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Discovery Park Urban Walk.jpg

Trip Report    

Urban Walk - Discovery Park

Discovery Park is the largest public park in Seattle. You will see forests, beaches, prairies and bluffs. You can walk the beautiful trails or hang out at the beach! Today we picked the Loop Trail!

Bianca Szyperski Bianca Szyperski
March 19, 2024
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The Discovery Park Loop Trail is  a wonderful walk, you have to watch out for some mud (spring/winter/fall) and the very few areas with asphalt or concrete, you will see the asphalt or concrete broken, just be careful.  The visitor center always has printouts of the trail and there are a lot of trail markers with numbers, so you can always check where you are - even without any help of gaia or alltrails. This park is also loved by runners, so watch out or keep to the right. The visitor center has plenty of parking. Also bathrooms are inside the visitors center (they open at 8:30).

Today we took the loop trail, which hits all of the wonderful areas of this enchanting park. We saw majestic bluffs, prairies with a golden sea of grasses swaying in the breeze, forests which took us back inside, into the coolness of shade, mosses and ferns. Today, spring was in the air! Fresh green popping up left and right! We followed the Loop Trail until we got to the intersection to go down along a road to the beach and lighthouse. What a great spot for a quick lunch and a selfie with this great group. 

The landscape down at the lighthouse is very different than up on the bluff and in the forests. A landscape with views, salty wind, mountain views and sea gulls. The visibility was great, West Seattle, Vashon Island, Blake Island and Bainbridge Island were visible. The Puget Sound waterways were busy with big container ships going down to Tacoma or Seattle and ferries shuttling people back and forth between the islands. The West Point Lighthouse is no longer in use, but it stands proud now as the western most point of the City of Seattle. 

To get back to the loop trail, you need to head back up the same way and start where you left off! At this point, you are about half way done!   There are a few more rest stops, if you choose to, or viewpoints for taking photos. Then it dives back into the forest and you will shortly reach the Visitor Center again. 

We logged 4.5 miles today with an elevation gain of 417' . It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes.