Suppose Seattle, and also you may suppose grey skies and wet days. But the town’s lovely summers don’t get almost sufficient love.
Within the longest, warmest months, wet days are few and much between. You’ll be able to sit up for clear blue skies and lengthy days that conclude with beautiful sunsets as late as 9pm.
A lot of Seattle’s multitude of parks are positioned on the town’s 200 miles (!) of shoreline, and are house to seashores of all types. These in search of a swim, a straightforward hike or just a day of rest and surroundings gained’t have any bother discovering a stretch of shoreline that appeals.
From Puget Sound to Lake Washington to Elliott Bay, these are our 12 favourite Seattle seashores.
1. Golden Gardens Park
Greatest seashore for households
Commercial
Established in 1904 by Harry W Deal with, Golden Gardens Park is a stunning 95-acre seashore park with sandy seashores north of Shilshole Bay Marina. Right here, you’ll discover picnic services, restrooms, basketball hoops, volleyball nets, gangs of Canadian geese, plenty of parking and loads of area to get away from all of the exercise.
The Burke-Gilman Path successfully ends right here, not removed from the Ballard neighborhood’s Scandi-cool vibe and plentiful eating places. Seize a chew, then head as much as neighboring Sundown Hill Park, a main perch for dramatic sunsets and lengthy views over the bay and out towards Bainbridge Island.
2. Discovery Park
Greatest seashore for out of doors adventures
A former navy set up ingeniously reworked right into a wild coastal inexperienced area, Discovery Park is a comparatively current addition to the town panorama: it wasn’t formally inaugurated till 1973. The most important inexperienced area in Seattle at 534 acres, it provides a compact cornucopia of cliffs, meadows, dunes, forest and seashores: a wholesome microcosm of surrounding Pacific Northwest ecosystems.
Discovery Park boasts a children’ play space, fantastic beachcombing alternatives and a number of other miles of protected trails. You could find an entire map of the in-park community on the Discovery Park Environmental Studying Heart close to the Authorities Approach entrance – together with the route to succeed in the gorgeous previous lighthouse.
Planning tip: To get there, catch bus 33 from third Ave and Union St downtown.
3. Pocket Seashore, Myrtle Edwards Park
Greatest seashore to keep away from the crowds
After a stroll by means of Olympic Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle, head to neighboring Myrtle Edwards Park. Pocket Seashore, one of many smaller and fewer crowded seashores within the metropolis, is positioned within the park – and it’s a peaceable spot to loosen up on the sand and absorb views of the Olympic Mountains, the House Needle and Seattle’s iconic skyline.
Native tip: Pocket Seashore can be a main spot to see native crops and marine life, together with salmon and sea urchins.
4. Alki Seashore Park
Greatest seashore to loosen up with locals
Decelerate a few notches on a weekend summer season’s afternoon on Alki Seashore. Stretching from Duwamish Head to the Alki Level Lighthouse, a 2.5-mile paved span parallel to the seashore is a magnet for rollerbladers, cyclists and skate boarders. When the solar’s out, Alki Seashore and its adjoining promenade turn into Seattle’s communal yard – and a superb spot to hunker down with a beer and luxuriate in people-watching. You’ll be able to get pleasure from a view of the water from loads of close by eateries and breweries.
Commercial
The primary a part of West Seattle’s favourite seashore is sandy – excellent for sandcastle constructing and different age-old seaside pleasures. There are good tide swimming pools additional west across the lighthouse, too.
Planning tip: To streamline your time out, make like an area and go for the West Seattle Water Taxi from its dock close to the Seattle Ferry Terminal downtown – and skip the effort of parking.
5. Madison Park
Greatest seashore for sunbathing
Comply with the previous trolley route down E Madison St to Seattle’s authentic seaside resort. Right this moment, Madison Park Seashore beckons for a sport of frisbee, a courageous dip within the lake and a few healthful meals from a brief strip of glass-fronted cafes.
This park is a riotously common place in the summertime, with a grassy slope for lounging and sunbathing, two tennis courts, a swimming raft floating within the lake, and lifeguards on responsibility from late June to Labor Day (midday to 7pm Monday to Friday, from 11am Saturday and Sunday).
Planning tip: It’s finest reached on bus 11 alongside E Madison St. A couple of mile earlier than you get to the seashore, it’s value stopping in tree-lined Madison Valley, aka “Little France,” for buttery croissants and a quiet stroll within the Washington Park Arboretum.
