This is my favorite Seattle neighborhood park. It's a pleasant and quiet park in between Meridian…read moreand Wallingford nestled in a residential neighborhood behind the Meridian School, next to the Demonstration Garden. There's a big lawn perfect for frisbee and picnics, a playground with swings and play structures, and a path underneath a cool rock archway, all circumscribed by a path shaded by big trees. A peaceful retreat with ample shade and open space.

This is a good playground, a bit of a hike, like a 2 mile walk from the University Ave (University…read moreof Washington campus area) area. It is behind, in the back of the property, and has lots of playground equipment, but it's a bit secluded and harder to access by walking to it. It's not better than other family friendly park & rec's in California, but maybe for Seattle it's considered above average. It's the best I've experienced in Seattle, which isn't saying much 'tho. I'd still recommend this for toddlers 'tho.

With the foggy weather and trees with moss, the park gave an exotic feeling. I loved that I felt…read morelike I was in the wild out of the city. The road around the outskirts of the park isn't the best for running, as the road has rocks and encounters traffic lights. I recommend running inside the park instead. I liked that they had a parking area too!

This is a beautiful, shady park. Good for a walk on a hot day. The creek running through it adds…read morewonderful, calming sounds and a place for people and dogs to cool their feet. I hope someonevis planning to decrease the spread of invasive plants here soon.

I never knew this park existed and I'm shocked it took me this long to visit this place! Magnuson…read morePark contains four miles of walking trails and encompasses a total of 350 acres making it Seattle's second largest park. There are multiple parking lots spread throughout the park with walking access to off-leash dog parks, tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, and baseball fields. When we were here there was a good amount of parking but I'm guessing it probably gets packed during the summer and weekends. A short walk away is the swimming beach which has views of Lake Washington. The facilities are nice and there are restrooms and porta-potties throughout. You can reserve the picnic tables on their website. Overall this is a very peaceful and quiet park and this is definitely a park that I'll come back to and explore more of because it's huge.

This is a really cool park by the water. It's huge with lots of walking paths and lots of fields…read morefor playing sports, including soccer. I saw a lot of people enjoying the water on standup paddle boards. Blackberries are absolutely everywhere and in season and perfectly ripe. We ate too many of them. There also is a very big dog park on the grounds. Plenty of parking too.

My friend Mike K. lives in Matthews Beach, and we walked over to Matthews Beach Park when we went…read moreto visit him a few weeks ago during a family trip to Seattle. It was a lovely, leisurely walk, even with an elderly dog and two small kids in the mix, one of them demanding to be carried most of the way. We strolled along the bike trail and got great views and a bit of summer mist--all in all a very Seattle excursion. There was a nice playground, well kept and spacious, where our boys ran around while the three adults hung out and one of them, impossible to say who, maybe caught a lot of Pokémon, the park being the kind of place where you might find a lot spawns on, for example, a Jangmo-o Community Day. The kids enjoyed the equipment: climbing the structure, riding the rocking whale, spinning around on the giant spinner. We went down to the water, to what I suppose was the beach part of Matthews Beach. It wasn't a beach in the California sense of the word--I can't really imagine going in my swimsuit and laying out a towel on that meager stretch of hard sand--but the water was pretty and serene. There was a lot of grass as well as plenty of goose poop. Mike and his husband and dog do this walk regularly, and I would too if I lived in Matthews Beach. I look forward to going again next time I visit.

After spending some time in the Wallingford neighborhood, I needed to take a few moments to relax…read moreand unwind. I love Seattle because of all of the beaches and natural beauty. The region is a water-lover's paradise. Matthews Beach Park affords stunning views of Lake Washington, and the heavily-treed neighborhoods that surround it. Although the beach is closed to swimmers due to high bacteria levels, nature abounds. I saw an eagle, lots of crows and bluejays, and plenty of native plants in bloom. There is ample parking not too far from the beach. You'll find restrooms, walking paths, and large grassy areas for dogs and kids to folic and run free. I visited on the weekend and discovered there are lifeguards on duty cleaning and patroling the park, and ensuring folks don't swim in the water. Paddle boarding and other water sports are still permitted.

