Glacier Peak, a volcano, has erupted multiple times in the past 15,000 years and sent dramatic volcanic mudflows, or lahars, flowing down the valleys at its feet. Several of these lahars have been large enough to reach the sea and build up the very ground that the tulip fields grow on. Nick Zentner digs into the evidence of these dangerous eruptions and when another might occur.
Support for Nick on the Rocks is provided by Pacific Science Center.
Sponsors help make Cascade PBS's independent nonprofit journalism possible. However, sponsors have no influence over editorial content. To view Cascade PBS's editorial independence policy, visit our advertising definitions page.
Nick on the Rocks: Volcanic mud blooms tulips in the Skagit Flats
The famous flower fields are connected to mudflows that spilled from Washington’s Glacier Peak less than 15,000 years ago. Could it erupt again?
Washington’s Skagit Flats are famous for growing Technicolor rows of tulips every spring, but the flat ground contains a warning sign from the state’s volcanic past.