6. Denny Blaine Park
Greatest seashore for nude sunbathing
South of Madison Park, towards the tail of Lake Washington Blvd, is Denny Blaine Park. On the finish of a looping, tree-lined lane, the seashore is surrounded by an previous stone wall that marked the shoreline within the early 1900s. (The lake degree dropped 9ft throughout the development of the Lake Washington Ship Canal.)
It was as soon as well-known as a lesbian hangout, however today it attracts extra of a combined crowd. It’s additionally a top-free and clothing-optional seashore, so there will probably be nude sunbathers. The seashore doesn’t have a lifeguard.
7. Fay Bainbridge Park
Greatest seashore for an in a single day journey
To get away from the hustle and bustle, hop on considered one of Seattle’s iconic ferries and head to Bainbridge Island, a chill, forested bed room neighborhood throughout the Sound from Seattle.
It takes about 40 minutes to succeed in Bainbridge from downtown, after which you’ll be rewarded with beautiful views, quaint waterfront taverns and cafes, prime kayaking, and the gorgeous, sandy seashore in Fay Bainbridge Park.
On a transparent, sunny day you’ll be able to rating nice views of Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains, Mt Rainier and Mt Baker. If you wish to do extra than simply picnic or unfold out your seashore blanket right here, Fay Bainbridge Park is on the Cascadia Marine Path, which hyperlinks numerous waterfront campsites within the area – excellent for an in a single day journey.
8. Madrona Park
Greatest seashore for Mt Rainier views
Down a steep hill from the enterprise district of the identical title, Madrona Park is without doubt one of the nicest alongside Lake Washington. In clear climate, the views of Mt Rainier are implausible. Swimming is just for hardy souls, nevertheless, because the water is icy chilly – even in summer season. Additional south, previous the yacht moorage, is Leschi Park, a grassy inexperienced area with a kids’s play space. There are lifeguards on responsibility from late June by means of late August.
9. Lincoln Park
Greatest seashore for kayaking
Forest trails, an out of doors heated swimming pool and scenic seashores make Lincoln Park considered one of Seattle’s most underrated. Set on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound, the park options almost 4 miles of biking trails, quite a few picnic pavilions and a bathhouse. A canoe and kayak launch offers you entry to the expansive shoreline, and a playground makes this a successful park for households.
10. Inexperienced Lake Park
Greatest seashore for a exercise
A favourite looking floor for runners with strollers, freelance private trainers and artistically tattooed sunbathers, scenic Inexperienced Lake Park surrounds Inexperienced Lake, a small pure lake created by a glacier over the past ice age.
Within the early 1900s, metropolis planners lowered the lake’s water degree by 7ft, rising the shoreline to protect parkland across the lake. After the reducing, nevertheless, Ravenna Creek, which fed the lake, now not flowed by means of – turning Inexperienced Lake stagnant and filling it with pungent inexperienced algae. Large dredging efforts to maintain Inexperienced Lake navigable proceed, though the lake does stay susceptible to algae blooms.
Two paths wind across the lake, but these aren’t sufficient to fill the wants of the lots of of joggers, power-walkers, cyclists and in-line skaters who throng right here day by day. In truth, competitors for area on the paths has led to altercations between rushing athletes; the town authorities now regulates visitors on the paths.
Inexperienced Lake additionally has a soccer discipline, bowling inexperienced, baseball diamond, basketball and tennis courts, plus boat, bike and in-line skate leases.
Planning tip: West Inexperienced Lake Seashore, a sandy swimming space throughout the park, is open till 7pm day by day from late June by means of Labor Day. The water temperature is hotter than the seashores on the ocean and Lake Washington, so it’s an excellent spot for getting in a superb, lengthy swim.
11. Warren G Magnuson Park
Greatest seashore for swimming
Residence to probably the greatest swimming seashores in Seattle, historic Warren G Magnuson Park is on the shore of Lake Washington. The park has a ship launch, playground, tennis courts and a butterfly backyard; lifeguards are on responsibility from late June by means of Labor Day (midday to 7pm Monday to Friday, from 11am Saturday and Sunday).
Planning tip: After your swim, remember to take a look at the park’s historic district. The brick-and-metal constructions, constructed within the Thirties and Forties, are in distinct artwork deco and Colonial Revival kinds. Public artwork installations are additionally scattered all through the park.
12. Carkeek Park
Greatest seashore for a hike
Situated in northwest Seattle, Carkeek Park is treasured by locals. In truth, the neighborhood is straight accountable for making certain the preservation of the park’s ecosystem, which incorporates all the things from wetlands to forest areas.
Take a hike on one of many many trails, then cool off by diving into the waters of Carkeek Park Seashore. On a transparent day, you’ll be handled to beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains, Kitsap Peninsula and Whidbey Island.
