1) Seward Park and Lake Washington Shoreline Walk

Hike Length: 4 (Park only); 8 miles(to Leschi)
Elevation Gain: minor
Hike Difficulty: Easy
Map: Seattle Street Map
hike overview map


Seward Park is one of the finest urban wildlands you’ll find anywhere. Located in south Seattle, the 278 acre park occupies the entire area of the Bailey Peninsula that juts out into Lake Washington. Attractions include over 2 miles of lake shore and the largest old growth (unlogged) forest in Seattle.

The park is named after William H Seward, who as Secretary of State was responsible for the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. Many Americans at the time did not think much of paying so much cash for what was thought of as an arctic wasteland, so Alaska was soon dubbed “Seward’s Folly”. The Bailey Peninsula was purchased by the city of Seattle and made into a park in 1911.

Seward Park anchors the southern end of a park-and -boulevard system designed in 1903 by the famed landscape architects, the Olmsted Brothers. This greenbelt extends all the way to Green Lake in North Seattle. To fill out a day, combine a visit to Seward Park with a walk following Olmsted’s boulevard along the shore of Lake Washington.

Getting There:

From downtown Seattle, catch the southbound M 39 bus. Sit back and relax as the bus takes a long, winding route through south Seattle. Get off at the intersection of Seward Park Avenue and Juneau Street, about a half hour ride from downtown [GPS N 47 deg 32 min  58 sec, W 122 deg 15 min 38 sec]. Follow Juneau Street down the hill to the park entrance.

Bus service is available both Saturday and Sunday


The Hike

Seward Park is too small to recommend any definite itinerary; just explore to your heart’s content. Be sure to walk the 2-1/2 mile paved trail that loops all the way around the park’s waterfront. Along the way, fine beaches may temp you to take a swim on a hot day. When done with the shoreline trail, head into the middle of the park, much of which is covered with Seattle’s largest remaining old growth (unlogged) forest. A newwork of good trails allows easy exploration of the park’s interior. When you’re lost among the huge firs, cedars, and hemlocks, you’ll sometimes feel like you’re in some remote valley deep in the Cascade Mountains, not urban Seattle.

For more exercise, leave Seward Park and head north along the shore of Lake Washington, following a narrow ribbon of landscaped park squeezed between the lake and Lake Washington Boulevard. Along the way you will pass by Sayres Park, where the annual Seafair hydroplane races are held. There are restrooms and a sailboat rental center here, too. Four miles north of Seward Park, you will reach the Leschi neighborhood, where you can recharge your batteries at various coffee shops and a grocery store. Nearby Frink and Coleman Parks, both Olmstead creations, are also worth exploring. Busses can take you back from here to Downtown Seattle.

Getting Back

From Seward Park, walk up Juneau Street and catch the M 39 bus back to downtown Seattle. From downtown Leschi, catch the M 27 bus back to downtown Seattle.

Rev 02.09.06