Hebron. Just before you get to Antioch, about 90 minutes away, you'll come across Richardson Farms, the home of this massive Tulip Fest.

(And they appear to have a massive corn maze in the fall. Something to keep in mind for an October road trip.)

Nearly 40,000 people visited the tulip festival in 2021. They've almost doubled the amount of tulips this year and with COVID less of a factor this year, Richardson Farms is expecting a huge turnout.

attachment-We think we'll have a half a million tulips blooming... 300,000 bulbs in the fall of 2020 and 300,000 more in November of 2021. It should really be a sight to see.
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As you can see, not only are the tulip fields beautiful to look at, they also provide some very social media worthy picture opportunities:

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Richardson Farms Tulip Fest is scheduled to start on April 23rd but that is just an estimate. A warning on their website lets you know to check with them to make sure the flowers have actually bloomed and the attraction is open.

As of April 4th, we anticipate the fields will open on the 23rd of April ... BUT ... that's our best guess. Make sure this page of Facebook says that the fields are open before visiting.

They have 30 varieties of tulips planted, ready to pop including:

  • Border Buddies Blend (Darwin Hybrid)
  • Apeldoorn
  • Apeldoorn's Elite
  • Apricot Impression
  • Banja Luka
  • Conqueror
  • Daydream
  • Design Impression
  • Fostery King
  • Golden Apledoorn
  • Jaap Groot
  • Orange van Eijk
  • Pink Impression
  • Red Impression
  • Tripple A
  • Van Eijk
  • World's Favourite (Tulips Fringed)
  • Purple Crystal (Tulips Single Late)
  • Blushing Beauty
  • Hella Lights
  • Jumbo Beauty
  • Kingsblood
  • Queen of Night
  • Super Life (Tulips Triumph)
  • Alectric
  • Flarnin Flag
  • Kansas Proud
  • Leen Van Der Mark
  • Purple Flag
  • Snowboard

Who knew there were so many different types of tulips?

Tickets to the Richardson Tulip Fest are $12/$15 for weekdays/weekends and can be bought ahead of time on their website. 

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