Interlaken Park

It’s great if not for the blind spots with cars coming through the trails or running along the road but great for getting some rolling hills into your walk or run and just nice to get out on the trails, away from the city.

This is a long twisty park with lots of paved trails of various heights. Great urban park, but if you are looking to go sit away from everything, you won’t achieve that here.
I was trying to find a little spot with low foot traffic for my particular purpose (which will remain a secret, mwuahaha!) No low foot traffic to be found because all the locals love this place! So many nice people running around, lots of off leash dogs though, which isn’t normally a problem, except for my top-​secret mission.
Anyway, nice enough spot if your in the area and looking to walk or run through some nice trees :)

Running from 19^th as it bleeds into Interlaken is my regular circuit 4−5x a week. I generally do a 3 mile loop, but on days where it’s particularly gorgeous out, I may push on further, or opt to walk a longer portion of it. As a workout, it’s lovely to start in the neighborhood and go gradually downhill for awhile, and even better to climb back uphill on the way home (my calves are loving it!).
It’s my little getaway from the city, a small slice of heaven for an hour or so a day.

This park is pretty neat. I like it a lot for walking and geocaching. It’s a little tricky to find but the bus driver I was riding with was nice enough to let me off in front of the entrance.
It is really amazing that there is a forest like this in a city. It is so full of trees and hills. The canopy is so thick you forget that you are in Seattle almost. I feel really safe in this park, it does not have the «creepy» feeling or ten million empty beer cans. It is also very large, if you go along some of the gravel paths it will take you hours to explore the whole park.

It takes a long time to find this park int his city — except when rerouted from normal traffic and you are lost behind a major city marathon or a Seahawks game at UW raffic backup!
You see it, and don’t believe anything except that you will get home sometime.
Then the secret splendor after a few times intrigues you. HMM this is interesting. It’s not a mirage from a traffic hassle. It’s a true park in the middle of the city. I need to park (ha ha) and explore.
Exploring yields quiet, nature and more to explore. Our city planners left us much to appreciate as we wander our beautiful city. What a legacy!

I upped my rating because the maintenance at the park is coming to fruition, spring is in bloom, and the park looked fantastic last when I was there over the weekend. I’m always so grateful to park stewards and volunteers for maintaining Seattle’s park gems.

This little park is one of my favorites in Seattle. Primarily because after a few steps you find yourself in the midst of a very quiet, very lush forest, even though the bustle of Capitol Hill and Montlake is no more than a few yards away.
Walking through the park is a great little meditation, a chance to breathe in and enjoy a little serenity.

Found this park through Unilocal when I was looking for other parks to walk with my dog!
This reminded me of the Cowen/​Ravenna park but more trees, steeper hills and narrow trails. The houses in this area are big and beautiful.
Anyway, it was hard to find place to park since 1) I am a wuss at parking on steep hills 2) there wasn’t any clear signs of different park entrances. I did find a sign to the park but there wasn’t parking so I drove on the streets until I found a decent place to park and an entrance onto a trail.
There is a main trail which is the service road. The trails into the woods are off the service road or at different parts of the park. The trails here are more challenging than Cowen/​Ravenna park since there are more stairs and hills to climb up/​down.
My dog spotted many birds that she wanted to chase. I did see people bird watching or looking at various plant species. We enjoyed ourselves here.

This is a wonderful place to walk — the dense forest and filtered light create a relaxing environment in which to enjoy nature.

Interlaken is my neighborhood park and portal to the U District. There’s nothing as fun as bombing down Interlaken on a bike. Well, maybe except for hiking through on the trails. Interlaken is also a great ride back up to Capitol Hill.

I biked this park up and down many times and that was the extent of my emotional involvement with this little skinny stretch of forest, flanked by patches of residential area.
But what I recently discovered on the latest walk – (+) knee pain, no biking – was the loopy entanglement of easy trails that drop you into the thickly packed woods. Down there, at the bottom, I felt like I was no longer in the city. It was almost as though I was in the middle of forest worthy of National Parks, 100 miles or so away.
Hmm, I should keep my mouth shut and keep it a secret.

This place is close to my house, but still challenging running and hiking trails. It is densely wooded, riddled with trails and interesting vantage points. I like to hike or jog here, but there is also a good bike trail in the park.
One thing, I find this park oddly spooky, so I always run with my partner here. I haven’t heard of any problems or anything, but you know …
Some specifics:
Acreage: 51.7
Park Activities
Bike Trail
Hiking or Jogging Trails