Green Lake Park

Stick around Seattle long enough and someone will invite you to take a walk around Green Lake—one of the most popular things to do with friends, aside, of course, from grabbing a coffee.

If you can fit it in to your schedule, do it! Green Lake is one of Seattle’s most beloved public parks, a great place for a swim and the best venue for spotting local birds, such as herons, eagles, loons, osprey  and cormorants in-city. Green Lake itself is a freshwater glacial lake, over 50,000 years old.

The main attraction in the park is the walking path, nearly 3 miles looping around the lake, with separate lanes for walking and biking. At nearly any time of the day, the path is lively with folks walking dogs, runners catching a quick jog or moms wheeling their strollers.

Green Lake Park has some other interesting features. A 1927 bath house has been converted into a theatre, which is a venue for small community productions. The community center houses Evans Pool, if you want to take a dip but fear the lake (you shouldn’t fear it—conservation efforts are high in the area) and a staffed wading pool for children.

There’s also plenty of green space for picnics (grab a sandwich at one of the many cafes that hem the park) and a public fishing pier if you want to try your hand at catching dinner.

HelloSeattle Tip: Parking is tight in the neighborhood—restricted in the commercial area and heavily zoned in the residential. Best bet for a stress free walk around the lake is to grab public transportation there and back.

- by Caren Gussoff Sumption, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Caren Gussoff Sumption

Caren Gussoff Sumption is a freelance writer and editor from Seattle, WA. She's written for USA Today, the Seattle Times/NW Source, MSN and AOL, and her fiction has been published worldwide. She received her MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.