7 Green Lake

Green Lake Park is nestled in North Seattle’s urban Green Lake neighborhood. The centerpiece of this 300-plus-acre park is the lake itself, which is surrounded by a 2.8-mile path. This popular park, one of the city’s outdoor recreation hotspots, sits adjacent to Woodland Park, home of the Woodland Park Zoo.

Distance: 2.8-mile loop

Approximate hiking time: 1.5 hours

Difficulty: Easy, flat trail

Trail surface: Paved and gravel

Best season: Year round

Other trail users: Bicyclists, skaters, runners

Canine compatibility: Leashed dogs permitted

Fees and permits: No fees or permits required

Schedule: Open daily, twenty-four hours a day

Maps: USGS Seattle North E; Seattle street map

Trail contacts: Seattle Parks and Recreation, (206) 684-4075; www.seattle.gov/parks

Finding the trailhead: Because the Green Lake Trail is a loop, you can begin at any point. The following directions are for parking and beginning the hike at the south end of the lake. From downtown take Interstate 5 north to exit 169 (Northeast 50th Street) and turn left onto Northeast 50th. Turn right onto Green Lake Way North and then veer left onto West Green Lake Way North. Just past the Par 3 Golf Course, park in the first lot on either side of the street. GPS: N47 40.32' / W122 20.62'

The Hike

The same glacial ice sheet that scooped out Puget Sound also created Green Lake approximately 50,000 years ago. Today Green Lake occupies the bulk of a graceful city park containing an array of athletic and recreational facilities and a loop trail. You can begin the hike at any point on the trail, but for a frame of reference, assume the trail begins at the Green Lake Small Craft Center at the south end of the lake and that you will hike in a clockwise direction.

This easy 2.8-mile trail is one of the city’s most popular spots for walking, jogging, and people watching. The trail hugs the shore among rolling lawns, cattails, and a variety of mature shade trees, with pleasant views across the water to the park’s greenery and the hillside neighborhoods beyond.

In just short of a mile, you come to the Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, an active stage theater housed in a converted 1928 bathhouse. A swimming beach is located behind the building.

At about the 1.8-mile mark, pass the Green Lake Park Community Center, complete with pool, indoor basketball court, athletic fields, tennis courts, boat rentals, concessions, swimming beach, restrooms, and fishing dock.

Near the end of the loop and the Par 3 Golf Course, you pass a piece of true Seattle kitsch: Green Lake Aqua Theater, the relic of a once 5,500-seat lakeside amphitheater. Circa 1950 the amphitheater was home to an aquatic theater troupe that performed lavishly staged “swimusicals”—musical theater complete with water ballet, high dives, and show tunes emanating from a floating orchestra pit (think Esther Williams films). Today the portion of Aqua Theater that remains is part of the adjacent Small Craft Center. Round the bend a short distance, and you are back at the starting point.

Miles and Directions

0.0Start at the south end of the lake at the Small Craft Center. Facing the lake, turn left to go clockwise around the loop.

0.9Pass the bathhouse theater.

1.8Pass the Green Lake Park Community Center.

2.7Pass the aqua theater remnants.

2.8Arrive back at your starting point.