10 Unlikely Cherry Blossom Destinations in the U.S.

Seattle

By mid-March, the 29 Yoshino cherry trees planted on the University of Washington’s Liberal Arts Quadrangle are typically efflorescing into pale-pink puffs, like giant botanical versions of cotton candy. While sakura viewing is a city-wide event—the tradition started when Japan donated a forest’s-worth of trees to Seattle in the 1930s—the Quad is widely regarded as the most iconic spot for a springtime photo op. 

Be warned: Due to crowd convergence, staking out a picnic spot under the dreamy canopy may be tough. Instead, use the blossom-spotting map on the UW’s website to seek out less-explored areas on campus like Drumheller Fountain and the waterfront Shell House, a former WWI seaplane hangar. You can also see several rare Hisakura trees lining the path between the Suzzallo Library and Gerberding Hall.

Macon, Georgia

The self-proclaimed “Cherry Blossom Capital of the World” is well-deserving of the title, considering more than 350,000 cherry trees have taken root in the city. In the early 1950s, realtor and amateur horticulturist William A. Fickling, Sr. began propagating Yoshinos in the city, planting more than 120,000 over his lifetime. Look out for the annual International Cherry Blossom Festival, dubbed “The Pinkest Party on Earth,” in March, which includes a parade and other entertainment down Cherry Street. Can’t make it to Macon on short notice? See the blossoms on the city’s live-feed BloomCam.

Nashville

In contrast to some of the cities on this list, Nashville’s collection of cherry trees has a shorter history. The Japanese consulate general for the south-central U.S. moved its office from New Orleans to the Music City in 2008, bringing 1,000 cherry trees, which were planted over the following decade. During the city’s annual Cherry Blossom festival in April, you can lace up for a 2.5-mile guided cherry blossom walk that includes a lap around the state capital, among other activities.

St. Louis

Just when you think architect Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch couldn’t be any more awe-inspiring, springtime marches in and brings it new life—a profusion of blossoms cushions the 630-foot-tall monument. Hanami can also be enjoyed at the nearby Missouri Botanical Garden, which is more democratic about its flowering fruit trees, boasting more than 230 specimens from the genus Prunus, including peach, plums, and almonds, in addition to ornamental cherries. Of the latter, seek out the garden’s 40 weeping Higans, the dozen or so frilly Kanzans, and the 20 centennials—cut from trees gifted to Washington, D.C. from Japan in 1912—for a different viewing experience than the typical all-Yoshino affair. What’s more, bees don’t have to be the only ones buzzing; the “Sake and Sakura” includes an expert-led sampling of the fermented-rice brew under the blossoms.

Boston

Sakura season in the northeastern U.S. can arrive up to six weeks later than the rest of the country, with full bloom typically timed for late April or early May. In Boston, most hanami-goers take to the Charles River Esplanade, by kayak or on foot, where more than 250 cherry trees create a fanciful Candyland-worthy canopy. You can focus your visit on the 64-acre park that follows the length of the riverfront to enjoy spring weather beneath the blooms.

Boston’s rosy tint doesn’t just come from the Esplanade, though. You can find cherry trees flanking brownstones in the Back Bay neighborhood, or at the Boston Public Garden, where the Kwanzan cultivar tree expresses its pageantry gene with deep-pink double blossoms, a light almond scent, and leaves that change color year-round. And at Harvard University’s botanical research center, the Arnold Arboretum, cherry blossoms can be found amid the park’s collection of different tree species.

Philadelphia

Of Philadelphia’s 3,000 or so cherry trees, approximately half were gifted from Japan in 1926, and 100 specimens from that flowery inheritance still stand near the Shofuso Japanese House and Garden in sprawling Fairmount Park. Other popular places to see pink pomp within the park include the east side of the Schuylkill River, behind the Please Touch Museum, and at the Belmont Plateau, where you can get a view of the Philly skyline in the distance. The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia, typically held in late March or early April, offers a program of Japanese-themed performances and activities at the Fairmount Park Horticultural Center.

Newark, New Jersey

You may be surprised to learn that Branch Brook Park in Newark, New Jersey, has the largest collection of cherry blossom trees in the U.S.—5,200 trees in a modest 360 acres. During the annual BloomFest in April, there are bike races, fun runs, and a special family day with activities for kids. If you can’t make it to the park during peak bloom, you can get a dose of frothy pink eye candy by tuning into the live cam on the website.

Portland, Oregon

For one week each year, the City of Roses turns its attention to an equally romantic citizen of the floral kingdom: the cherry blossom. While it seems logical to head to the Portland Japanese Garden for your hanami fix—and the Flat Garden’s sinuous raked gravel and islands of clipped shrubbery make a picturesque setting for one theatrical weeping cherry tree—there are plenty of other scenic spots.

Many Portlanders favor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, where 100 Akebono cherry trees line the riverside around the Japanese American Historical Plaza, with the muscular steel span known as the Burnside Bridge as a backdrop. That said, at the Hoyt Arboretum, you’ll not only see cherry blossoms, but also encounter a bonus blush from other April bloomers like magnolia, buttercup winter hazel, and Tweedy Red, a rare flower native to the Pacific Northwest.

Traverse City, Michigan

Since Northern Michigan is widely regarded as the best place in the world to grow cherries, it stands to reason that there are—cue understatement of the year—a lot of cherry trees that bloom around those parts. Just motoring along Highway M-37 by Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City will take you through more than two million trees. No wonder the city calls itself the “Cherry Capital of the World”—it’s the agricultural epicenter of a five-county region that produces up to 120 million pounds of tart cherries each year, roughly half of the domestic crop. For a wine-fueled hanami experience, head to County Road 633 on the Leelanau Peninsula, where you’re not only in the heart of cherry-growing country, but also the Traverse Wine Coast—boutique wineries interspersed with flourishing cherry orchards should make for a day trip to remember.

Chicago

The neoclassical architecture of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago can appear mausoleum-like under the gray skies responsible for those proverbial April showers. But when the sakura planted along the Columbia Basin just south of the museum start revealing their fanciful pink canopies (typically mid-April to early May), the gravitas of the historic building—the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition—is considerably brightened. More than 160 cherry trees—varieties include Yoshino, Gooseberry, and weeping Snow Fountains—festoon this area of Jackson Park, but there are more if you head south toward the Garden of the Phoenix, a historic Japanese oasis.

Get ready to wait in a long queue during hanami season. Those 120 cherry trees planted in 2013 to celebrate the garden’s 120-year anniversary conjure a greater feeling of Zen in proximity to koi ponds, rock gardens, Japanese maple trees, and a lotus blossom sculpture called Skylanding. The installation features a dozen 12-foot-tall stainless-steel lotus petals, a portrayal of peace by artist Yoko Ono.