Kirke Park is a nice small neighborhood park that a community garden and playground to encourage…read morechildren to play and learn. Being a neighborhood park, there are lot of small children's toys that can be found that includes dump trucks, car toys, toy boats, etc. Also several children's jackets hanging on benches and part of the playground (I hope these children come back to claim their coats). I was surprised to see a small little trail behind the playground that can be fun for a child (an an adult that is young at heart) to play hide and go seek or other fun games. The playground itself has 2 large swings that are pretty comfortable to swing on and can get a lot of air and lift. There is a slide and a small rock wall to challenge little hands and legs. There is also plenty of grass for 4 legged little friends to also stretch their little legs and potty on the grass (please do pick up after your pups). The community garden here is actually pretty big and love how there is opportunities for children to learn more about mother earth, sustainability and the environment. Parking for this little park is just street but shouldn't be a problem if you don't live close enough to walk to. Although small, definitely a nice little park that is perfect for little ones to play (please note that there are no restrooms available, nor a water fountain so plan accordingly).

Great for a little neighborhood park if you live nearby. not worth it if it's a drive…read more Pros: -a couple of picnic tables -plenty of grass to picnic -sand box area -fun little wooded trail Cons: -no bathrooms -street parking -no water fountain

Great park for picnics, bbq's, and celebrations. The ample space and playground provides a wide…read morerange of activities for all age groups. The city of Seattle did a great job designing Jefferson park. I love seeing all of the families that live on Beacon meeting up. You always run into someone either before or after at Red Apple or D'pite bakery that is heading to the park.

Huge, clean space with beautiful views! Very little shade, but I imagine that's not a huge issue in…read moreSeattle. We explored: - skate park: well laid out with a bowl and lots of ramps to practice (my son rode his bike) - splash pad with slides - two zip lines (highlight) - playground for smaller kids - great, flat trails for biking Overall, I am so impressed and wish we had something like this by us.

This was a sacred place to the indigenous peoples who lived here originally. There was a small bowl…read morethat the spring was coming up into. The Creeks run through in between the houses in the overpacked neighborhood around the sacred area. The spring has now been piped so deep underground that there's no water in the bowl. There is and was a nice creek that had been rehabilitated and animals reintroduced native to the area as far as frogs and other things like salamanders and bird habitats Etc. Then the homeless started moving in and lots of drug use. I'm told you can't even go there now that you're literally walking through somebody's campsite if you go on to the trails. This park has a huge place in my heart but can no longer go to it because of the fact that you're walking through some of these living room instead of a park. There was a lot of fecal fecal matter / human. Needles and the expected unhygienic things of community not being cared for. It was sad enough for the spring dried up. Well it didn't really dry up it was piped because of the houses in the area. It makes me sick that we would go and take a beautiful piece of land that was so sacred the original European families like the Denny's the borans and others used to Camp there. It was literally wild for them. Now it's the wrong kind of wild. It's bad enough we took this land away from people now we're letting it be a garbage dump and that water goes into Lake Washington and then our ocean so it needs to be cared for I'd rather have people on this side of the freeway than in the Parks polluting the water. So sad. I wanted to take a friend there and then I thought what am I thinking this is a dumb.

A nice discovery of a park and playground, easily accessible with plenty of street parking around…read morethe entire block it sits within. Play spaces available for smaller and bigger kids. Structures to climb, slide and explore. Swings for older and younger kids, as well as a paved trail/path for small bicycles and scooters. Be aware, however, there are a few uneven paved spots.

There isn't much to say about this park, it has a halfpipe and a few ledges. It's much better than…read moreno skatepark, but far from amazing. It has the basics and nothing more, probably the most notable thin here is two large rocks that you can attempt to use to your advantage. I like skating here if I'm waiting for the bus right next to the park, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here.