Best Easy Day Hikes Seattle by Allen Cox & Globe Pequot Press

Author:Allen Cox & Globe Pequot Press
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FalconGuides, best easy day hikes series, day hikes, hiking, hikes, hiking trails, day hikes, wilderness, national forest, national parks, wildlife, nature
Publisher: Falcon Guides
Published: 2014-01-13T05:00:00+00:00

The Hike

Gas Works Park, on the north shore of Lake Union, is a Seattle destination in itself. If time allows before you hit the trail, explore the park with its kite hill and the relics of the old gasworks that adorn the picnic and children’s play areas. It’s a perfect example of how a cleaned-up industrial site can be reclaimed and put to good use. Here, you’ll enjoy views of this urban lake flanked by Capitol Hill on one side and Queen Anne Hill on the other, with the downtown skyline straight ahead.

Begin your hike on the paved trail across the street from the park. Facing away from the park, follow the trail to the left (west). Heavily used by bicyclists, the Burke-Gilman Trail is divided into two lanes—one for wheels and the other for feet—but sometimes the line between the lanes fades. Posted signs remind bicyclists that pedestrians have the right-of-way, but it’s always a good idea to yield to bikes for your own safety.

The trail passes between a cement retaining wall and a chain-link fence, and here you might be hoping the entire trail isn’t this ugly. Be patient. Soon the trail crosses Stone Way North at North 34th Street; continue on between the retaining wall and the Seattle Rowing Club and turn left. The scenery opens up.

Lake Union flows into the Fremont Cut of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The shore is lined with houseboats (not really boats at all, but floating homes), tugs, sailboats, and fishing trawlers—if it floats, it’s here. The imposing Aurora Bridge dominates the sky directly overhead.

The trail passes beneath the Aurora Bridge and then under the smaller, more colorful Fremont Bridge, built in 1916. Brand-name high-tech corporate campuses line the trail as it parallels the canal, continuing west. The trail passes a plaza with natural stone sculptures and another area with ivy dinosaurs and a kiosk with a supply of free Fremont Walking Tour brochures.

(Option: If you have time, this is a great place to detour 1 block away from the route and explore the eclectic and artsy Fremont District, which proudly proclaims itself the Center of the Universe.)

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