March 28, 2025 - Celebrity News

The horticulturalists at the National Park Service called it this morning: the cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom as of today, March 28.

That sets them up nicely for a fantastic weekend of cherry blossom viewing, and if you’re headed to the Tidal Basin this weekend, I have some logistical information further down this page.

But it’s worth clarifying a little what peak bloom means. It’s a threshold; it means that at least 70 percent of the cherry trees are flowering. The remaining trees will come out over the next few days as temperatures warm over the weekend. So they will be looking lovely for the next several days at least, potentially up to a couple of weeks or so.

This is technically an early bloom across the broad sweep of records kept on it (since 1921). But it’s about normal if you look only at the most recent decades; the bloom has been trending earlier for some time. And it’s actually on the later end for blooms since 2020.

But now that they’ve reached peak bloom, the natural question is: how long do they last?

And the answer, unfortunately, is: it depends. Which isn’t very helpful by itself.

But I can break it down a bit more than that, which will hopefully be more helpful and at least give you some idea of what to watch for.

What it mostly depends on is the weather over the coming week or two.

In the right conditions (cool, dry, calm), they can last a couple of weeks, or perhaps even more if it’s absolutely perfect.

In the wrong conditions (hot, windy, rainy, stormy), they can be gone in as little as four to five days. Most of the time, it’s somewhere in between those extremes. And I’ve not yet seen any forecasts of drastic weather that would rush them out very quickly this year.

I’ve put together a visual timeline using photos from previous years that shows what they can look like at X days after peak bloom. There’s quite a wide variety.

It was an overcast but calm morning at the Tidal Basin. With the clouds out, there were far fewer people at the Tidal Basin very early this morning than yesterday, but things soon picked up after the sun came up.

Something worth noting: if you look closely at some of the blossoms that have been out, you can see some of them starting to change color, with the white and yellow at their centers starting to radiate pink. I have more examples here.

TIDAL BASIN, Washington DC — Washington DC’s famous cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin, as seen on March 28, 2025, the day that the NPS judged that they had reached peak bloom. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel. Download or license this image.

Many of these photos are available to license for personal use or editorial publishing. You can find them here.

I also have prints (framed and unframed) available here.

The National Park Service has set up the Welcome Area on West Basin Drive, so it’s closed off to traffic and now open for business. West Basin Drive will remain closed through April 11.
Ohio Drive is currently open as normal. Mostly. There’s a corner down near the John Ericsson Memorial that’s fenced off as a construction staging area. But a new road has been created that goes around and and provides an alternate intersection between Independence Avenue and Ohio Drive.
There are no special traffic restrictions on Ohio Drive yet. Expect that to be in place for the coming weekend.
The paddle boat parking lot (aka the Main Ave SW parking lot) is no closed through April 8. They’ve put in a temporary beer garden and a few food trucks.
Parking lots A, B, and C are fully open. In recent years there was construction equipment taking up some of them, but that has long since gone. Like most of the other public parking around the Tidal Basin, those lots are metered with ParkMobile.
The Paddle Boats are open. It’s walk-up only until mid-April (ie. they’re not taking advance reservations).
Cell phone capacity along the National Mall has been upgraded in recent years. It used to be quite a problem with everyone sharing their cherry blossom photos and using their phones crashing the network. But that *shouldn’t* be a problem anymore. So shoot and share away!

This coming weekend (March 29-30) is going to be prime time for the cherry blossoms. Right now, the weather forecast is for a marked jump in temperatures for a few days. That will bring out any remaining cherry blossoms.

If you plan on going, the cherry blossoms are looking spectacular. But expect crowds. (If you’re looking for less crowded alternative locations for cherry blossoms, here are some suggestions.)

If you can take Metro or some other way of getting there, it will likely end up a lot smoother. But I also recognize that that’s not always possible, so you can find some logistical information on getting there and parking below. Driving and parking will be slow and difficult. Expect traffic jams and potentially long walks from your parking spot (reminder: the Circulator Bus is no longer operating).

It’s a National Park. The usual National Park rules and courtesies apply.
Please don’t climb on the trees, pick the flowers, shake the trees, or break off branches.
Please be careful on the walking paths. There’s no railing around most of the Tidal Basin, and some areas are quite uneven and even muddy.
Please dispose of any trash thoughtfully. The trash collection often gets overwhelmed at this time of year. There are trash cans around the Tidal Basin, but it’s never nearly enough to deal with the huge influx of visitors that come during a full bloom weekend.
It is a no drone zone. And it’s strictly enforced for all sorts of good reasons.
If you get a chance, it would be a nice touch to thank the NPS rangers and staff. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

If you’re taking a camera and want to use the opportunity to get some expert help improving your photography, take a look at Washington Photo Safari‘s offerings.

They combine their local expert knowledge with on-site photography lessons at the Tidal Basin. (They also have other classes, like shooting the monuments at night-time on the National Mall.) So it’s a great way to combine getting some photography tips with an expert local guide.

I’m not affiliated with them, but I’ve long been impressed with their offerings and expertise. I imagine their cherry blossom spots are filling quickly; you can check prices and availability on their website.

A lot is happening around the National Mall to get ready for the 250th celebrations next year.

To give a sense of what to expect if you visit for the cherry blossoms in Spring 2025, I’ve posted some rundowns of activity at various major sites.

There’s nothing particular happening at the MLK, FDR, and World War II Memorials, so I won’t post separate overviews of those. They’re all fully open and accessible.

Here are some of my favorite books on DC’s cherry blossoms.

They’re interesting reads for anyone planning to visit. They also make for great gifts for those who can’t make it in person this year.

Images and product information from Amazon Product Advertising API were last updated on 2025-03-28 at 11:46.

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