Seattle’s climate is most frequently related to grey skies and wet days, however the Emerald Metropolis’s stunning summers don’t get almost sufficient love.
Wet days are few and much between in the summertime months which are characterised by clear blue skies and lengthy days that conclude with beautiful sunsets as late as 9pm.
Seattle has a large number of parks, a lot of that are positioned on the town’s 200 miles of shoreline and are residence to all kinds of seashores. Whether or not you’re trying to swim, hike or just calm down and take within the surroundings, you’re certain to search out the right seashore to fit your tastes.
From Puget Sound to Lake Washington to Elliott Bay, these are our 12 favourite Seattle seashores.
1. Alki Seaside Park: finest seashore to calm down with locals
Decelerate a few notches on a weekend summer season’s afternoon on Alki Seaside. For a sure kind of Seattleite, West Seattle beckons like a proverbial Coney Island, and Alki Seaside is the truthful.
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 Seaside and its adjoining promenade turn into Seattle’s communal yard and a superb spot to hunker down with a beer and luxuriate in individuals watching. There are many close by breweries and eateries with views of the water.
The primary a part of West Seattle’s favourite seashore is sandy – superb for sandcastle constructing and all of these different age-old seaside pleasures. There are good tide swimming pools additional west across the lighthouse, too.
Planning Tip: To streamline your day trip, make like a neighborhood and choose to catch the West Seattle Water Taxi from its dock close to the Seattle Ferry Terminal in downtown, so you do not have to fuss with parking.
2. Golden Gardens: finest seashore for households
Golden Gardens Park, established in 1904 by Harry W Deal with, is a stunning 95-acre seashore park with sandy seashores north of Shilshole Bay Marina. There are picnic amenities, restrooms, basketball hoops, volleyball nets, gangs of Canadian geese, a lot of parking and loads of house to get away from all of the exercise.
The Burke-Gilman Path successfully ends right here amongst the Ballard neighborhood’s Scandi-cool and plentiful eating places. Seize a chunk after which head as much as neighboring Sundown Hill Park, a main perch for dramatic sunsets and lengthy views over the bay and out in the direction of Bainbridge Island.
3. Discovery Park: finest seashore for outside adventures
A former navy set up ingeniously remodeled right into a wild coastal park, Discovery Park is a comparatively current addition to the town panorama; it wasn’t formally inaugurated till 1973.
The most important inexperienced house in Seattle at 534 acres, its compact cornucopia of cliffs, meadows, dunes, forest and seashores stands as a wholesome microcosm of the encircling Pacific Northwest ecosystems.
Discovery Park boasts a youngsters’ play space, fantastic beach-combing alternatives, and a number of other miles of secure trails. You could find an entire map of the in-park community on the Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center close to the Authorities Method entrance, together with the best way to attain the beautiful outdated lighthouse.
Planning Tip: To get there, catch bus 33 from third Ave and Union St downtown.
4. Inexperienced Lake Park: finest seashore for a exercise
A favourite searching floor for runners with pushchairs, 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, growing the shoreline to protect parkland across the lake. After the reducing, nonetheless, Ravenna Creek, which fed the lake, now not flowed by means of.
Inexperienced Lake grew to become stagnant and stuffed with pungent inexperienced algae. Large dredging efforts to maintain Inexperienced Lake a navigable lake proceed, though the lake stays susceptible to algae blooms.
Two paths wind across the lake, however these aren’t sufficient to fill the wants of the a whole bunch of joggers, power-walkers, cyclists and in-line skaters who throng right here day by day. In reality, competitors for house on the paths has led to altercations between dashing athletes; the town authorities now regulates visitors on the paths.
Inexperienced Lake additionally has a soccer subject, bowling inexperienced, baseball diamond, basketball and tennis courts, plus boat, bike and in-line skate leases.
Native Tip: West Inexperienced Lake Seaside, a sandy swimming seashore 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 very good, lengthy swim.
5. Madison Park: finest seashore for sunbathing
Following the outdated trolley route down E Madison St to unique Seattle seaside resort Madison Park Seaside 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 obligation 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 attain the seashore it is value stopping in tree-lined Madison Valley, aka “Little France,” for buttery croissants and a quiet stroll within the Washington Park Arboretum.
6. Fay Bainbridge Park: finest seashore for an in a single day journey
To get away from the hustle and bustle, hop on one in all Seattle’s iconic ferries and head to Bainbridge Island, a chill, forested bed room group throughout the Sound from Seattle.
It’s going to take about 40 minutes to succeed in Bainbridge from downtown, however you may be rewarded with beautiful views, quaint waterfront taverns and cafes, prime kayaking, and the beautiful, sandy seashore in Fay Bainbridge Park.
On a transparent, sunny day you may rating nice views of Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains, Mt Rainier and Mt Baker. Not solely are you able to picnic right here or unfold out your seashore blanket, Fay Bainbridge Park is on the Cascadia Marine Path, which hyperlinks quite a few waterfront campsites within the area – excellent for an in a single day journey.
7. Denny Blaine Park: finest seashore for nude sunbathing
South of Madison Park towards the tail of Lake Washington Blvd is Denny Blaine Park. Discovered on the finish of a looping tree-lined lane, the seashore is surrounded by an outdated stone wall that marked the shoreline within the early 1900s.
The lake degree dropped 9ft through the development of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The seashore doesn’t have a lifeguard.
It was as soon as effectively often called a lesbian hangout, however as of late it is extra of a combined crowd. It’s additionally a top-free and clothing-optional seashore, so there will likely be nude sunbathers.
8. Madrona Park: finest 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 unbelievable. Swimming is just for hardy souls, nonetheless, because the water is icy chilly, even in summer season. Additional south, previous the yacht moorage, is Leschi Park, a grassy inexperienced house with a kids’s play space. There are lifeguards on obligation from late June by means of late August.
9. Lincoln Park: finest seashore for kayaking
Forest trails, an outside heated swimming pool and scenic seashores make Lincoln Park one in all Seattle’s most underrated parks. 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 provides you entry to the expansive shoreline, and a just lately renovated playground makes this a successful park for households.
10. Warren G. Magnuson Park: finest seashore for swimming
Residence to among the best swimming seashores in Seattle, the historic Warren G. Magnuson Park is positioned on the shore of Lake Washington. The park additionally has a ship launch, playground, tennis courts and a butterfly backyard. Lifeguards are on obligation from late June by means of Labor Day (midday to 7pm Monday to Friday, from 11am Saturday and Sunday).
Planning Tip: After your swim, make sure to take a look at the park’s historic district. The brick and steel constructions, which had been 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.
11. Carkeek Park: finest seashore for a hike
Positioned in northwest Seattle, Carkeek Park is treasured by locals. In reality, the group is immediately accountable for making certain the preservation of the park’s ecosystem which incorporates the whole lot 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 Seaside. On a transparent day, you’ll be handled to beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains, Kitsap Peninsula and Whidbey Island.
12. Myrtle Edwards Park: finest seashore to keep away from the crowds
After a stroll by means of Olympic Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle, head to the neighboring Myrtle Edwards Park. Pocket Seaside, one of many smaller and fewer crowded seashores within the metropolis, is positioned within the park and it’s a peaceable spot to calm down on the sand and soak up views of the Olympic Mountains, the House Needle and Seattle’s iconic cityscape.
Native Tip: Pocket Seaside can be a main spot to see native vegetation and marine life together with salmon and sea urchins.
